China overtakes UK as second biggest programming market

China has overtaken the UK in the television programming industry, becoming the second-largest market in the world after the United States, according to IHS Markit.

TV programming expenditures in China, including online platforms, hit 73 billion yuan (US$10.9 billion) in 2017, followed by the UK which spent US$10 billion and led by the US which spent US$58.3 billion.

Original programming made up 49% of all Chinese programming in 2017, followed by acquired programming at 46%, and sports programming at 5%. IHS Markit expects this split to remain relatively consistent over the next five years.

Despite the increased focus on original programming in China, acquired content will remain an integral part of broadcasters’ content strategy, as many companies still rely heavily on acquired content, according to IHS.

The large and growing consumer appetite for global sporting events, particularly online, is also expected to boost spending on sports programming.

“The growth in China’s TV programming spending is largely due to aggressive content investment by online companies Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent,” said Kia Ling Teoh, senior research analyst, IHS Markit.

“These three giants have upped their spending on content origination and acquisition for their respective video platforms iQiyi, Youku Tudou and Tencent Video.”