A year of negotiations between the iconic production company and China’s leading commercial conglomerate Alibaba has resulted in an agreement for over 1000 Disney films and programmes to be shown via Alibaba’s video-streaming service, Youku, according to Caixin Global.
Previous attempts to strike a deal were interrupted by regulatory restrictions on behalf of the Chinese government. In 2016 regulators shut down the DisneyLife streaming service after unsubstantiated claims that Chinese publishing laws had been breached.
The Disney content will also be made available through Alibaba’s smart TVs and set-top boxes, opening up a market of up to 30 million Chinese viewers.
In response to the deal, Youku President Yang Weidong said that this will give Alibaba Digital Media “a leading edge in foreign content distribution in China.”
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