China’s iQIYI Scores NBCU Licensing Pact

BEIJING: The Chinese online video service iQIYI has entered into a multiyear agreement with NBCUniversal International Distribution involving the digital rights for a slew of library movies and new releases.

As part of the newly expanded deal between the two, iQIYI gains access to the largest collection of films from Universal Pictures to date in China. This is for both existing titles and new movies to be released in China for the next few years. The service reached 5 million paid subscribers as of June 15.

Xianghua Yang, the senior VP of iQIYI, commented: “It has been a great pleasure to cooperate with NBCUniversal. We are looking forward to introducing even more great films from Universal Pictures to our members through our expanded collaboration.”
 
“We are pleased to expand upon our existing deal with iQIYI and partner with them to bring Universal Pictures’ diverse catalogue of films to their fast-growing subscriber base,” added Belinda Menendez, the president of NBCUniversal International Distribution and Networks.