Opportunities, restrictions, and challenges for Web TV in China.

China has the most active Web TV business in the world. This study concerns Web TV based on peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming technology in China. Adopting the tripartite model of accessibility, content strategies, and revenue sources (ACR), we analyzed the business model of China's Web TV business. In the process of analysis, we surveyed the current situation of Web TV and the leading players. We also touched upon the policy environment, the behavior of Chinese consumers, and challenges from other media. The major findings of this study included: (a) in terms of accessibility, P2P technology was an advantage. However, given the variety of content and the increasing number of Web TV suppliers, P2P technology probably could lead to problems. (b) With regard to content strategies, although having diverse and rich content resources, every Web TV player in China has to face the challenge of content overlap and uniformity in the industry, and private players without their own branded content also need to solve the problem of illegal use of foreign content. (c) The most visible problem in obtaining revenue sources is that Web TV players in China depend too much on advertising with little payment from users and other sources. We suggest it is urgent for Web TV players to cultivate and acquire paid users for the sake of long-term development. We also found that the three factors of accessibility, content strategies, and revenue sources of the Web TV business were closely linked with and influenced each other. The competition between private Web TV ventures and state-owned Web TV suppliers and the impact on China's Web TV industry should be a focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]