CBS’s The Big Bang Theory will become the first Television Show from the United States of America to stream in China under new review and censorship rules of overseas content introduced last week.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), China’s top regulator, has approved to allow The Big Bang Theory‘s Season 8 to screen on the video site tv.sohu.com, although the first seven seasons remain prohibited from streaming in China.
April 2014, four U.S. shows (The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, NCIS and The Practice) were deemed by SAPPRFT as having content that “violated regulations on having content which hurts the nation’s honor and interests and encourages teenagers to break laws and spread violence, eroticism, gambling and terrorism,’ the country then taking the shows down and not allowing them to be aired. Before being removed, The Big Bang Theory had over 1.3 billion hits on the Sohu site.
SAPPRFT requires foreign television dramas to present full seasons with subtitles for sensorship before they can be streamed in their video market, which is projected to be worth about $14.5 Billion by 2018. According ot SAPPRFT rules, content material that may be deemed as pornographic, violent, or challenging the authority of the ruling Communist Party will be deleted.
Online video sites can only stream content and are prohibited from developing Internet TV platforms, channels, or dedicated content zones.