Alibaba to launch online video streaming service soon

Alibaba Group Holding will launch an online video streaming service in China in the next two months, in order to emulate the US's Netflix Inc and HBO.  The service will be called 'TBO', or Tmall Box Office, with content bought from China and other countries, as well as in-house productions, Alibaba's Patrick Liu said.  TBO will launch into a competitive online video market in China, where companies are  already spending billions of dollars to buy media content to attract  viewers to become dominant.

"Our mission, is to redefine home entertainment. "Our goal is to become like HBO in the United States, to become like Netflix in the United States”, stated Patrick Liu, head of digital entertainment, Alibaba.

It was not entirely clear how the service would fit with Youku Tudou Inc, one of China's biggest video streaming platforms in which Alibaba bought a 16.5% stake in 2014.  However, unlike the majority of domestic rivals, about 90% of TBO's content will be paid for, either by monthly subscription or on a show-by-show basis, Liu said. The remaining 10% would be free. Netflix itself is also considering an entry into China, a notoriously difficult task for foreign Internet companies.