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Liu, Shiyao (2025) Back to broadcast: streaming drama series and the emergence of co-distribution in the contemporary Chinese television industry. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

In the contemporary television industry, streaming media has become a significant platform alongside traditional broadcast channels. In a multi-platform media environment, the distribution landscape of the television industry has undergone transformative changes. This thesis explores an emerging strategy of co-distribution that has developed in this context. Co-distribution refers to the cooperation between content owners and multiple television services in the process of delivering and promoting the same programmes across multiple platforms. In order to explore co-distribution in systematic and situated terms, this thesis focuses on a specific context and phenomenon - television drama series flowing back from streaming to traditional broadcast channels in China since 2015. By focusing on a distribution counter-trend - countering the mainstream trend of the migration of broadcast content to streaming - this thesis traces where and how co-distribution emerged and developed in contemporary Chinese media.

Utilising a case study method, the thesis examines the distribution processes of three television series: Legend of S (2015), Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (2018) and Thunder (2019). These examples facilitate exploration of the emergence of co-distribution in relation to policy pressures, competitive scheduling tactics, political propaganda, and as strategies for maximising economic profits. Exploring co-distribution in the Chinese context, this thesis demonstrates how the growing cultural and economic importance of streaming media has challenged and cooperated with state-owned broadcast stations that once dominated the television market. Importantly, it represents a non-Western example of television’s transformation.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Grainge, Paul Evans, Elizabeth
Keywords:	Television Distribution, Co-Distribution, Streaming Television, Broadcast Television, Drama Series, China
Subjects:	P Language and literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Arts > School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies
Item ID:	82712
Depositing User:	Liu, Shiyao
Date Deposited:	09 Dec 2025 04:40
Last Modified:	09 Dec 2025 04:40
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/82712

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