Youku is one of the most famous content streaming platforms in China. The best aspect of it is that you will be able to find here a wide selection of movies, television shows, anime, and other types of media, all of which have subtitles in the language of your choice. It receives 23.6 billion views per month, of which 580 million are unique, and nearly half of its customers are younger than the age of 30. Alibaba completed the privatisation of Youku in the previous year in a $3.5 billion deal. Many of its users are curious about the release timing of its new episodes as well as its pricing.
In this article, we will learn more about the platform as well as its pricing. We will also look into the release times of episodes released on Youku.
What’s Youku?
Youku is a brand name for the video hosting service Youku Tudou Inc., which has its headquarters in Beijing, China. It is a division that runs under Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s umbrella. Youku’s administrative offices are located in the Sinosteel Plaza, which is located in the Haidian District of Beijing. Youku, together with iQiyi, Sohu, LeTV, Tencent Video, PPTV, 56.com, and Funshion, is one of the leading online video and streaming service platforms in China. However, in 2015, Youku’s competitor Baidu’s iQiyi was able to unseat it as the dominant player in the Chinese market for online video streaming.
Victor Koo, who had previously served as the President of the Chinese internet portal Sohu, is the person who initiated the creation of Youku. Verge, a fund that he had previously established, provided the website with its initial investment. In June of 2003, a test version of the website was released, although its geographic reach was restricted. The website was officially introduced to the public in December of that same year.
What Time does Youku Releases New Episodes?
Youku is certainly one of the most popular platforms that delivers Chinese content because of its extensive streaming library, and it is also one of the leading platforms overall. Because it has such a large library, there is no set schedule for when new episodes will be made available. Because each series operates on its own timetable, the release of new episodes of any given series is contingent not only on the production team for that series but also on the timetable that they adhere to.
As a result, the producers are able to release episodes in accordance with their own schedules, which eliminates the possibility of any conflicts or dependencies arising between the various series. Despite the fact that Youku is a Chinese platform, the release times of the episodes are in accordance with Beijing time (BJT) or China Standard Time (CST).
Therefore, people who live in countries other than China may be able to view the content before or after the time that was originally slated for its release, depending on the time zone they are streaming from. Before beginning to watch the show, it is strongly suggested that individuals check in advance regarding the release time of the episode in their region.
Youku Plans and Pricing
Youku VIP has a monthly subscription price of 25 yuan, and the price for consecutive monthly subscriptions is 68 yuan. You will not have to deal with advertisements when watching premium content such as a variety of television series, movies, and other media when you subscribe to VIP. Note that you may be presented with advertisements at the start of an episode or movie, but you have the option to avoid them at any moment. It is not a paid advertisement, but rather more of a suggestion based on the content that you have watched in the past.
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