'Saturday Night Live' comes to China's Internet

BEIJING - A popular online video site is bringing the irreverent, topical humor of Saturday Night Live to China.

The late-night U.S. comedy sketch show that mocks politicians, popular culture, and celebrities is being shown exclusively on the website of Sohu Video, a unit of the Chinese online media group Sohu.com Inc., which is listed on the Nasdaq exchange.

Ten episodes from the current 39th season of SNL are available. Future episodes will be available online without subtitles the Monday after airing in the United States, and a version with Chinese subtitles and explanations of cultural references will be available at 10 p.m. the next Saturday, Sohu said in its announcement Thursday.

The NBC network show has been a comedy proving ground since its inception, with Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, and Will Ferrell among its cast over the years. Many sketches and musical performances have been made into movies or have gone viral online.

Topics have featured China, including a sketch of a news conference with then-President Hu Jintao berating President Obama over the national debt.

But Sohu chairman and CEO Charles Zhang said he didn't expect the show's edgy themes to get them into trouble in China.

"Things that are controversial in America are probably not controversial in China," he said. "And this talk show is in the spirit of fun and humor. I don't think there will be any problem."

Chinese films and TV shows are routinely censored to prevent criticism of leaders or to remove socially sensitive content, including sexually suggestive humor, and SNL frequently tests those boundaries.

Zhang said the show, if popular, could inspire Chinese companies to produce shows with similar formats, though content was another matter. "It's a different political setting," he said at a news conference attended by American comedian Joe Wong and Beijing-born TV host and musician Kelly Cha.

Sohu Video's site, like other Chinese online sites, licenses many hit American TV shows alongside Japanese animation series, Chinese variety shows, and in-house programs. Sohu's early U.S. programs were Lost and The Big Bang Theory, and last year, it obtained exclusive online rights for the second season of hit reality show The Voice of China, which generated nearly 2 billion video views, according to the company.

Zhang said U.S. TV shows had been successful at generating advertising revenue online in China. He didn't give a figure for how much they had paid for exclusive rights to Saturday Night Live within China, but said it was cheaper per episode than for a U.S. drama series.

China's government restricts foreign access to its television audience and bars most of its cable operators from carrying foreign channels. Online video provides more access for foreign productions.

Unlike a few years ago, most Western TV shows and movies on Chinese websites today are licensed, though pirated content still exists. Zhang welcomed an announcement this week from a government agency labeling China's largest search engine, Baidu Inc., and software company QVOD the top two copyright violators last year.