BEIJING, Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Youku Inc.
(NYSE: YOKU), China's leading
Internet television company, announced that it will kick off the
Year of the Dragon with new seasons of the popular Youku Original
web serials "Hip-Hop Office Quartet" and "Miss Puff" starting this month.
"Hip-Hop Office Quartet," which starts its fourth season this
Valentine's Day, debuted in
November 2008 as Youku's first foray
into longer-form in-house production. A sharp send-up of
contemporary Chinese office culture, it received an average of more
than 3.6 million views per episode, and was China's first web series to reach 100 million
views. The most-viewed episode of the series was watched nearly 20
million times.
The animated series "Miss Puff,"
scheduled to return on March 12 for
its third season, follows a material girl as she negotiates the
twists and turns of Chinese urban life. The serial's first season,
which debuted in April 2011, was
viewed more than 38 million times -- an average of 2.9 million
views per episode, with a single-episode record of 4.3 million
views.
"We envisioned our Youku Original strategy as a way to combine
Youku's understanding of our viewership with the creative talents
of the young artists and directors we work with," said Youku Senior
Vice President Frank Ming Wei. "The
continued popularity of 'Hip-Hop Office Quartet' and 'Miss Puff' shows that Youku is unparalleled in
its ability to create refreshing and engaging content that
resonates with our over 300 million viewers."
Youku Original is a key part of the company's content strategy,
which covers a combination of licensed professionally produced
content, in-house productions from Youku Original, and
user-generated content (UGC). Youku Original has released 15
productions, 13 of which placed in the monthly Top 20 most-viewed
rankings and 11 in the monthly Top 10 most-viewed rankings on Youku
Index during the period in which they were aired.
The "11 Degrees New Media" project, a Youku Original-produced
campaign for Chevy Cruze that
included the animated short that introduced the character of
Miss Puff, was named "Best
Contribution to a Campaign by a Media Owner" by the Festival of
Media Asia Awards in November 2011.
"Father," a web film produced for Youku by the makers of the
popular "Old Boys" and "The Ultimate Winner," received over 2
million views within 24 hours of its debut, and was named "Audience
Favorite" at last month's Harbin
Film Festival.
About Youku
Youku Inc. is China's leading
Internet television company. Our Internet television platform
enables users to search, view and share high-quality video content
quickly and easily across multiple devices. Youku, which stands for
"what's best and what's cool" in Chinese, is the most recognized
online video brand in China.
Youku's American depositary shares, each representing 18 of our
Class A ordinary shares, are traded on NYSE under the symbol
"YOKU."
For more information, please
contact:
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Media Relations:
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Jean Shao
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Director, International
Communications
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Youku Inc.
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Tel: +86-10-5885-1881
x7128
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Email: shaodan@youku.com
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SOURCE Youku.com Inc.