Mobile firms feed off CCTV's FIFA coverage

Sohu.com Inc also came up with a new tactic to lure traffic since the Web portal couldn't air live matches on its own. It inked a deal with China Telecom Corp Ltd to provide the mobile traffic used to watch CCTV's official live webcast free of charge. Analysts said Sohu's move was the first public tryout of waiving traffic charges for mobile users. Industry regulators have encouraged Web companies to purchase traffic fees from telecom carriers ahead of time and then distribute them to individual smartphone users free of charge.

Companies such as LeTV Information Technology Co and Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd also announced World Cup strategies for their mobile businesses.

Industry insiders said the business model for Internet firms remains simple although different types of partnerships were made public.

Selling advertising slots remains the major revenue source for Web companies, industry consultancy iResearch Consulting Group said.

"Based on the experience of the 2010 World Cup, more than 85 percent of Chinese netizens will pay attention to the event. This alone is a perfect reason for advertisers to spend big this summer," said iResearch.

In addition, the company said more than 60 percent of Web users will pay extra attention to online advertisements during the month-long World Cup.

With so much at stake, CCTV is on high alert, defending its interests during the event.

On Wednesday, the station issued a strongly worded warning about unauthorized online match video sharing.

"No news organization, enterprise or individual should show game content of any kind on TV, radio, the Internet, IPTV or mobile applications until the end of 2014," CCTV said.

Unlike the World Cup itself, more than one top video site will declare victory after the event wraps up: Small, illegal live streaming domains are also likely to get a cut from the huge advertising market that the world's biggest soccer tournament has helped create.

A quick search of "World Cup live webcast" on popular search engine Baidu gave more than 100 million results. Novice sites providing unauthorized live services line up below popular platforms such as Sina, Letv and QQ.

A dozen or so video apps on Apple Inc's iOS also promised to provide live streaming of the games, most of which did not sign a partnership deal with CCTV. The number of such apps on Android-based devices should be significantly higher due to weak regulatory measures on the open-source platform.

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