Netflix said to be seeking partner for China market

LOS ANGELES— Netflix Inc. is in talks with a Chinese media company backed by Jack Ma and other possible partners as it seeks entry into the country’s $7.2-billion online video market, according to people familiar with the matter.

Netflix has held discussions with companies including Wasu Media Holding Co. about forming a partnership, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Netflix plans “to be nearly global by the end of 2016,” a spokeswoman, Anne Marie Squeo, said in response to questions about a possible China partnership.

Entering China would allow the broadcaster of House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black to take advantage of what’s forecast to be explosive growth in online television in the nation of 1.4 billion people. The market is expected to almost triple to 90 billion yuan or $17.6 billion by 2018, according to Shanghai-based Internet consultant IResearch.

A local partnership would be es- sential given the Chinese government’s strict controls over licensing for online content. Netflix wants a partner that has licences for content on all devices — including mobile phones, computers and set-top boxes, according to the people. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has given Internet TV licences to seven companies, including Wasu.

Netflix, based in Los Gatos, Calif., is investing heavily in original programming to keep the U.S. business growing and support international expansion.

“China is too big to have an asterisk next to it,” Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said in Cannes, France, on Friday. “There are a lot of operating constraints in China that are different to anywhere else. We don’t have any operating partners anywhere else in the world, so that would be a new skill for us too.”

Netflix would need to sort out content censorship regulations with Chinese authorities. Starting this April, new episodes of foreign programs can’t be shown until after the shows’ seasons have ended, according to a government notice.