MUMBAI: Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), the recently-launched independent Asian media company, has announced several major content licensing deals for Video On Demand (VOD) rights with multiple platforms in China, including iQIYI, Sohu, You On Demand and Youku.

The deals establish CTE‘s presence as a content distributor in Asia in addition to its operation of six branded pay TV channels across Asia Pacific. The deals encompass feature films and television content from
the Lionsgate library, enabling CTE to further penetrate China‘s booming 2 billion-plus RMB ($300 million) video-on-demand market.

Lionsgate, a diversified global entertainment company, is partnered in CTE with Saban Capital Group and Astro‘s Celestial Pictures.

CTE executive VP, content sales and distribution Wendy Reeds said, "These VOD deals represent just the first step for CTE‘s content distribution in China. CTE has a strong library of film and television content from Lionsgate, as well as original CTE productions, that we are proud to bring to viewers in China."

CTE noted that its content licensing deals meet a growing need for copyrighted content in the intensely competitive 2 billion RMB Chinese online video market, which is poised for continued strong growth after a 170 per cent increase in 2010 over the previous year.

As the exclusive sales agent for all of Lionsgate‘s content in Greater China and Southeast Asia, CTE has access to a vast array of commercially successful and critically-acclaimed films and television series, and the licensing deals announced included Quentin Tarantino‘s ‘Reservoir Dogs‘, ‘Monster‘s Ball‘, ‘Dune‘, the action franchise ‘Crank‘ and the television series ‘Mad Men‘.