Editorial Summary

NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES), Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and Tencent (0700.HK) held a press conference on Tuesday to announce that they have obtained Olympic online broadcasting rights from China Central Television's (CCTV) cctv.com, reports 163.com. The three companies are now authorized to provide live online broadcasts and video on demand content covering the games from the opening ceremonies on through close.

Sohu's (Nasdaq: SOHU) total spending on the Olympics may top RMB 500 million, while Sina and Tencent could spend RMB 130 million and RMB 100 million, respectively, reports China Business News quoting a sports channel director at a Chinese portal site. The industry insider said Olympic revenue for the giants is likely to be at least double their financial reports in other period, and the revenue amount is measured by licensing fees, signed athletes and teams, and spending on traditional media. According to the report, large portal sites have contracted nearly all of their ad spaces for the Olympic period. Sohu CEO Charles Zhang said the company has already earned back the money it spent to become the official Internet content sponsor of the games, and is now focusing Olympic spending on brand promotion.