• The New York Times, Wednesday, October 18, 2006 11:30 AM

Viacom struck an interesting deal with Chinese Web giant Baidu.com Tuesday to provide television and music-video content to the country's rapidly growing Web market. Baidu, the No. 1 Chinese search destination, is one of the Web's most heavily trafficked sites; the alliance marks the biggest effort yet to introduce American TV and entertainment content to China. According to the terms, MTV Networks will provide Baidu with 15,000 hours of original video and licensed music content, much of which will be dubbed in Chinese.

The deal comes two months after MTV Networks formed a similar alliance with Google to distribute ad-supported video clips over the Web through Google's network. It also firmly establishes Viacom's content distribution strategy: While some content providers (News Corp., Time Warner) aren't sure whether to partner with Google or try to compete, Viacom has decided to forgo the Web portal game and use the services of enablers like Google and Baidu to spread its influence over the Web.

The deal is also a milestone for a content provider in China. In the past, American media companies' efforts to bring their programming to China have been thwarted by strict regulations and ad delays imposed by the Chinese government. Viacom execs say the Web deal is not designed to get around existing content restrictions and regulations.

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