Netflix’s ‘BoJack Horseman’ Pulled From China’s iQiyi Streaming Service
Episodes of “BoJack Horseman” — Netflix’s adult animated comedy about an alcoholic half-man/half-horse who’s a washed-up TV star — were removed last week from Chinese streaming service iQiyi after evidently running afoul of government censors.
Three episodes of the show debuted June 19 on iQiyi before they were pulled two days later, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. A rep for iQiyi explained that “adjustments need to be made to the content”; there is no indication about when “BoJack” might return to the service.
Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.
Netflix last year abandoned plans to launch its own streaming service in China — at least for the foreseeable future — citing regulatory challenges. Instead, the company inked a licensing pact with iQiyi in April to carry its original programming in the Middle Kingdom. According to iQiyi, the company has 500 million monthly users for its ad-supported video service.
Last month, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged that the company probably misread China’s regulatory environment. “We had our natural optimism that slowly got beat down,” he said, speaking at the Code Conference.
“BoJack Horseman” stars Will Arnett as the voice of the titular character with a cast that includes Aaron Paul, Alison Brie and Any Sedaris. The show is produced by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Co. exclusively for Netflix.
Three episodes of the show debuted June 19 on iQiyi before they were pulled two days later, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. A rep for iQiyi explained that “adjustments need to be made to the content”; there is no indication about when “BoJack” might return to the service.
Netflix did not respond to a request for comment.
Netflix last year abandoned plans to launch its own streaming service in China — at least for the foreseeable future — citing regulatory challenges. Instead, the company inked a licensing pact with iQiyi in April to carry its original programming in the Middle Kingdom. According to iQiyi, the company has 500 million monthly users for its ad-supported video service.
Last month, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings acknowledged that the company probably misread China’s regulatory environment. “We had our natural optimism that slowly got beat down,” he said, speaking at the Code Conference.
“BoJack Horseman” stars Will Arnett as the voice of the titular character with a cast that includes Aaron Paul, Alison Brie and Any Sedaris. The show is produced by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Co. exclusively for Netflix.
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