some of u guys mistaken it's "free" on youtube
china drama , when they air on youku, sohu , qq ...... these platform they pay tens of millions in license fee , per platform ... for premier rights ... before TV stations broadcast
if the drama is blockbuster grade , easily can collect over 100 million before show preview trailer to assure the production doesn't loose money
I'm talking about sing dollars equivalent , not renminbi 1:5
these platforms would recover the license fee by the 60 second commercial that play before every episode and the 5 second commercial every 10 minute
youtube is the same , but the license fee is lower not the same as china internet platforms
most of the time the drama investor or publisher do it themselves and not wait for external youtube channel to knock on their office to buy license ...
you look at the youtube channel Croton sumthing sumthing ... they are a big production company in china