Selling for a massive 50,000 yuan ($7,300) an episode, China's first made-for-Internet drama series That Love Comes is creating a stir in the broadcasting world and widening the possibilities for ways that entertainment is delivered.

A Scene from That Love Comes. [Global Times]

Produced by major video-sharing website Tudou, the Internet series, which has twelve 30-minute episodes, is based on a love triangle between a photographer, supermodel and shop assistant. It is scheduled to premiere online in October.

"We learned from traditional TV series and are ensuring quality by having a professional cast and production team," producer of the series Chen Hanze, told the Global Times.

"We have also added new online instant feedback and audience interaction through our website, 3G phones and iPad subscriptions," she said.

"The director Ke Hanchen is a well-known romance TV series director from Taiwan," Chen added, revealing That Love Comes' cast includes actors Joseph Cheng and Li Feier and supermodel Pei Bei.

"Our website users are also involved," she said. "There are two Tudou active users working in the stills photography department and one in the lighting department, they bring many voices from the audience. We also keep a close eye on the viewing habits of our audience, we have a database of users' IP locations, when they are online and for how long. We understand our audience well and can adjust accordingly, that's what traditional TV series can never do."

According to Chen, Tudou now has its own made-for-Internet series campaign called Orange Box and a talent-training scheme, No.6 Talent Warehouse. That Love Comes is Orange Box's first project.

"This year we have two or three made-for-Internet dramas with budgets over 10 million yuan ($1.4 million). They are in different genres, including suspense and thriller. We are hoping to have three to five series a year after 2011," Chen said.

Other video-sharing websites have also announced plans for made-for-Internet programs. Youku.com is working with China Film Association to make 11 Degree Youth, Qiyi.com announced its Internet series in June and Ku6.com is planning a Chinese The Big Bang Theory.

"Video sharing websites used to show film and TV series illegally in China, now it is becoming more strict. Video sharing websites have to buy copyright now…therefore they are seeking new ways. Making their own series seems to be a good option, it saves copyright fees and could be profitable," media analyst Zhang Nuo told the Global Times. "If it works well, it will be a good transition for those websites, from a video-sharing platform, to video sharing platform plus content provider."

"The targeted audience of the made-for-Internet dramas is the young generation who don't watch TV on TV. They need the most flexibility in terms of time and location," TV producer Su Limei said earlier this year. "Websites like Tudou, if they have the whole package, their own talent who can make drama productions and distribution plus their website-tudou.com, it will be the future for both video-sharing websites and traditional TV companies."

However, not everyone agrees. "I think Tudou will be the first loser in this new made-for-Internet trend," TV producer Ma Zhongjun was quoted by China Youth Daily as saying. "It is still too early, the audience and the market are not ready yet."

Wang Wei, CEO of Tudou, said that it is too early to tell whether Internet series will be a success and while confident, said that he prefers to wait and see.