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Source: Zinc scale (ID: znkedu)
Long video is still difficult to make profits
The "Dream of China Record", which has been popular on Tencent video for nearly a month, was once called "the spring of ancient puppet dramas" with a high score of 8.8 douban.
With such a rare explosive fund in hand, Tencent Video also offered new ideas at the end. VIP members can spend 18 yuan to buy the "live broadcast (including playback) ticket" to watch the "Happy Meeting, Dreaming Together" spot show, and can watch the grand finale together with the main group of "Dream of China" through the live broadcast room.
Although the planning of this event was directly referred to as the "resurgence" of advanced on-demand broadcasting, many "recorded people" still paid quickly with swearing, and used a cup of milk tea to meet Liu Yifei.
Long video websites have not had a new revenue increase plan since Advanced On Demand withdrew from the historical stage in a verbal and written attack, and the profit problem has still not been solved. If the profit model of "Menghua Record" Dianyingli is really feasible, it is highly likely that long-term video websites will follow suit one after another in the future.
But between the limited revenue and the complaints of netizens, the development of long video websites is not only difficult.
I want to collect money from fans, but my sincerity is not enough
Zou Yingzhi, who has not followed domestic dramas for a long time, became a "recorder" for the whole of June. The reason why "Dream of China" attracted her is very simple - Liu Yifei. "A cold knowledge," Dream of China "is Liu Yifei's first TV play broadcast as an adult." Zou Yingzhi said that, in view of this, "Dream of China" also has to watch.
In fact, "Dream of China Record" really received a lot of attention from the beginning of its broadcast. Douban opened 8.3 points, and then rose to 8.8 points all the way. By the end of the press release, although the score had dropped to 8.5, more than 55.8% of the audience had scored five stars based on the evaluation of nearly 600000 people, which also made "Dream of China" regarded as the late spring of ancient puppet dramas.
Some people even said in the Douban group of "Menghua Record" that "from today on, Menghua Record" has officially become the standard. From big to explosive, small to props, those that do not meet the standard of "Menghua Record" cannot be blown up. "It is not difficult to see that, in the recently boring film and television drama circle," Menghua Record "has indeed become a hot money.
Seeing this, Tencent Video naturally sniffed out the business opportunities. On June 23, Tencent Video announced the launch of a ceremony to show the finale of "Menghualu", and on June 26, it was accompanied by the main group of Menghualu through live broadcast to go to the finale with all the "recorders".
Dream of China As soon as this news came out, Tencent Video was immediately denounced by netizens, "Goose, have no heart, just want to ask for money. I'm afraid it will affect your popularity in the July summer vacation", "You've recorded Menghua up and down to make money", "Aren't you afraid that someone will report you for ordering ahead of time ... Such negative comments almost flooded the comment area of Tencent Video's official microblog.
However, on June 26, the "recorder" who "dislikes integrity" still bought tickets for Liu Yifei, Chen Xiao and the grand finale, which can be regarded as a follower of "Gu Pan Shenghui CP".
From the content point of view, the 18 yuan Dian Ying gift ticket can not only see the live broadcast of Dian Ying, but also watch the remaining eight episodes at one go. Compared with the previous unit price of pre click, it has decreased. "It costs money to buy online disk resources anyway, and the legitimate version can see the fairy sister, which is not a loss." Zou Yingzhi said.
However, Tencent's video, which was promoted with the live broadcast of the leading group as a gimmick, still encountered constant abuse. "Liu Yifei didn't stay long at all. It is said that she left because of her work filming. Moreover, when several leading actors were together, they were embarrassed as if they were a group online class, and the interaction was very boring." Many viewers complained after watching the premiere ceremony, "Originally, I went to several leading actors, but I didn't know whether it was due to the lack of schedule or for some reason, they all left one after another, which is totally different from the original publicity."
In the midst of the call for "more changes", Tencent Video rekindled the dead ash of advanced on-demand broadcasting by means of click on ceremony+unlocking episodes. But from the final effect, the audience seems not very satisfied with this.
Similar models, but poor returns
Has Tencent Video really made a lot of money after being scolded?
The number of people who have made reservations for the "Dream of China Record" screen gift is nearly 800000. Some insiders said that the conversion rate from the number of people who have made reservations to the number of people who have paid is about 10%, that is, the income of the screen gift package is estimated to be about 1.4 million yuan.
In addition, Tencent Video also set up the "Exclusive Peripheral Premiere of" Dream of China "on the screen of" Click on Ceremony ", including a double butterfly love necklace with a price of 158 yuan, a closing blessing bag with a price of 19.8 yuan, a white head bookmark with a price of 25.9 yuan, an official customized group fan with a price of 59 yuan, a pillow dream bookmark with a price of 35.9 yuan, as well as a variety of" Dream of China "peripheral products such as umbrellas, badges, masks, and key chains.
However, from the perspective of sales volume, the sales volume of closing blessing bags, drama chasing welfare bags and masks sold for less than 20 yuan exceeded 1000, and the sales volume of other peripheral products was really bleak. Therefore, Tencent Video is afraid that it will be difficult for Tencent Video to realize the hot sale of its peripheral products by taking advantage of the popular IP of "Dream of China".
The sales volume of "Dream of China" released by Tencent Video was flat Therefore, Tencent Video's move seems to rekindle the fire of advance on-demand, but it has not ignited.
Move the timeline back to 2019, when Tencent Video launched the advanced on-demand mode for the first time with the popular "Chen Qing Ling". Perhaps because of the novelty, or because the "Chen Qing Ling" is hot enough, the final advance payment income of the play is up to 156 million yuan, which is obviously impossible for the spot mode of "Meng Hua Lu".
After that, the mode of advance on-demand began to be implemented on major long video websites. According to the Webcast Performance and User Analysis of the Series Market in the First Half of 2021 released by Yunhe Data, the number of online "advance on-demand" dramas in the first half of 2021 reached 67, accounting for 33% of the total number of new dramas.
Among them, there are 10 advanced on-demand dramas of iQIYI online, and the on-demand proportion is 11%; Both Tencent Video and Youku Online had 24 episodes on demand in advance, accounting for 30% and 34% respectively, while Mango TV Online had 21 episodes on demand in advance, accounting for 47%.
The unspoken rule that "all popular dramas must be broadcast on demand ahead of time" prevails in long video websites, but consumers complain incessantly about it. One is dissatisfied with the secondary consumption after recharging members, and the other is dissatisfied with the rules of advance on-demand broadcasting, which is somewhat "overbearing". For example, it is impossible to choose which episode to pay for voluntarily, but it needs to be unlocked one by one.
After receiving a large number of consumer complaints, the China Consumer Association issued a document pointing out four points that video website VIPs should abide by: 1. Advance on-demand should be voluntary, and episode by episode restrictions should be lifted; 2. Advertising privileges should be guaranteed and illegal push should be eliminated; 3. The automatic renewal routine is deep, and the charging rules should be fair; 4. The agreement shall not be changed at will, and the rights and interests of users shall be implemented.
In October 2021, iQiyi, Tencent, Youku and other video websites announced the cancellation of advanced on-demand. The mechanism of this long rescue video website, which attracted numerous names, finally came to an end.
At present, although the mode of "Menghua Record" ordering gift packages is somewhat similar, the benefits and appeal to consumers are not as good as before.
Give up the "three highs" and rethink the profitability problem
It is less than a year since the cancellation of advance on-demand broadcasting, and Tencent Video has urgently launched the game of on-demand broadcasting. Behind this is the old profit dilemma.
Since last year, iQIYI, Tencent Video and Mango TV have raised the price of members successively, and the price of member services such as "Tencent Video VIP Continuous Monthly Subscription", "Tencent Video VIP Continuous Monthly Subscription", "Tencent Video VIP Annual Card", and "Super Movie VIP Continuous Monthly Subscription" has increased by 5 to 20 yuan. IQIYI and Mango TV also saw similar growth, while Youku announced a price increase before the opening of various dramas and variety shows with potential to be popular this summer.
Although every price increase of long video websites will cause a storm, this strategy seems to be effective. According to the Q1 financial report of Iqiyi in 2022, ARM (monthly average single member income) in this quarter was 14.69 yuan, up 7.69% from 13.64 yuan in the same period last year.
The advance payment income of the Complaint Order reached 156 million yuan However, this is not a solution that can fundamentally reverse the situation, which can be seen from the gap between the popularity of "Dream of China" and the effect of the final point screening. Some viewers pointed out that when Tencent video was wrongly clicked, "The Dream of China" can be regarded as a high opening and low going, the first half is really good, but some of the plots have collapsed later. At this time, people will pay extra money to buy the ending, no wonder the effect is not good ".
In the final analysis, the most important reason for the audience to consume is still whether the goods have excellent quality. In the long video industry, it is a test of whether the platform can continue to produce more sophisticated film and television works. Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Institute of Deep Science and Technology, once said to the media, "The long video platform lacks core competitiveness, and the industry lacks a healthy business model, which makes it difficult to form a positive cash flow. Under the competition of short video, the long video platform's ability to publicize IP has further declined, and the industry has entered a downward channel. At present, there is no sign of a rebound."
For a long time, the high cost of obtaining high-quality content, the high investment cost of platform operation and maintenance, and the high cost of traffic acquisition and maintenance have kept the long video websites under pressure, and even created the chaos of grabbing the copyrights of hot dramas at sky high prices. But as time goes by, long video websites have also come to the stage where they must explore profits, otherwise they will only become IP agents and advertising platforms.
After "Dream of China", perhaps the mode of starting point screening will be popular on the long video platform, but the audience is not penniless, just need to see the sincerity of the platform. On the one hand, it is necessary for the long video platform to stop chasing the hot IP and spend a lot of financial energy. Instead, it is necessary to concentrate on creating unique IP and creative ability to improve the stickiness to users; On the other hand, even if we adopt the mode of "Dian Ying Li", the audience also hopes to spend every penny more than it is worth. How many tricks can be played in this way is still a question for the platform.
(Statement: This article only represents the author's view, not Sina.com's position.)
