Source: Gong Weifeng, reporter of Yangcheng Evening News
On November 7, the "2020 Super Penguin Red Blue War" was held in Guangzhou Stadium. After competition, the Blue Energy Team led by Li Chen, Zhang Yuan and other stars defeated the Red Force Team led by Li Wenhan, Wang Hedi and other stars 67-63 to win the championship of this war.
This year, many sports variety shows met the audience: Summer Surf Shop, Teenagers in Sports Bar, This! This is Hip Hop 3, Supernova Games 3, Super Penguin Alliance, This! This is Slam Dunk 3... Many topics of programs have been on the microblog hot search list, but it is difficult to generate national popularity. Can the problem of "difficulty in getting out of the circle" of sports variety show be solved?
Field A: a collision between basketball and entertainment
This year is the fifth year of the Super Penguin Red and Blue War, with the theme of "To the people who play". Star players such as Li Chen, Li Wenhan, Wang Hedi and Ma Jia, as well as representative players of the four major basketball events, contributed to the wonderful duels. At the same time, the joining of Wang Fei, Zheng Wu, Li Qun and other famous basketball stars, Hard Candy Girl 303, and the Hubei Anti epidemic Team assisted by Southern Medical University also made the event more attractive. Significantly, this special basketball game created on the scene of the Red Blue War this year - Zheng Wu and Li Qun led the South Medical University's anti epidemic team in Hubei to participate in the 3V3 public welfare ball game. After the game, the meritorious coach Wang Fei issued special jerseys to the anti epidemic heroes.
In the red and blue wars in the past years, many star players have left a highlight moment: in 2016, Sun Yang and Wu Yifan led the stars to cut double doubles; In 2017, Aaron Guo and Awakening saluted Iverson; In 2018, Abdul Salam contributed to the final victory at the buzzer; In 2019, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker will get together again... This year's game, the star player team of Super Penguin League is growing. At present, nearly 200 stars have joined the ranks of this sports and entertainment cross-border event.
Super Penguin Alliance can be regarded as a variety show model combining sports and entertainment. In the sports direction, the basketball game lasted for a day, which made basketball fans addicted: this year's Red and Blue War was the first time that the strength of ordinary players appeared. Four teams composed of four major Chinese basketball events, NBA 3X, JUMP 10, 3V3 Golden League, and King of Passers, launched the 3V3 competition in the afternoon. The championship battle of "2020 Super Penguin League: 3-star Arena" also started. On that night, the red and blue wars involving entertainment stars pushed the whole program to a high point.
In the entertainment direction, "Super Penguin Alliance" has emerged as a hot search list high topic. Wang Hedi yelled at the referee to vent his anger because he was dissatisfied with the referee's decision to block the foul. After being called for a technical foul, Wang Hedi made it worse, insulted the referee, took off his basketball uniform and walked out of the court, and kicked over the garbage can. This behavior attracted public attention. Later, Wang Hedi apologized on his microblog: "As an adult, he made another mistake of not controlling his temper, so I apologize to the program team and brothers..." However, he also firmly said: "A lot of irresponsible punishments have affected the direction of the tournament and destroyed my three years of perseverance."
The hard candy girls 303 clustered in Creation Camp 2020 brought a sweet moment to the program. They not only contributed to the singing and dancing performance, but also watched the competition all the way to cheer for the players. When being interviewed by the Yangcheng Evening News reporter, they were asked whether there was a little brother they liked on the basketball court. They said: "Girls still like girls, and we all stare at the little sister of the cheerleading team." The interaction with Zhang Yuan also made them on the hot search list - Zhang Yuan asked: "Would you like to find a boy friend who likes playing basketball?" Team member Zheng Naixin calmly said: "I don't like to fall in love. ”
Phenomenon B: basketball becomes the breakthrough of sports variety
According to the Penguin Think Tank report, the number of core basketball fans in China has reached 143 million, and the number of pan basketball fans has reached 482 million. Among the young people who like basketball, the average person watches 1.37 basketball games every week. The strong population base of the industry makes basketball a breakthrough in sports variety. According to statistics, there are less than ten sports variety shows successfully broadcast in 2020, including two variety shows with basketball as the core - "This! Is Dunk 3" and "Super Penguin Alliance".
Both programs have caused great repercussions in the basketball circle. After the launch of the program, the fans gathered in the "Tiger Pounding Network" to discuss topics of high popularity. Since several programs have achieved the "marriage" between basketball circle and entertainment circle, many fans of entertainment and sports stars have also entered the pit while gaining social topics and public attention. Taking "This! Is Dunk 3" as an example, the program achieved full coverage of flow, topic and professionalism in the selection of star guests: Deng Lun served as the basketball manager, Zhu Fangyu, Wang Shipeng, Guo Allen and Zhou Qi served as coaches, and Chen Xinwei, Jin Zihan, Nai Wan and Xu Yiyang served as team leaders. In terms of content, after the trial and adjustment of the first two seasons, the program balanced entertainment and competitiveness in the third season. Previously, I Want to Play Basketball, a popular basketball variety show in 2019, was also sought after by many fans because of the joining of Li Yifeng, Deng Lun, Lin Shuhao and Du Feng.
Basketball is a sport easy for entertainment stars to master, which is also the reason why the "basketball+entertainment" variety show can achieve deep content cultivation. There is no shortage of senior basketball fans in the circle, such as Jay Chou, Xiao Jingteng, Yu Wenle, etc. Ma Jia, the tenor singer who took part in the "Super Penguin Red Blue War", told the Yangcheng Evening News: "There are quite a few people playing basketball in the entertainment industry. I usually play with Li Chen, Gong Ziqi, Wang Hedi and other people, as well as a group of rapping friends." Zhang Yuan also formed a basketball team: "I often make an appointment with wake up."
After the broadcast of the basketball variety show, the entertainment variety show and the sports industry also achieved a positive resonance. Zhou Rui, known as the "Four Legendary Streetball Figures in China", said: "Previously, many people could only take basketball as a hobby, but now they can take basketball as a job. The general environment of basketball is getting better and better, and the participation of stars can bring more attention to the basketball project. They are influential and popular, and their love will affect more people to love the game."
C dilemma: it is difficult to trigger social topics
In the plan, the hosting of the Tokyo Olympic Games would have made this year the year of "sports variety show". However, due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games was postponed, and most of the sports variety shows were delayed or even cancelled, including "We are champions", "Challenge! Olympics", "China champions", "I want to play basketball 2", "VS champions" and so on. The lack of popularity atmosphere of sports events and the narrowing of the radiation area of sports variety shows also make it particularly difficult for the programs to go out of the circle.
At present, there are few sports variety shows that can raise a buzz. Among the sports variety shows broadcast this year, the two new variety shows, Summer Surf Shop and Sports Bar Teenager, did not appear in the circle. Summer Surf Shop Huang Xuan, Han Dongjun, Qiao Xin and Huang Minghao were invited to run a summer surf shop with a surf coach in Riyue Bay, Wanning City, Hainan Province in 21 days. The program focuses on slow life, with good overall quality. However, due to the weak sense of participation of the audience, the entertainment is not enough, and the topic of the program is not high. While "Teenagers in Sports Bar" has invited top players from sports circles such as Lin Dan, Zhang Jike, Fu Yuanhui, etc., some settings of the program have been criticized by the audience.
As for several sports comprehensive N-generation programs, such as "This! Is Hip Hop 3", "Super New Star Games 3", "Super Penguin Alliance", and "This! Is Slam Dunk 3", they have all caused a great deal of popularity in the relevant circles, but it is still difficult to achieve the same popularity as "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves" and "Actors Please Be in Place 2". These four sports comprehensive N-generation programs have all achieved the balance between entertainment and sports professionalism, but they are not prominent enough in the agenda setting of topic popularity, and it is difficult to find explosive points that can trigger social debate.
The audience's aesthetic demand is also a major reason for the difficulty of sports variety show. In the process of program production, it is often difficult to adjust the public opinion of sports variety show - male audiences value the professionalism of sports events more, while female audiences value the entertainment of variety show content more; Enthusiasts value the preciseness of the project presentation, while the project "Xiaobai" wants to acquire more universal knowledge. Compared with the variety shows of music, acting skills and other categories, sports variety shows are more difficult to get out of the circle.
Although it is not popular in the field of variety show, the market value is gradually forming. For example, Youku Sports, relying on the series "This is the Slam Dunk", has continuously made deep efforts in the basketball field, forming a complete content matrix of "professional league matches+campus events+basketball variety+various folk events". On the other hand, relying on the Super Penguin League, Tencent Sports has further upgraded, gathered four major Chinese basketball events, NBA 3X, JUMP 10, 3V3 Golden League and King of Passers, opened the channel for ordinary players to enter the Super Penguin Red Blue War, and achieved the integration of the basketball industry while delivering the basketball spirit.
D trend: Pan sports variety show may become a new direction
Domestic sports variety shows have experienced a rapid iterative process. Since "Between Cities" in 1998, sports variety shows have developed rapidly and gone through several rounds of iterations: before and after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, major satellite TV stations have successively launched "breakthrough" variety shows, such as "Zhiyong Rush", "I'm the Best", "Boys and Girls Rush Forward"; In 2013, "diving" variety shows were popular, and Star Diving Cube and Chinese Star Leaping became the representatives; Before and after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, sports variety shows such as "Come on Champion", "Fast Forward", "Extraordinary Partner" and other "star element interaction" have been emerging. Later, the variety show represented by basketball programs maintained the popularity of sports variety show in the past two years.
In 2018, there were 17 competitive variety shows, second only to 18 music shows. According to statistical data, in 2019, competitive programs accounted for 42.9% of the variety shows on various platforms, and there were 13 vertical sports variety shows, including hip-hop. According to the 2020 variety show rehearsal list released in 2019, the number of sports variety shows this year should reach about 20. Affected by the epidemic, programs that have not been produced this year may be postponed to next year.
The sports variety shows in the last two years also reflect some trends. First of all, the pan sports vertical variety show represented by This is Hip Hop Dance has caused a strong shock in the circle. The three seasons of "This is Hip Hop" all scored more than 8.5 points. At the same time, the leading subculture industry chain has formed a popularity effect among young people. Hip Hop's surroundings and hip-hop courses have revitalized the industrial economy. The combined development of such variety shows and cultural industries may promote the development of sports variety shows to expand industrial value.
In recent years, there has also been a short-term, high-intensity, serialized sports variety show model. Supernova Games and Super Penguin Alliance are representatives. The Supernova Sports Meet has been held for three seasons, with famous sports stars as guides, leading entertainment stars to compete in more than 20 sports in a very short time. Take the third season of this year's program as an example. There are only four on-demand programs, plus three live programs. As the program gathered many young flow artists, there was constant hot search during the competition. Super Penguin Alliance is a competition that has lasted for five years, and to some extent, it has the trend of forming a "Super Bowl" model.
