North American time on April 14th, the final season (season eight) of "Game of Thrones" was launched and broadcast simultaneously in more than 150 countries around the world. Tencent Video updated and deleted its version, and the number of views exceeded 44.41 million overnight. This legendary drama finally reached the time to bid farewell to the audience.
In 2011, this fantasy epic series adapted from George Martin's fantasy novel "A Song of Ice and Fire" landed on HBO and won the love of critics and audiences, creating the largest number of viewers ever for HBO, attracting hundreds of viewers. Million new subscribers. In the eight years of "Game of Thrones" sweeping the global market and winning 47 Emmy Awards, it has successively launched "True Detective", "Western World", "Silver Night", "Little Lies" and other high-quality Episodes.
In the minds of many Chinese audiences, HBO is synonymous with American dramas, and "Game of Thrones" is HBO's most ambitious work. It transforms fan-based works into magnificent visual experiences. In the opinion of the critics, "Game of Thrones" can be regarded as today's "Star Wars", becoming the touchstone of popular culture and changing the entertainment industry with its super high production standards. The eighth season was filmed in ten countries around the world, and the astronomical budget of US$15 million per episode is almost unprecedented in the television circle.
's money-burning "Game of Thrones" feeds back HBO's user growth and revenue growth. In 2011, HBO had 93 million users worldwide, and the annual revenue of HBO TV and streaming media platforms totaled US$4.5 billion. Last year, HBO had 140 million users worldwide and total revenue reached 6.6 billion US dollars.
An insider who has worked in the core department of HBO for 27 years, in the book "HBO's Content Strategy", Bill Messi Jr. wrote about the rapid development of HBO at the beginning of its establishment, the difficulties encountered as it matures, and the focus on original production The golden age after self-made drama. Wang Cong, the founder of Mai Rui Entertainment, found that in the more than 40 years since HBO was born, no more than 200 TV series have been produced, which is not as large as the output of the Chinese TV series industry in one year.
On May 19th, "Game of Thrones" came to an end, but HBO's journey was not over, and it once again stood at a critical crossroads after changing its head.
HBO opens a new era of entertainment
Although the concept of pay TV has long existed, before the birth of HBO, no one succeeded in this concept.
Since the birth of TV, people have been getting TV programs for free, and letting people spend money to watch TV is as difficult as letting them spend money to buy air.
In 1972, the cable TV HBO (Home Box Office) was born. It was able to reach remote areas that the wireless TV network was unwilling to reach. It earned itself a living space. It attracted users through free viewing for the first month, and then used satellite transmission. Signal coverage throughout the United States has become an important event in the transformation of the entertainment industry driven by technology. In more than 40 years, HBO has grown from a small cable TV station with less than 400 subscribers to an entertainment giant occupying 90% of the market share of American pay TV channels.
It has created many "firsts", successfully opened the world's first pay TV channel, and took the lead in creating original and self-made content. As the originator of content payment, it has changed the habit of people spending money on TV shows. To a certain extent, the rise and fall it has experienced is more worthy of attention than Netflix, which has received more attention today. It has stimulated people's interest in home entertainment and even changed the map of the film industry. Its great innovations and previous failures will all become important references for the future layout of China Xingxin Video Website.
"Cable TV technology and satellite TV technology innovation have changed the way of content dissemination, from the advertising model to the change in the user charging model, from the market share of the purchased content to the original content becoming the core competitiveness. The development history of HBO is the history of online video History of development.” Gong Yu, CEO of iQiyi, commented on the development history of HBO.
Before the birth of HBO, TVB relied on advertisers to survive. The ratings were the only criterion for the continued broadcast of TV programs, but the negative impact was that the quality of the programs could not be guaranteed. One of HBO's success factors is not to judge success or failure based on ratings, but to pay more attention to content value. The business model it has established is to customize revenueRead users and copyright distribution rather than advertisers, so content and quality are considered the focus.
In the 1980s, the pay TV market entered a melee era. In the two decades since HBO opened the cable TV era, Showtime launched by Viacom and HBO formed a two-part world, competing with each other for the nation’s viewing market. HBO took the lead in adjusting its strategy from buying more exclusive broadcast rights to directly investing in the production of original programs, once again seizing the opportunity.
In the 1990s, "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City", which caused a sensation in the United States, were broadcast one after another, establishing the HBO brand image. It got rid of the bottleneck of stagnant development in the 1980s and grew into a TV channel that provides quality original content. The end of
trump card drama, HBO ushered in an anxious future?
"HBO's Content Strategy" quoted film critic Stephen Whitty's comments that consumers have too many options to choose from, but their attention is limited, and they really hope not to pay. No matter what kind of entertainment content is provided, it must be novel enough to pull them from online games and social media, and it must be attractive enough to keep them watching.
has commented that the myth of HBO is based on constant breakthroughs, and its passion for sex and violence is the secret of its continued appeal to audiences. In fact, HBO, which has stood firm for 40 years, regularly adjusts its content and broadcast methods according to the ever-changing entertainment environment. "Game of Thrones" is the product of HBO catching the trend of the times. Their research found that the new generation of consumers are more inclined to whimsical elements. In the face of user iteration and market challenges, HBO adjusted its content from the realistic themes of "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" to the fantasy themes of "True Blood" and "Game of Thrones", and the science fiction theme of "Western World" , Once again leading the content market. Since the launch of "Game of Thrones", the television field has undergone tremendous changes. Netflix, Amazon, including Apple and Disney recently joined the battle, streaming media companies have increased their investment in original self-made content, Netflix will spend 15 billion US dollars on self-made content this year, online streaming media is competing for market share; Disney Its streaming media platform recently announced that it will develop Marvel-related dramas.
Telecom giant AT&T acquired Time Warner and changed its name to Warner Media. Its HBO has also been included in the bag. After the reorganization of the management including the CEO and creative team, the future of HBO has become an issue of concern. Insiders of
company worry that HBO will no longer be the jewel in the crown, but a major supplier of video services to WarnerMedia. WarnerMedia executives require HBO to increase production in a way to expand the scale of users, triggering people's interest in HBO in the future. Quality concerns. The protector of HBO's brand and rebellious spirit, CEO Richard Plepler, is the biggest behind-the-scenes hero of "Game of Thrones". When he announced his resignation, it also caused greater anxiety. HBO under his control has launched popular dramas such as "True Detective" and "Western World", which has consolidated HBO's position in the video entertainment industry. After
"Game of Thrones", HBO, which lost its trump card series, is back at a critical crossroads. Michael Nathan, a media analyst at
, believes that when the most popular episodes are over, people are more likely to abandon their subscriptions and turn to other streaming platforms. At the same time, streaming media platforms are still trying to replicate HBO's successful model. In 2017, Amazon announced that it would purchase the rights to adapt the series of "The Lord of the Rings" at a cost of $1 billion. In addition to taking over the "Western World" series of "Game of Thrones" in the future, HBO plans to launch "Game of Thrones" prequels and derivatives. The prequel series has confirmed that Hollywood actress Naomi Watts will take the lead. Analysis believes that people's anxiety about HBO's prospects has been overstated, because HBO's business has not been affected much during the interruption of "Game of Thrones".
"HBO's Content Strategy"
(US) Bill Messi, Jr.
Zhejiang People's Publishing House, published in January 2019
