Interface News Reporter | She Xiaochen
In the past few years, the cash-cow live broadcast room has attracted a large number of artists and celebrities to join, but now this situation is changing.
Since the beginning of this year, well-known celebrity anchors such as Liu Tao and Li Xiang have withdrawn from live broadcasts. The topic of "stars fading out of live broadcast rooms" has also been a hot search topic before. It can be seen from reports issued by major data institutions that the proportion of celebrities among top anchors is decreasing; and judging from the number of artist anchors signed by institutions, many celebrity anchors are indeed leaving the live broadcast room. According to public information, Qianxun signed contracts with in 2020 with more than a dozen celebrity anchors, but currently only three artists, Lin Yilun, Li Xiang and Li Ai, are left in the star anchor matrix displayed on its official website.
Do the celebrities really not want to live broadcast?
An MCN industry insider told Jiemian News that there are many offline performances this year, and the choice of celebrities has also become richer. Compared with previous years, there are indeed fewer celebrities willing to try live broadcasts.
But not all stars have abandoned the business. Make a Friend just signed a contract with anchor Mingdao in September this year and started his first live broadcast on Taobao. In fact, some celebrity anchors have secured their top positions, and their side jobs have become their main jobs. During this year’s Double 11, Jia Nailiang, who signed a contract with Yuanwang Technology, achieved a GMV (gross merchandise transaction) of over 1.36 billion yuan.
On the Xiaohongshu platform other than the giants, some celebrities who have never tried live broadcasting are also trying the water for the first time this year. The frequency of Xiaohongshu's live broadcasts is relatively low. In the early stage, the star's live broadcast room was built into an IP concept, but it will also have more requirements for the stars themselves. An industry insider responsible for many celebrities' live broadcasts told Jiemian News that many celebrities cherish their feathers, and trying slow-paced live broadcasts is a more acceptable option for them.
But the remaining and new stars have already entered a market different from the past.
In 2019, known as the "first year of live streaming", host Li Xiang started live streaming for the first time and achieved outstanding results in terms of attention and sales. It is indeed natural for celebrities to become anchors - selling goods is a traffic game, anchoring is a business of expression, and celebrities are good at performing and have their own halo. Alibaba Group Vice President Jia Luo once revealed in Youku's "Live Broadcast Revelation" program that 99.5% of the stars in China's entertainment industry will enter the live broadcast room in 2020.
signed with MCN and became the standard for celebrities to enter the live broadcast and bring goods. Public data shows that Yuanwang Technology has signed contracts with more than 40 artists in 2022. In the first half of this year, it still signed contracts with artists such as Zhao Yazhi and Peter Ho.
With the demise of the organization, the division of labor between celebrities and MCN has gradually become clear. The former brings traffic and display capabilities, while the latter is responsible for product selection and building the supply chain. At the same time, the boundaries between artists and anchors are becoming increasingly blurred. Top anchors like Li Jiaqi have begun recording variety shows and have a large number of loyal fans.
When the industry structure changes, celebrity anchors will inevitably face greater challenges.
It is not so much that celebrities bid farewell to the live broadcast room, but rather that most artists have completed their catching up and trial and error during the popular period. Celebrities once relied on high slot fees to make money in live broadcast rooms, but now brands are reducing budgets and pursuing conversion efficiency more. Some celebrities who are not strong in delivering goods are facing being eliminated by the market. Many celebrities, including Li Xiang and Jordan Chan, have been sued in court due to insufficient sales.
In November this year, Anhui Cunshi Culture Communication Co., Ltd. reported to the media that the company paid a pit fee of 33,000 yuan to the company authorized by actor Du Xudong to participate in the live broadcast room, but in the end only sold one pack of fungus for 64.9 yuan. After refunding the money, he was blocked.
Celebrity anchors with strong sales capabilities are not able to sit back and relax. Judging from this year’s Double 11, competition and conflicts between e-commerce platforms, anchors and brands have become increasingly fierce.During this period, some netizens questioned that Jia Nailiang's down jacket advertised in the live broadcast room for 2,899 yuan was only sold for 449 yuan, but on the shopping platform, the price of this model of down jacket was between 220 and 270 yuan.
For celebrities, there is another thorny problem in live streaming. Due to the increasing number of incidents of "carrying goods overturned", consumer demands have also increased accordingly. As public figures, celebrities need to take more risks in live broadcasts and be wary of their impact on the development of their "main business".
Like all industries, the departure of the first batch of experimenters is just a microcosm of the changes in the environment. After bidding farewell to the trend, everyone needs to adapt to changes. The above-mentioned MCN person said that this year they have become more cautious in signing anchors. As far as celebrity anchors are concerned, they hope that the stars they sign will have popularity, basic influence, certain speaking ability, and suitable "personality". However, it is not easy to find stars who meet the above requirements.
