Source | Bohu Finance (bohuFN)
Author | Mengde
Micro-short drama The fire started from a game.
At the end of October, the interactive live-action video game "It's Over!" "I'm Surrounded by Beauties" breaks the circle, provides new monetization ideas for micro-short dramas, and catalyzes the explosion of the short drama market. According to Huxiu statistics, as of November 8, the cumulative increase of Tianwei Video was as high as 63%, Baina Qiancheng and Haikan shares both rose by more than 40%, and Shanghai Film and Zhangyue Technology also increased by 30%.
Some MCN organizations and film and television companies have also gathered to release signals for the layout of micro-short dramas. For example, Yuanwang Technology announced that the mini-program short drama platform is in trial operation and self-made short dramas are being filmed. Huace Film and Television announced that it will start to pay attention to and study the micro-short drama market in 2022. Currently, 6 teams have been established and 5 short drama projects have been filmed.
In addition, not only in China, people have gone from being disgusted with the earthy taste to the top, but this is also true overseas.
However, behind the market carnival, the real status of the micro-short drama is not so satisfying.
Short drama carnival
Micro-short dramas are developing too fast!
From a coward to a boss in one minute, from an abandoned wife to a gorgeous rebirth in three minutes, to witness the doting love between Cinderella and the boss in five minutes, etc. How many people have watched these bloody and sour micro-short dramas? The answer is probably closer to 300 million.
"China Online Audiovisual Development Research Report" shows that as of December 2022, the number of short video users has reached 1.012 billion, and the average daily short video usage time per person exceeds 2.5 hours. Reports show that more than half of the billion short video users have watched mini-series, instant noodles, etc. within 3 minutes in the past six months. Data from
short video platform Kuaishou shows that its daily active users of micro-short dramas have exceeded 260 million in 2022, of which more than 50% of viewers have the habit of binge-watching dramas, with an average daily viewing rate of more than 10 episodes. Douyin’s public data shows that the number of daily users of its micro-short dramas is more than 100 million. As of the time of publishing, there are more than 310,000 notes about "short drama" on Xiaohongshu. The popularity of
users has brought vigorous vitality to the development of micro-short dramas. Detawen's "Micro Short Drama Market Report for the First Half of 2023" shows that in the first half of 2023, more than 480 micro short dramas were launched on various online platforms in my country, which has exceeded the number for the whole of 2022.
Not only users, but also capital are at the forefront, because micro-short dramas have obvious advantages: low entry barriers, low filming and production costs, and quick money making.
Compared with movies and TV series, which take months or even years to write scripts, and TV series that often broadcast 50 episodes each for 50 minutes, a short play can be as short as tens of seconds or 1 minute per episode, or as long as 50 episodes. More than 15 minutes, the content is biased towards counterattack and rebirth, and the production is simple. The main focus is fast pace, using cool points to attract attention, and you can even binge-watch two or three dramas in one night.
According to an industry practitioner, a single episode of a vertical screen short drama is only 1 or 2 minutes long, also known as a "micro-short drama". The entire drama generally has 80 to 100 episodes and is usually shot within a week. In the early days, it took ten Tens of thousands can be used to shoot an entire movie, which is beyond the imagination of traditional film and television practitioners.
More importantly, short plays require less initial investment and yield quick results.
It is understood that the monthly recharge amount of the micro-short drama industry has increased from 40 million yuan in June this year to 60 million yuan in October. Industry data predicts that the market size is expected to reach 25 billion to 30 billion yuan in 2023, and this industry is in a period of rapid growth.
There is also good news that comes out from time to time in the industry, "Oops! The 24-hour user recharge of "The Empress Comes to Work" exceeded 12 million, the 24-hour recharge of "After the Flash Wedding, Mr. Fu Can't Hide His Vest" exceeded 20 million, and "Wushuang" spent more than 100 million in eight days after it was launched, which made many people think Short plays are the most profitable track.
Some platforms have begun to regard micro-short dramas as an important increase in content and commercialization. For example, Kuaishou mentioned in this year’s third quarter report that Kuaishou’s paid short drama consumption increased by more than 300% year-on-year and nearly 50% month-on-month.
But what cannot be ignored is that in the first half of 2023, there were a total of 481 new micro-short dramas, of which there were only 2 with a revenue of tens of millions, and only 8 with a distribution amount between 5 million and 10 million, which are considered to be hits. Projects, the rate of return is not that impressive, especially for newcomers who blindly enter the game, they are "drawing their swords and looking around at a loss."
Li Tao, the founder of Xi'an Fengxing Culture, the producer of the popular short drama "Wushuang", who is said to have achieved financial freedom through a short play, revealed in an interview that the so-called "Wushuang" revenue exceeded 100 million yuan after eight days of broadcast. Of the overall revenue, traffic costs exceed 90%, and the actual profit is several million, which still needs to be distributed to producers, screenwriters, post-production and other staff.
According to him, as the producer of 14 hit short plays, the company's overall revenue from short plays is less than 10 million yuan. As the founder and chief director, he has less than one million yuan in cash on his account. Jiuzhou Culture, the head platform company of
, also said that the company launches 50 to 60 short dramas every month, each costing 200,000 to 300,000, of which 70% can maintain capital, the hit rate is 10% to 15%, and the blockage rate is 30%. , and 10% is pure loss. If the head is like this, you can imagine the situation of other colleagues.
Therefore, the first threshold for micro-short dramas is "buying volume". For mini-program short dramas that have just started, in order to monetize, they must buy volumes, and Douyin, Kuaishou, and Video Accounts are exactly this type of mini-program short dramas. The main battlefield for drama purchase volume. Guolian Securities estimates that the revenue from short dramas within the ByteDance system alone can reach 22 billion yuan. It is conceivable that as the number of entrants increases, the purchase cost will inevitably become higher and higher.
At the same time, with the entry of capital and the participation of more professional film and television companies, micro-short dramas will inevitably be forced to develop more refined, and production costs will also rise accordingly. According to practitioners, "At the beginning of the year, the cost of a drama was 200,000-300,000 yuan, but as time goes by, the market becomes more and more sophisticated. Currently, the production of a drama starts at least 500,000 yuan, and ranges from 700,000 to 800,000 yuan." Yuan is normal, and some dramas even exceed one million yuan."
However, whether it is a long-term short video platform micro-short drama or a mini-program short drama, compliance management and quality-oriented routes can make the industry more stable. , the only way to go farther. The same is true for the original development of long videos and short videos.
In addition, in August this year, Tencent issued new regulations. The WeChat platform will charge a 20% technical service fee for transactions generated by developers of micro-short drama categories through virtual payment capabilities, which means that the production, production and distribution of short dramas The money finally received by the three parties will be reduced by one-fifth.
It is worth noting that relevant supervision is also being strengthened.
Since the end of last year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has begun to require special rectification of "mini programs" online micro-short dramas. In July this year, it issued the "Announcement on the Disposal of Illegal Micro-Short Programs". At the same time, in March this year, platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou have removed more than 300 illegal mini programs.
According to statistics, on November 16, 2023, 127 short dramas were banned from streaming on the Douyin platform. For example, the film and television company associated with Mi Meng launched the short drama "Black Lotus: The Ascension Manual" on November 16. Relying on themes of revenge, cool dramas, and heroines, it attracted nearly 20 million yuan in recharges within 24 hours of its launch. However, on November 21, it was removed from the platform for “exaggerating extreme revenge and using violence to counter violence.”
Despite this, more and more people are trying to jump into the short drama trend.
According to iiMedia Consulting’s “2023-2024 China Micro-Short Drama Market Research Report”, China’s online micro-short drama market size will be 37.39 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 267.65%. In 2027, China’s online micro-short drama market will exceed 100 billion yuan.
Tianyancha data shows that there are more than 230 micro-short drama-related companies in the country, of which more than 30 were newly registered from January to October 2023, a year-on-year increase of 225% in 2022.
Under stricter supervision and more high-quality competition, we can look forward to how the future of micro-short dramas will develop.
Reference source:
1, Jingzhe Research Institute: 481 episodes were updated in half a year, and the micro-series was flooded with wealth and wealth
2, Zinc Scale: More than 500 million people are "tops", "Doukuaihao" and "Aiyouteng" battle again Micro-short drama
3, The Paper: The popular short drama earned over 100 million in 8 days, and the producer is "crying injustice"?
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