Mirror Entertainment
Text by Liang Jiali
In 2023, the outside world has repeatedly used the words "the cold wave has not faded" and "quite deserted" to describe the current situation of the variety show industry. However, at the end of the year, a digital reading of the variety show market shows that both the number of new content and the number of broadcasts in the first three quarters The two-way growth of the index, as well as the joint efforts of new and old variety shows such as "I Can 47", "Battle of Hot Love", "Ace vs. Ace 8", "Run Ecology" and other new ones in the fourth quarter, all prove that the variety show market in 2023 will still maintain a strong High activity.
On the other hand, the video platform continues to make progress on the road of progress. "Fifty Kilometers Peach Blossom 3", "Flowers and Boys·Silk Road Season" and other variety shows are actively seeking changes in the N generation, "Stage 2023", "Let's Go Now" and " The determined development of new variety shows such as "Farming" has received positive feedback from the audience, and the platform and the audience have achieved a two-way journey.
From a review perspective, in 2023 when there is still uncertainty in the market, what brings new certainty to good content is not essentially the development of new concepts, breakthroughs in genres, etc. that have led the industry forward in the past few years. Model innovation, etc., is a change in the underlying logic of content creation, that is, standing in the trend of realism to meet the needs of contemporary young audiences for positive emotional value and real content background.
Seeking progress while maintaining stability
High activity and uncertainty coexist
Judging from the variety show report data of Yien and Aiman, the market as a whole is on an upward trend in the first three quarters of 2023. In terms of content quantity, the number of variety shows launched in the H1 market was 113, a year-on-year increase of 10%. The number in Q1 declined year-on-year, but the significant increase in the number of Q2 drove the total variety show volume to increase in the first half of the year. The total number of units launched on the market in Q3 increased by 16 year-on-year, of which the proportion of network operators increased by more than 10 percentage points. In terms of the broadcast index,
performed best in the first half of the year. The average values of H1 online variety and TV variety show broadcast indexes were rising, with the former rising by as much as 14.1%. Entering Q3, the average broadcast index of the TOP10 variety shows increased slightly by 1.7% compared with the same period last year. Although it was difficult to match the 7.1% of the TOP10 variety shows in the first half of the year, it maintained a stable development trend. The number of
online represents the confidence of video platforms and satellite TV in the variety show market, while the broadcast index reflects the audience’s positive feedback on variety show content. The superposition of two-dimensional data confirms that variety shows in 2023 will still be a highly active and high-value content track . It is worth noting that the improvement in the broadcast index of the TOP10 variety shows in the first three quarters also means that the leading variety shows in 2023 will be out of the weak trend, and the market's ability to incubate hit products will be further improved.
In 2023, maintaining stability will still be the keyword and main theme of the industry, and the mission of stabilizing the market mainly lies in the advantageous comprehensive N generation, which is most obvious in the first half of the year. H1 variety N-generation average broadcast index growth leads new variety shows, "Half Lovers 2", "Hahahahaha 3", "Fifty Kilometers Peach Blossoms 3", "Running Man 7", "Detective 8", etc. are all hot in the market.
Picture source: Yien
The stability of established variety shows relies not only on the accumulation of IP influence and appeal, but also on the vitality brought by changes and renewals, such as "Fifty Kilometers Taohuawu 3"'s rich social experimentation, " "Half-cooked Lovers 2" broadens the definition of "half-cooked" and focuses on the theme of "half-cooked people growing up", "Amazing!" Dance Club 2" will undergo label mode upgrades, etc.
In the second half of the year, the video platform’s experimental new comprehensives started to gain momentum. In Q3, when the number of N-generation comprehensives was dominant but the broadcast index remained flat year-on-year, the leading new comprehensives vigorously revitalized the market. Among the top 10 variety shows in the Q3 broadcast index, there are three new variety shows including Tencent Video's "Stage 2023" and "Let's Go Now" and Youku's "We Got Together". "Stage 2023", which ranks TOP1 on the list, is extremely popular. Weibo’s topic reading volume reached 3.63 billion.
There is a lot of knowledge behind the new variety show's "instant hits", but the core thing is undoubtedly "surprise the market". The competition on the music variety track has already become fierce, but the survival music variety "Stage 2023" under the "squid game" mode has It is a category that has never appeared in the market. Under the creative idea of "Music Variety +", "Stage 2023" not only contains music competitions, but also human games. This two-dimensional powerful attraction is what makes the program a hit and successfully delivers Zhang Yuzi, Li Peiling and other new faces are the key.
Picture source: Yeen
Looking back, the variety show market in 2023 is in sharp contrast to 2022. The deserted market last year has been repeatedly attributed to the difficulty of attracting advertising investment, but in the final analysis, this is just a combination of old variety shows and new variety shows. The knock-on effects of sluggish performance. At the end of 2022, the uncertainty of the variety show market has become very obvious, that is, in an environment of intensified content iteration and deepening audience demand, good content is gradually unable to find a universal formula.
In 2023, video platforms began to try to solve problems from different angles, such as deepening the track, making efforts at multiple points, and strengthening talent training. At the 2024 Tencent Video V Vision Conference, Han Zhijie, Vice President of Tencent Online Video, gave a keynote speech on "Extreme·Vigorously Living" and proposed that the content creation of Tencent variety shows should be based on "extreme emotional value" and "extreme authenticity". The market was quite surprised.
In the past few years, changes in the creative trends of the variety show market are mostly reflected in external types, models, and concepts. For example, in terms of genre, new categories such as slow life variety shows, love variety shows, outdoor variety shows, and physical fitness variety shows have been continuously explored. However, Tencent Variety Show’s "Double extremes" points to the underlying underlying logic.
The outside is "skill" and the inside is "Tao". There are thousands of "techniques", but there is only one "Tao", which is to take user needs as the "Tao".
Emotion first
Focus on the immediate emotional needs of the public
If you pay close attention to social-related public opinions, you will find that in the past year or two, young people have a rigid requirement for making friends and falling in love, which is to "provide positive emotional value." People have begun to emphasize "self-centeredness" in interpersonal communication and value "relevant to me" and "benefiting me". This is actually the content consumption logic of the current audience in the variety show market.
As a result, variety shows have gradually shifted from the top-down creative thinking of "what the creator wants the audience to see" to the new bottom-up thinking of "what the audience wants the creator to create." The most intuitive manifestation of this change in 2023 is that travel variety shows have entered a "turbulent period" after tourism became popular and "Citywalk" became popular. The entire H1 number more than doubled compared with the same period last year.
platforms all want to be the ones who understand young people best. The difference is only in where to start. As early as 2022, Tencent Variety Show, which had insight into "emotions are the primary productive force", seizes on the provision of ultimate emotional value. mouth. Throughout 2023, in major categories such as leisure variety shows, social variety shows, workplace variety shows, life variety shows, interview variety shows, etc., the provision of emotional value has been raised to a new level by Tencent Variety Show.
The pressure of urban life continues, and leisure variety shows that provide joy and relieve emotional value are undoubtedly the market’s urgent needs. Therefore, in 2023, in addition to the continued efforts of "Hahahahaha 3" and "Mao Xuewang", Tencent Variety Show also brought " New IPs such as "Let's Go Now" and "Fairy Tale" to meet the high demand of users on the site for relaxation, joy, decompression, and funny emotional value.
The basic function of this kind of variety show is to make the audience laugh happily. In "Let's Go Now", the guest group with all the members is prominent, and in "Hahahahahaha 3", the "Five Ha Group" with all the comedians are making jokes. , "Crazy" contributed a lot of famous scenes that were on the hot search. The deep effect is the emotional healing value hidden behind joy. The interaction between people and nature in "Let's Go Now", the warmth between people in "Shao Xue Wang", and the "Peach Blossom Spring" in "Fairy Tale" are all for the audience. A spiritual outlet in the cyber world.
In romance variety shows, workplace variety shows, and social variety shows, the emotional value supply of Tencent variety shows is changing with the changes in the audience's immediate emotional needs.
Compared with romance dramas in the past few years that have highlighted the sweetness of love, this year Tencent's "Heartbeat Signal 6", "Half-cooked Lovers 2", "Friends and Love", etc. have captured the young people's "longing for love but lack of love" Courage” ambivalence. "Heartbeat Signal 6", which focuses on exploring the brave and bold side of the guests, has a popularity index of more than 25,000 on Tencent Video, and has also created the highest playback index in the "Heartbeat" series.
"Fifty Kilometers Taohuawu 3" and "Exciting Offer 5" are two top social and workplace variety shows. The former shows more examples of interpersonal relationships in the collision between old and new residents, which makes Young people with different personalities can gain insights into themselves through social experiments. The latter returned to the legal profession, "eliminates the elite narrative" in the social environment of "anti-involution" and "anti-anxiety", focused on portraying the belief and love for the profession, and achieved a positive emotional guidance.
In 2023, the emotional value provided by Tencent’s variety shows will also be deep into categories, such as female themes. Although the talk show "Expand Talk" with Fu Seoul, Yang Li, Yi Lijing, and Yang Tianzhen as guests is a female homepage, it focuses on issues such as workplace transformation, ideals, and survival that are not limited to gender frameworks. This kind of "female "An objective perspective of looking at the world" also makes it easier for many female viewers to project their own value positions.
Tencent Variety Show’s extreme control over emotional value is not, in the final analysis, a blind pandering to the audience in creation, but a strategic turn away from the creator’s high-level perspective, getting rid of the hustle and bustle of entertainment carnival, and going deep into the bottom layer of content value. Taking "human value" as the anchor and delving into all aspects of young people's lives, work, and social interactions to capture their dynamically changing emotions and emotional needs is undoubtedly the core of Tencent's variety shows to maximize "empathy" with audiences in all categories of creation premise.
Reality comes first
Realism at the core of variety shows
In the past few years, during the period of rapid development, online variety shows once pursued a "traffic first" strategy. However, since then, the mode of concocting topics and conflicts in variety shows has gradually become fixed, and the audience has begun to become desensitized. , "The more realistic a variety show is, the more viewers will love it" has become a new trend in the market.
Although Tencent Variety Show first proposed the creation principle of "extreme authenticity" in 2023, looking back, since the early days of "Talk Show Conference" and "Heartbeating Offer" and other variety shows that closely focused on social issues and workplace reality, authenticity has been It is integrated into the DNA of Tencent Variety Show, and in 2023, Tencent Variety Show further strengthened the concept of "truth first".
In "Let's Go Now", the real-life real-life friendships of the guests are reflected in the show, creating the right harmonious atmosphere and comfortable social interaction in the "acquaintance game". In the show, the interaction between Shen Teng and Fan Chengcheng, the interaction between Fan Chengcheng and Wei Daxun The clips of getting along are very popular all over the Internet. Whether it's Fan Chengcheng's "never leaving Meng Yanchen" behind, he is happy that his good friend has become popular, or Wei Daxun's tolerance in the face of Fan Chengcheng's crazy imitation, can make the audience feel the closeness between friends, and immerse themselves in the real life. In a friendly relationship.
The real native relationship is an aspect of "truth comes first". From the "Friends Gathering" in "Mao Xuewang" to the "Friends Travel" in "Let's Go", Tencent's skills in operating such variety shows have become increasingly sophisticated. After "Mao Xuewang" and "Let's Go Now" gained word-of-mouth popularity, it is reported that Tencent Variety Show will further increase investment in similar content in 2024.
The true background of variety shows can be generated by the true relationship between characters, and can also be constructed with the help of true emotional expressions. Although "Fifty Kilometers Taohuawu 3" is jokingly called a "social Shura scene" by the audience, the show is deeply rooted in the characters of the "parents" Song Dandan and Zhang Guoli, the sensitive but brave little girl Ren Min, the straightforward Tang Jingmei, and the perseverance and hard work that are engraved in the bones. In the collision between Song Qian, the transparent and free-spirited Meng Ziyi and others, the core value emphasized is not "conflict and opposition", but "growth and integration".
This is also a realistic representation of group social interaction in reality. After the "slightly embarrassing" first season, the "Fifty Kilometers Peach Blossoms" series quickly counterattacked into a high-reputation variety show and became a hot search topic on Weibo. In essence, it is better than In order to control the true emotions in group social interaction: In a group, people are bound to have contradictions and conflicts when "being themselves", but in the process of talking to others, embracing others, and using others as a mirror, everyone also In accepting yourself and growing into a better version of yourself.
In 2023, when "Flowers and Boys", which has been on a strong conflict line in the past many seasons, has also decoupled from the word "crazy" and the atmosphere has gradually become harmonious, the changes in the market are self-evident.Video platforms and content creators have begun to dilute the traces of scripts to varying degrees, move closer to reality, and propose Tencent Variety Shows to open up the vitality of content with "extreme realism". In addition to "real relationships" and "real emotions", they have refined the combination of hormones and This new concept of "real blood" is driven by dopamine.
In "I Can 47", 47 world champions from various fields demonstrate the true survival instinct of human beings and the most primitive worship of the strong in their blood in a brutal confrontation integrating collective energy, spiritual will, and brain wisdom. In "Fighting to the Top 2", the day-to-day training and review of 30 players, and the final brutal competition for the ultimate honor, are the passion and reality of unique e-sports, and are also the epitome of the real-life e-sports ecosystem. For Tencent variety shows, genre is not the threshold, and any content can find a connection point with reality.
It is not difficult to find that when the market begins to reject "entertaining to death", variety shows that simply provide entertainment attributes are losing market, and variety shows that focus on real value have begun to become the new mainstream. Tencent Variety Show has a forward-looking prediction of the realist creation trend in the industry. , in 2023, we chose to tilt resources in the two dimensions of extreme "emotional value" and "reality" to meet the audience's ultimate demand for realistic value.
On December 16, the list of 2023 Golden Goose Award variety show winners was announced. Chi Yuan, director of "Fifty Kilometers Peach Blossom 3", director of the year, "I Can 47", "Mao Xue Wang", "Heart-warming Offer 5", director of the annual reputation variety show, The popular variety show "Let's Go Now" is well-deserved. The honor is the best response to the good content and high-quality creators of the past year.
When the video platform has overcome the cold wave and found new certainty, the outside world will have the confidence and expectations for the variety show market in 2024. The industry will inevitably go through troughs, but as long as we stay on the right path of content and dare to explore in difficult situations, it will only be a matter of time before we regain our vitality. The steady progress of Tencent Variety Show in 2023 is the best example.
