Every reporter: Du Wei
At the beginning of 2024, there are a lot of big dramas, and the acceleration of "you sing and I will appear on the stage" makes the audience overwhelmed.
html On January 9th, "Flowers" came to an end, and "The Rivers of Time" came to take over one day in advance (January 8th)."Flowers", directed by Wong Kar-Wai and starring Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan, and Xin Zhilei, swept all major social media after its broadcast and became the first hot drama in the beginning of 2024. This drama has awakened the memory and curiosity of generations of old, middle-aged and young people about Shanghai, and pushed the "Shanghai topic" to a new level. "Flower fans" formed "street partners" and "rice partners" to check out the beautiful scenery and delicious food in the drama, such as soaked rice, pork ribs and rice cakes, etc., which became popular. Even Mr. Bao's suits of the same style are also highly sought after.
"Flowers" "check-in guide" is popular on major short videos. Picture source: Xiaohongshu screenshot
""Flowers" has once again sounded the joyful bell of the 'new year', igniting everyone's interest in this 'decline' for nearly 10 years "Flowers" is also "China's best urban marketing work" and will promote the domestic drama market in a recent interview with a reporter from the Daily Economic News. A new round of change.
is from December to February of the following year every year, which is regarded as the "opening of the year" by the industry. The reporter learned during the interview that there have been 203 dramas vying for the opening of the new year in the past three years, with each drama competing with as many as 18 dramas in the same period. "In the World" and "Hurry Up" were lucky enough to break through, and they are indeed high-quality products.
After "Flowers" restarts the "year-opening" craze, more players will be betting heavily on the "year-opening". So, who can win the "jackpot" in the future?
"Flowers" is not only a film and television work for urban marketing, but also a cultural product.
During the cold weather, the temperature dropped sharply, but "Flowers" was in full bloom.
"We have monitored that since the broadcast of "Flowers" on December 27, 2023, the playback index reached the current peak of 36,000 on the 9th day of the broadcast. In the past three years, there have been 26 "year-opening" hot dramas , ranking 7th, with a single-day market share of nearly 30% across the entire network." Yang Minghan, a data analyst at Beacon Professional Edition, said in an interview with a reporter from the Daily Economic News on the 8th.
Picture source: Lighthouse Professional Edition
This means that a large number of viewers are immersed in the gorgeous picture of "Flowers". At this time, practitioners in the film and television industry are also enthusiastically "examining" this drama.
Many industry insiders told reporters that "Flowers" is a benchmark work in the industry. It is not only a drama, but also a cultural product that cannot be copied.
"The success of "Flowers" in the market relies on 'the right time, right place, right people'." Li Jun, vice chairman and CEO of Junhe Media, told reporters.
"The so-called 'right time', after the explosion of "Kurst" at the beginning of 2023, the audience and the market are looking forward to a big hit at the end of the year and the beginning of the new year. In this case, "Flowers" appeared; the 'right place' is Director Wong Kar-wai, who has made many classic blockbusters, hopes to broaden his creative horizons through a TV series and leverage the mainland market. The mainland TV series market is also eager to be stimulated by Wong Kar-wai's TV series. The so-called "humanity" refers to comprehensive advantages, including the winning works of Jin Yucheng and Mao Dun Literary Award. The natural IP popularity of "Flowers", the star effect of Hu Ge and many other big names, etc." Li Jun believes.
Stills of "Flowers" Picture source: Official Weibo of the series
Recently, Zhao Bin is also following "Flowers". Having been deeply involved in the film and television culture industry for more than 20 years, Zhao Bin has participated in the creation of many "drama kings" such as "A Thousand Bones of Flowers", "Old Nine Gates" and "The Legend of Chu Qiao". He believes that there is another important factor in the "flower craze" - the blessing of the "city".
"Films and TV shows about 'Shanghai Beach' are generally popular. "Flowers" is the best urban marketing film and television work in China. It tells how contemporary Shanghai came to be." Through "Flowers", Zhao Bin also keenly captured "The drama is expected to significantly improve the production standards of existing film and television works and provide a model for the film and television adaptation of novels."
In Zhao Bin's view, "Flowers" is also a touchstone for the appreciation level of contemporary Chinese audiences."Its popularity allows us to see the audience's improvement in the aesthetics and appreciation of drama works; at the same time, it is a wake-up call for creators. Don't use the idea that "audiences only like Mary Sues and sugar-spreading dramas" to influence their creations. I can’t make excuses,” he said.
The number of drama series has declined for three consecutive years, but the average reputation score has increased to 7.7 points year by year.
"Scheduling advantage" is the lifeblood of the drama series. Zhao Bin believes: ""Flowers" has also rekindled everyone's attention to the 'opening of the year' that has been in decline for nearly 10 years."
Yang Minghan told reporters that in the domestic drama market, the "schedule bonus" is not as good as that of theatrical movies. The market performance is outstanding, but for a drama, the market environment will still have an important impact. "The peak broadcast volume of the drama market throughout the year is more likely to be concentrated in and around the 'winter and summer vacations'. The contribution of young viewers to the drama market during these periods is significantly higher than that of other time periods. Covering a wider range of audience groups also means that these The schedule allows enough time to release word-of-mouth and popularity and attract more viewers." Yang Minghan believes.
“As the ‘summer holiday’ continues to lengthen, lasting from June to before National Day, the ‘new year holiday’ gradually declines,” Zhao Bin said.
According to the Beacon Professional Edition, in the past three years (2021 to 2023), the number of "new year" drama series has shown a decreasing trend, reaching 76, 71 and 56 respectively. "In this schedule, in 2021, a new drama will be launched every 1.18 days on average; but in 2023, a new drama will be launched every 1.6 days on average." Yang Minghan told the "Daily Economic News" reporter.
Although the "new year show" has somewhat declined, it is still the mainstay of the drama market. Daily Economic News reporters combed and found that "Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossom" (2017), "Dajiang Dahe" (2019), "Awakening Age" (2021), "The World" (2022) and "Hurry" (2023) The popular dramas such as "New Year's Eve" are all the hit dramas of the year. After
analyzed 203 "year-opening" dramas in the past three years, Yang Minghan found that popular dramas showed two changes. "On the one hand, the big hits were won by reality-themed dramas such as "In the World" and "Hurry Up" , on the other hand, popular dramas such as "The Beginning" and "Three-Body Problem" are rapidly emerging."
"In the "New Year's Eve" dramas over the years, major revolutionary historical themes have always been an important part." Li Jun has successfully promoted and released popular "New Year's Eve" dramas such as "The Age of Awakening" and "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves".
He told reporters that the two films were recognized by the audience, "mainly because they closely followed important national nodes, found new cuts and new expressions in creation, and opened up a new way of opening up major revolutionary historical themes."
At that time, "Age of Awakening" became the top ten Internet hot words in 2021. "'Kunpeng Strikes the Waves', with its high-density communication activities held every two or three days on average, which is no less than a movie roadshow, has set off a craze for watching the drama. This has brought the general audience closer to TV dramas with major revolutionary themes." Li Jun said.
Stills from "Kunpeng Strikes the Waves" Picture source: Provided by interviewees
"Reducing quantity and improving quality" is also a significant change that has occurred in the "new year" in recent years. "The average word-of-mouth rating for the first-year drama series in 2021 was 6.4, to 6.6 in 2022, and then jumped to 7.7 in 2023." Yang Minghan told the Daily Economic News reporter, "In the World", "Hurry" and "Flowers" "The ratings of both movies exceed 8 points, which "means that the hot dramas of this period are masterpieces that lead both in broadcasting and word-of-mouth performance."
"New Year's Eve" returns to the Highlands "urban agglomeration theme" may become a new dark horse
"Since the popularity period of dramas is usually about one month, the competitors of each drama in the 'New Year's Eve' during the same period are at least about 18." Yang Minghan told reporters.
This time "Flowers" has made a good start for the 2024 drama market. Zhao Bin believes: "This will inevitably ignite practitioners' high expectations for the 'beginning of the year' and become a high ground for everyone to compete for."
"Last week I When I went to Hengdian, all the studios were full, which means that starting from this year, the film and television market will pick up quickly." Zhao Bin believes that under this background, it will be more difficult to take the lead in the future "opening of the year".
Zhao Bin suggested that practitioners can focus on three aspects.He analyzed: "One is a big production like "Flowers", which is always the 'hard currency' of the schedule. Using it to start the new year can show the strength of the platform; the second type is the subject matter in vertical subdivision fields, each platform has With its own attributes, vertical themes can move towards younger platforms. In the future, TV and Internet platforms may come up with their own new year dramas."
In addition to the popular hit "Age of Awakening", vertical genres such as "The Three-Body Problem" The themes are also gradually emerging in the "new year period"
Picture source: Douban screenshot
And the "regional market" is regarded by Zhao Bin as the most potential part. This can be seen from "Flowers", which was originally produced in Shanghai, filmed in Shanghai, and produced in Shanghai. He believes: "It is becoming more and more difficult for everyone to hit the market. In the future, emerging works represented by urban agglomeration life are likely to become the 'starter'." "A dark horse in the new year."
Zhao Bin further told reporters: "Nostalgia" is most likely to be ignited around the New Year and when the Spring Festival is approaching, and hometown culture will become an emotional flash point for everyone. At this time, drama projects targeting the regional market of special groups can also radiate to audiences who are yearning for this area, forming a hit in vertical segmentation.
"Flowers" sparked the "Yellow River Road" and also triggered the audience's reminiscence. Image source: Social platform screenshot
"Currently, the urban agglomerations that everyone is paying more attention to are the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. However, with the rise of the central and western regions, There will be more and more subdivided urban agglomerations, such as the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle, which is full of vitality and hope." Zhao Bin also revealed to reporters, "Now there are platforms to 'end in person' , hoping to explore unique stories around the city."
Daily Economic News reporter learned that the light comedy urban drama "Hello, Father-in-law" telling the story of Chengdu will be broadcast at the finale of the 2024 "New Year's Eve". Can it pass the " The "urban agglomeration theme" has stirred up waves in the market and has yet to be tested by the audience.
Li Jun told the Daily Economic News reporter that if he wants to become a hit in the "opening of the new year" that military strategists must compete for, "you have to follow the trend, practice your internal skills, seize opportunities, and accurately break the situation."
Daily Economic News
(Source: Daily Economic News)
