Picture source @Visual China
text | Rhino Entertainment, author | Founder, editor | Pu Fang
Obviously, the variety show market in 2024 has not yet come out of the downturn. Recently, a new argument has become popular in the industry, that is, people keep jumping out to propose whether to Overthrow the entire variety show development system and start over.
In Rhinoceros’s opinion, on the one hand, this reflects the collective anxiety of the current variety show practitioners, so that the solutions everyone comes up with are somewhat radical; on the other hand, it must be recognized that all parties are concerned about the fate of the industry, and are behind bars. Sometimes, "changing the road" may really make things clear.
A few days ago, Douyin Variety Show found Xie Dikui (director of the "Where Are We Going, Dad " series), Ma Hao (co-founder of Wow Haw Wow) and many other variety show production company bosses to talk about the current difficulties in the variety show industry and summarize A set of "Douyin Variety Show·New Douyin Variety Method Guide" was published to explore new ways to create variety shows. Should the product logic of
variety shows change?
After reading the speeches of these big guys and this "Guide", we must be not far from the answer to this question. Inspired by this, Rhinoceros will talk about the future of variety shows in the short video era based on four "industry questions".
Stand your ground or join if you can’t beat it?
First question, let’s get straight to the point:
What is the biggest challenge facing the variety show industry at the moment?
I believe many people will agree that in recent years, older variety show audiences have been "diverted" by short videos, and the audience's patience to immerse themselves in a long variety show has become less and less. This is the main reason that hinders the development of the variety show industry. The solution to
is actually not difficult to think of, there are only two. The first is to stick to the position, continue to affirm and believe in the scarce value of "long content", and use more ingenuity to polish the content in order to retain more viewers.
The second one is to join if you can't beat it. I actively embrace the "short content" that has been recognized by the market for my own use. I even directly use the packaging form of short videos to make variety shows and shorten the content. The two paths of
can be said to have their own pros and cons. It is easy for the conservative faction to produce high-quality products, because they resolutely deny and abandon fragmented entertainment, and the creators will pursue the slowness and immersion of the content experience to the extreme, bringing the audience emotional value that is very scarce in this era. "The Longing for Life 6" "Xu Zhiyuan's unrestrained chicness outside of the script", "Flowers and Boys 5" "a group of normal people's heart-warming companionship and wanton madness" are the latest fruits of victory for variety shows that have followed the long-term path.
However, the conservative faction’s lag behind is also very serious. In essence, Shouchang is going against the current users' fragmented entertainment habits. Once long content cannot be "fresh" enough to catch people's attention from the beginning, the audience will leave faster than a rabbit, and many programs will easily become uninterested. situation. The situation of
's short-term support is more complicated and divided into several types. The hug is very thorough, so I just broadcast the micro-summary directly in the short video account. For example, the Douyin micro variety show "Nice to Meet You" is directly placed on the official Douyin accounts of Aya , Zhou Xun , and even seamlessly allows Aya to bring goods in the live broadcast room of the program account. The "New Douyin Variety Method Guide" summarizes the advantages of this type of variety show: the recommendation algorithm based on Douyin account interests can quickly find the right audience, and link monetization after grafting Douyin can diversify the commercial value of IPs and talents.
Picture source: "Douyin Variety Show·New Douyin Variety Method Guide"
The second type is a long + short fusion creative variety show, which not only retains the traditional long variety show playback format, but also uses short video content to expand the breadth of communication. A typical case that implements this creative idea is "Farming". The long farming story of spring plowing and autumn harvest obviously takes advantage of long content, but it also cleverly uses "Supervisor Slow Live Broadcast" and "Ten Hard Days Daily Vlog" ” and other short video content are widely disseminated, which can be described as an experimental model for the creation of variety shows in the new era.
can see that with the help of the short video traffic effect, micro-variety shows have high fan stickiness and many commercialization paths. However, the traffic distribution mechanism is different from traditional variety shows, making it difficult for the program to break through the circle. In contrast, long + short Fusion variety shows may be the creative secret that can better achieve the "balance point" nowadays.
variety show can be based on "hot short videos"?
’s second question is about how to do it:
What nutrients can variety shows draw from short videos?
To be honest, Mr. Rhino has always believed that the greatest value of short video platforms for variety shows is "publicity and distribution", cutting long variety shows into pieces and using algorithms to push them to decentralized short video audiences, thereby creating memes on social media. Fame-making scenes are currently the most important way to guide social media users to watch variety shows.
But short video platforms are not satisfied with just being "promoters", they also want to be "producers", which is why in recent years DouKuai has been developing variety show projects using creative methods proven by long videos.
In Rhinoceros’ view, the core content of short video variety shows is “people”. No matter what kind of variety show it is, the core feature of short video variety shows is to produce variety shows around creating IP for short video experts and celebrities. In terms of
experts, short videos are the number one incubator for Internet celebrities, so this time the "New Dou Variety Method Guide" particularly emphasizes "selecting high-potential amateurs/growth-stage experts to form a long-term relationship with variety show IPs." To be honest, this is indeed the way Rhinoceros believes that short videos may "break a new path" in variety shows.
Picture source: "Douyin Variety Show·New Douyin Variety Method Guide"
However, the "Guide" does not give specific ideas on how to do the master variety show. Mr. Rhino suggested that we should be bold and directly "change" the popular content of Master into a variety show. For example, for the "Classmate Zhang's Northeast Rural Life Series" and "Xia Huizi's Blind Box Series of Visiting High School Classmates" that were very popular on Douyin, can Douyin invest a certain amount of money to expand and develop them into more high-quality and large-scale series? long variety show. In terms of
celebrities, the celebrity operating accounts currently active on the short video platform are the inevitable "traffic centers" of short video variety shows. In fact, the "number one entrance" for many viewers to watch variety shows in short videos is not the official account of the variety show at all, but the massive celebrity accounts that they usually use.
Therefore, Mr. Rhinoceros has always felt that instead of completely imitating long videos to do major vertical variety projects such as audio variety shows and love variety shows, Douyin often focused on celebrity IPs to create JJ Lin "Coffee Adjustment", Zhang Yixing "Return to Zero" The path of waiting for micro-surgery is actually the right one. If it focuses more on customized "fan-loving variety shows" that serve celebrity fans, fans will definitely pay for good content. It may be difficult for such programs to break through, but so what? It is enough for a variety show to focus on serving a group of people.
Can variety shows "make big money" through short videos?
The third question is about monetization:
Can variety shows use short videos to open up new business opportunities?
As we all know, another major problem currently hindering the development of the variety show industry is "poverty". At present, many seemingly creative new variety show ppt proposals ultimately fail because the project investment is blocked and the platform abandons it halfway.
And short videos really help improve this situation.
As Meng Yuchen, vice president of Tianmei Entertainment, mentioned in the "Douyin Variety Show·New Douyin Method Guide", "Traditional variety shows are one-way exports and rely heavily on investment promotion, but New Douyin has two-way exports for brands and users. , there are more ways to cooperate with brands, and it also increases the commercial value of experts and IPs themselves."
Specifically, short video variety shows are more attractive in attracting investment, because brands that invest in such variety shows can use various short video tools Carry out a variety of high-conversion marketing plans, and the brand will be more willing to launch. For example, "All-Out Action" cooperates with Pulse in an all-round way, using feature films, hot topics, and large-scale short video content to continue to drive brands out of the industry.
Picture source: "Douyin Variety Show·New Douyin Variety Method Guide"
In other words, if a variety show production company wants to put the project on a short video platform, it is equivalent to buying an "advertising space" with abundant traffic on the platform. There is almost no need to worry about not attracting business.
In addition, even if there are other platform variety shows that do not cooperate with short videos, many projects can also expand monetization channels by operating accounts on short videos.For example, the 10 creative teenagers of "Farming Bar" were extremely active on Douyin. They subsequently opened star charts on Douyin and fully accepted commercial cooperation business, which is equivalent to helping the traditional variety show business that relies solely on investment to expand to " A new commercial territory."
content! content! Or the content!
’s fourth question is about the future of the industry:
Can variety shows become popular among the public?
I have to say that this problem is very realistic. In the past two years, every year-end review, I have to pick out a hit in the variety show industry, but it seems that no one I choose can convince the public. In other words, we have to admit that we haven’t seen a popular TV series for at least two years.
Going back to the beginning of the article, perhaps it is precisely because "hot variety shows" are hard to come by that the argument in the industry to overthrow variety shows and start over is so rampant.
But the last thing Rhinoceros wants to emphasize is that the so-called overturning and starting over is more about practitioners wanting to innovate in the "form" of variety show creation ideas, but this just ignores that the soul of variety shows is still the content! content! content!
Please don’t forget at any time, no matter how the variety show business evolves, “incredible variety show creativity” is the core fuel that drives the variety show market forward. Therefore, instead of always talking about whether the format of variety shows should change, I would like to ask everyone to use more imagination in the content!
would like to share this article with fellow variety show colleagues.
