Hunan Satellite TV, Jiangsu Satellite TV, Dragon TV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, and Beijing Satellite TV are the five well-known TV stations in the industry. They were once known for their strong financial resources, abundant talents, and prominent reputation. Every year after the beginning of the new year, the fierce TV drama ratings war starts between them.
By 2024, the ratings war has gradually turned into a popularity war! Recently, with the broadcast of "Traveling with the Phoenix", "Fire" and "Flower Order", "Mango" (Mango TV), "Penguin" (Tencent Video), "Peach" iQiyi, and "Pants" Youku have launched a competition. Promote it hotly on social platforms. What drama will the once-famous satellite TV broadcast after the beginning of 2024? The answer may be: 1.5 rounds of follow-up drama, 2 rounds of follow-up drama!
The phenomenal drama "Flowers" was aired on Dragon TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV for more than half of the time on CCTV 8 and Tencent Video; "Ask the Cangmang" was aired on Jiangsu and Hunan TV after more than half of the time on CCTV 1. "One Thought Guanshan" and "The Long Season ", which were registered as online dramas, were launched on Zhejiang Satellite TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV respectively after they were broadcast on the online platform... Audiences can't help but ask: What happened to the satellite TV that once only broadcast the first round of dramas? What's wrong?
phenomenon
The number of independent dramas broadcast on satellite TV is pitifully small
China Audiovisual Big Data shows that in 2023, the total number of TV dramas broadcast by CCTV and local satellite TV will be 893, a slight increase from 2022, but the number of independent dramas broadcast on satellite TV will decrease , mostly simulcast dramas, 1.5-round or 2-round follow-up dramas. It is reported that among the total number of broadcasts on the five major TV stations, except for Hunan Satellite TV, which accounts for 60% of the number of independent dramas, the number of independent dramas on the other four major TV stations does not account for more than half. If there is no exclusive broadcast, how should these satellite TV arrange their own broadcast schedules?
First of all, some satellite TV stations will broadcast phenomenal dramas that have gained high reputation and high number of clicks on the Internet. The most typical example is the drama "Hurry" starring Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen. The drama first aired on CCTV 8 and iQiyi on January 14 last year, followed by Beijing Satellite TV for 1.5 rounds on January 23, and then on Dragon TV for 2 rounds on February 16. Starting from March 11, the drama will start its third round of broadcasting, landing on CCTV 8, Guangdong Satellite TV, Shandong Satellite TV, and Southeast Satellite TV. It is worth mentioning that in the 2023 local satellite TV prime time final TV series single channel ratings rankings, the second-ranked one is "Kuronic" broadcast by Dragon TV, and the fourth-ranked one is "Kuronic" broadcast by Beijing Satellite TV. 》. In addition, after " three-body " was broadcast on Tencent Video, it was followed by two rounds of broadcasts on Jiangsu Satellite TV and Zhejiang Satellite TV; "The Sea in the Dream" was broadcast on CCTV 8 and Tencent Video five days after it was broadcast on Oriental Satellite TV for 1.5 rounds. Broadcast...these dramas have good ratings on satellite TV.
Secondly, some satellite TV stations will continue to use the dual-platform simulcast model that has been used for many years. For example, Zhejiang Satellite TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV co-broadcast "Stars Fall into Sugar" and "My Assistant is Not Simple", Dragon TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV co-broadcast "The Right Way to Open Life" and "Unparalleled Beauty", Beijing Satellite TV and Zhejiang Satellite TV co-broadcast "Public Prosecution" "wait. But in 2023, there was also a rare phenomenon of a drama being simulcast on multiple platforms. The medical drama "Welcome to Mailecun" starring Jin Dong, Zu Feng, Zhang Yuqi, and Liu Guanlin will premiere on Hunan TV, Dragon TV, and Jiangsu TV on November 21, and will be synchronized on Youku, Migu Video, and Mango TV broadcast.
It is worth mentioning that as the control of video platforms has been further strengthened, their cooperation model with satellite TV has undergone new changes. For example: "The Wind Rises in Luoyang" landed on Beijing Satellite TV, and for the first time, online dramas were launched on satellite TV prime time A new model; "Imperfect Victims", registered as an online drama, was broadcast on Beijing Satellite TV and Dragon TV, becoming the first online drama to be premiered simultaneously on satellite TV and video platforms.
Reasons
Satellite TV is no longer the main distributor of drama series
Why did Shangxing TV gradually give up its own dramas and become accustomed to broadcasting follow-up dramas and syndicated dramas? In addition to CCTV's launch of the "Main TV Drama Broadcasting Station" brand strategy that diverted some of the TV station's exclusive broadcast resources for drama series, from the perspective of satellite TV's own selection considerations, the answer is undoubtedly to focus on cost-effectiveness.
First of all, when the advertising investment results are not satisfactory and the procurement cost of drama series does not decrease, in order to control operating costs, satellite TV can only increase the proportion of procurement of follow-up dramas and syndicated dramas, with popular online dramas being the first choice. Last year, dramas such as "The Three-Body Problem", "Kurst", "Meng Hua Lu", "The Long Season" and "Flowers" were the first to be tested by audiences in the online market and became hit dramas. These works quickly entered the schedule of major TV stations. Playlist. It is a reasonable choice to broadcast high-quality dramas on satellite TV to earn ratings and reputation. However, many industry insiders have analyzed that if the number of dramas broadcast on satellite TV further increases, it may further affect its advertising investment and fall into a vicious cycle of purchasing dramas without budget. .
Secondly, the audience’s choice of media for watching dramas is more stratified. In many cases, the viewers who watch the series on TV and the viewers who watch the series on mobile video apps are not the same group of people. Last year, the CCTV ratings champion was "This Heart Is My Hometown" starring Zhongren and Anyuexi, which was broadcast on CCTV One. However, the drama was not distributed on Douban, and The number of short reviews does not exceed 500. The top spot in the satellite TV ratings is the spy drama "Infinite " starring Jin Dong, Wang Likun and Wang Zhiwen, which was broadcast on Dragon TV. The drama was also launched on Jiangsu Satellite TV, but its Douban score was only 5.0. Therefore, in the minds of many satellite TV drama purchasers, in addition to purchasing large-scale productions that have been tested by netizens, they can broadcast more cost-effective syndicated dramas and share the cost of purchasing dramas with brother stations.
In the final analysis, it is the "shift of the battlefield" that has caused satellite TV to be passive in the arrangement of drama series. Ten years ago, TV stations were deeply tied to film and television production institutions. They were the absolute "distributors" of drama series, distributing produced and first-broadcast TV series to long-form video platforms represented by Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku. However, as long-form video platforms invest heavily in the production of original content, film and television production institutions have turned to be deeply tied to long-form video platforms, and satellite TV has gradually become a foil. Although satellite TV has also made efforts in recent years, such as: Hunan Satellite TV has reduced the purchase of external dramas, Mango TV has launched a large number of self-made dramas at the Golden Eagle Theater; Beijing Satellite TV and Forbidden City Pictures have launched a self-made drama project; Zhejiang Satellite TV also broadcast last year "Isn't It Just a Tug of War" produced by Zhejiang Film and Television Group, Wannian Pictures, and China Records. However, these dramas are not as good as the quality dramas produced by long video websites in terms of quantity and quality. Undoubtedly, the "shift of the battlefield" has led to the "shift of identity" - satellite TV has changed from the distributor of drama series to the distributor.
Trends
The gap between the Internet and Taiwan may further widen
Especially in the past two years, online dramas have been renamed, and dramas broadcast on online video platforms and TV stations have unified production standards. From June 1, 2022, online dramas, online movies, online animations and other online dramas must be affixed with the pre-broadcast icon-"Online Drama Distribution License", which is called the "Network Label" by industry insiders. Issued by the radio and television authorities.
At that time, many people in the industry believed that the "network mark" for online dramas would further improve the legal system for radio, television and online audiovisuals, and take a step forward in "overall online and offline management and unified standards". As content policies become more standardized, online dramas will continue to move towards high-quality development.
Li Jingsheng, vice president of the China Federation of Radio and Television Social Organizations, once explained: "The implementation of the distribution license system can make the content of online dramas healthier and the quality more guaranteed. This system is introduced to prevent online platforms from becoming substandard culture. A place where products circulate freely. We must be responsible to users and to the broad audience of the platform." In addition, the three major TV drama awards including Feitian Award, Magnolia Award, and Golden Eagle Award have included online dramas in the scope of awards. "Celebrating More Than Years" and "Chang'an" Internet premiere dramas such as "Twelve Hours" and "Icebreaker" have won major awards. From then on, "online dramas" are no longer inferior to "television dramas".
In this context, more online drama producers dare to produce "television dramas", and more TV stations dare to broadcast "online dramas".When long-form video platforms such as Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku, which are deeply operated by capital, compete on the same level as major TV stations, the former have increasingly advantages in project fund reserves, drama type selection, and scheduling flexibility. highlighted, further widening the gap between the Internet and Taiwan.
At the end of last year, established long-form video platforms such as Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku, as well as established satellite TVs such as Hunan Satellite TV, Jiangsu Satellite TV, Dragon TV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, and Beijing Satellite TV, all released their 2024 drama schedules. Relying on the reputation advantages accumulated in the production and marketing of a large number of original online drama content such as "Celebrating More Than Years 2", "Crime Hunters 2" and "Open", long-form video platforms have the upper hand in terms of the number, type and attention of dramas. In contrast, TV stations are not only at a disadvantage in terms of quantity due to scheduling and platform tonality, but also cannot fully cater to the needs of some segmented audiences in terms of type.
There is no doubt that if we do not increase investment in original content and increase the proportion of high-quality independent dramas, the voice and influence of satellite TV in the film and television drama market will be further diluted. Many satellite TVs hope to create new video apps to increase audience stickiness. However, as far as current performance is concerned, except for Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV, which have achieved two-way empowerment of the platform due to popular variety shows, other self-developed apps have not been able to Successfully achieved traffic conversion.
text | Reporter Gong Weifeng
