Text | Entertainment Herald, Author | Kaka
Halfway through 2024, some people are happy and some are worried on the four major platforms of Youai Tengmang.
Tencent Video has performed very well this year. In terms of dramas, from " Blossoms " at the beginning of the year to " Sauvignon Blanc 2" which just finished airing, Goose Factory has a total of six dramas in the first half of the year that have reached over 30,000 hits on the site and have entered the explosive stage. Achievements of the club. Although some of these six dramas were not as discussed as expected after they were aired, Goose Factory truly deserves the title of "one of the most popular TV series in January".
Youku, which has always been ridiculed as having "no hit genes", has also made a big turnaround this year. First, there were two consecutive releases of "Huajian Ling" and "Xi Huazhi". The small-cost drama + limited publicity showed the effect of "little dark horse", especially "Huajian Ling" relied on the "face-changing suspicions" in the first two episodes. "Quickly break the topic circle and attract the attention of passers-by. In early June, the revenge dramas " Mo Yuyunjian " and " Qing Yu Nian 2 " went head-to-head in the finale. After the series aired, brands increased their investment, and even Youku's ranking in the app store rose. A lot.
Mango TV’s strength has never been dramas. In recent years, Mango has adopted a strategy of distributing and broadcasting major dramas on other platforms. But when it comes to variety shows, Mango TV is undoubtedly the top spot in 2024. It must be admitted that the overall performance of the variety show market this year has rebounded compared to last year, but it is not very popular, and there are even fewer so-called "national variety shows". Under such circumstances, "Singer 2024" came out of nowhere, and became the only big hit in the variety show market in the first half of the year thanks to its "full live broadcast, no editing".
Compared with the gains of the three Tengyoumang companies, iQiyi’s 2024 looks a bit bleak. According to the financial report, in the first quarter of 2024, iQiyi achieved revenue of 7.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5%, ending five consecutive quarters of revenue growth since the fourth quarter of 2022. The decline in
revenue is related to the decline in membership service revenue. Last year, the movie "Kurst" made iQiyi's membership service revenue reach a record high, reaching 5.5 billion yuan. In the first quarter of this year, iQiyi’s membership service revenue was 4.8 billion yuan, down 13% year-on-year, and membership service revenue is the core business with the highest proportion of its revenue structure.
puts it more directly. Some users are not willing to spend money to buy memberships or renew iQiyi. Why users make such a choice is of course related to the overall performance of Peach Factory in the first half of the year.
01 "Little Matchmaker" failed, and iQiyi made the wrong bet again.
fell short of expectations. These four words basically summarized iQiyi's performance in the drama market in the first half of the year.
Let’s look at the head drama first.
q1 iQiyi released "The Storm Chaser" starring Wang Yibo, obviously because of Xiao Wang's topicality. This is also one of iQiyi's only two dramas with more than 10,000 hits this year.
To be honest, if there were no strong opponents in the same period, "Wind Chaser" should have a good amount of attention, but Tencent Video released " and Feng Xing ", a duo of Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin, and they were separated. Got a lot of attention. In addition, when popular celebrities perform dramas with serious dramas, they are easily judged by the audience frame by frame, and the same goes for Wang Yibo. Problems such as "plot collapse", "logic is touching", and "acting skills stretch" caused the audience to abandon the show in the middle and later stages.
q2 has a certain overlap with the summer schedule. In order to compete for users, each platform will release its top masterpieces during this time period. Facing Tencent Video's "Qing Yu Nian 2", iQiyi is betting on "Fox Fairy Matchmaker·Yuehong Chapter".
At last year’s iQiyi Enjoyment Conference, this drama was introduced as a key project, and the creative team was also described as luxurious. Directed by Stellar Gravity, who created the popular Xianxia hit "Canglan Jue", 85-year-old Yang Mi is paired with popular niche actor Gong Jun. "Fox Demon Little Matchmaker" itself is a top-notch IP in Chinese comics, so it is very competitive no matter how you look at it.
But I never expected that the original author party did not approve of this comic drama at all, ordinary passers-by were persuaded by Sister Mi's acting skills, and "Moon Red", which only relied on fans, was quickly replaced by "Mo Yu Yun Jian" and "" "The Story of a Rose " was drowned in discussions, broadcast with great fanfare, and ended without anyone paying attention.
The failure of "Moon Red Chapter" not only caused iQiyi to lose its competitiveness in the summer season, but also affected the other two parts of the "Fox Fairy Little Matchmaker" live-action drama series - "Bamboo Industry Chapter" and "King Power Chapter" audience expectations.
's "Yan Xin Ji" follows "Moon Red Chapter", starring Song Yi, who is known for his agile acting skills. The male protagonist is face-blind and the female protagonist can change her face. The setting is also novel. However, Song Yi, who has two iQiyi hit-breaking dramas, could not save the playback volume of "Yan Xin Ji". The highest popularity in the history of this drama is less than 9,000. According to the Beacon Professional Edition, the drama has been continuously broadcast during its broadcast. It was suppressed by Youku's "Life".
Let’s look at genre dramas.
and Tencent Video have taken a different path to expand IP. In the past few years, iQiyi’s hit dramas have often come from genre dramas, such as "The Hidden Corner" and "Hurry", etc., relying on "Qi Bing" to win.
But this year, the "surprise" strategy also failed.
It must be admitted that there are excellent dramas released by iQiyi in the first half of the year, such as "My Altay" and "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories: Journey to the West", but each of these two dramas has its own shortcomings. plate".
The former is a mini-series, with a total of 8 episodes. The show ended as soon as word-of-mouth started to gain popularity. Although it effectively promoted local cultural tourism, the popularity brought by the fermentation of the series has actually been wasted; the latter is mainly about The content is of high quality, and it has withstood the diversion of popularity from the Paris Olympics. It has good reputation and playback volume, but it can only be regarded as a popular drama rather than a big hit.
Here is a relatively simple and intuitive indicator of whether a drama has become a hit: First, whether the content of the drama has become a social currency. If you don’t watch the drama, there will be no social talk; second, whether the actors have achieved success because of this drama. "Ascension". "Kangbiao" perfectly meets the above two points, but "My Altay" and "Tanggui 2" do not fully meet this criterion.
At the same time, the performance of Mist Theater, iQiyi’s flagship store, in the first half of this year was also very “mysterious”. "The Invisible Shadow Boy" with Zhang Songwen is obviously a key project. Not to mention the reputation, many viewers don't even know that this drama is broadcast. On the other hand, on Youku next door, the suspense theater was renamed "White Night Theater", and "Dark Fire" and "Rebirth" had a good start, effectively occupying a part of the market.
02 meters have not left, and the variety show has not been popular for n generations.
Let’s talk about variety shows after watching the series.
The biggest news on this year’s iQiyi variety show is that “Mi Wei left.”
In 2013, Ma Dong joined iQiyi as chief content officer. In 2015, Ma Dong resigned and established Miwei Media in September of the same year. It can be said that Miwei and iQiyi have had an extremely close relationship since their birth, and the two parties have also collaborated on two classic variety show IPs, "Annual Comedy Competition" and "Summer of the Band".
"One year of "Lexia" and one year of " and happy " are the reasons why many viewers renew their iQiyi memberships for a long time. But this year "Xingren" missed the appointment, and Ma Dong took Mi Wei to go next door to Tencent Video to make a show called "Xingren Wonderful Night". Because the contestants, competition system and judges were so similar, many people simply called this show For "Xingren 3".
Although both Ma Dong and Mi Wei emphasized that they have always had a cooperative relationship with iQiyi, and there is no so-called bundling, let alone running away. This year they cooperated with Goose Factory, and next year they may return to Taochang. But losing the important IP of "Xiren" is not a good thing for iQiyi, which has been weak in the variety show market this year.
In addition to the "Xiren" IP, iQiyi also has two "King Zha" variety shows this year - "Farming Bar 2" and "New Rap 2024".
Until now, "Farming Bar" can still be regarded as an "out-of-print" case in the mainland variety show market. Its birth and popularity are extremely non-replicable and irreplaceable, so Taochang also regards this IP as its own The trump card to win over the audience. It's a pity that "out of print" is only available once, and even if the original cast returns, it will be difficult to replicate the success of the past.
After the broadcast of "Farming Bar 2", it is still the most popular variety show on iQiyi.com, but when compared horizontally in the variety show market, its volume is not that big.With the outbreak of the "Additional Personnel Incident" on the program team, the conflict between the "Hehuo people" ("Ten Qintian" fans) and the program team quickly intensified and exploded on the Internet. Entertainment Xiancei has specially written an article to analyze (click to review ""Farming Bar" lost millions of fans, why can't it move after ten days of hard work?") , will not go into too much detail, but it really affects IP Reputation and popularity.
"New Rap 2024" can be said to be the rap program with the highest audience expectations and the most guaranteed quality this year. But a very good IP was ruined by the word "long".
Before the show was stopped, iQiyi enjoyed the benefits of being a group portrait of contestants. In this year's "New Rap 2024", the program team also strives to portray the contestants in an all-round way. The first and second episodes of the program start at 2 hours combined. It’s even worse in the later part of the schedule. The 11th episode of goddess singing is divided into upper, middle and lower parts, which together take nearly 6 hours; the 12th finals is divided into four episodes, which also lasts more than six hours. And because of the characteristics of rap itself, it is also very It’s difficult to save time by watching at double speed.
Tao, your audience is really not all idle monkeys. Who has time to spend a full 6 hours watching a variety show? Those who can follow it from beginning to end are true fans. In addition, in order to attract new members, the program team will also cut some exciting stages with great potential to be exclusive to members. This operation is also a bit confusing and attracts a lot of comments.
As for "Cute Detective 2024" and "Like You Me Too 5", they are both useless. The content itself has no big problems, but there are no topic points that leave a deep impression on people. In addition, the "28" effect is obvious on the same type of track. In the past, there was Mango's Mysterious Variety Series, and later there was the " Heartbeat Signal " series, the only king of love variety shows. It is nobody cares.
03 Halfway through 2024, how many trump cards does Taochang still have?
Although the performance in the first half of the year was not as good as expected, the peach factory is not without opportunities to turn around. Next, let’s take a look at their future content reserves in drama series. In terms of
drama series, on August 6, iQiyi followed the lead of the Paris Olympics and launched the spy drama "Lone Boat". It depends on whether Zhang Songwen, the top figure in the uncle circle, can "return the favor". At present, the drama has been ranked first in the feature play rate list on Beacon Professional Edition. It can be seen that the playback performance is good, but what is needed is to further break the topic.
The costume light comedy "Sifangguan" adapted from Chen Jian's novel "Kings of the Western Regions" is also one of iQiyi's key projects in the second half of the year. This drama won the Kuyun Digital Entertainment Annual Influence Ceremony in February this year "The most anticipated drama in 2024", but then again "Moon Red" was also the "most anticipated drama".
In addition, the other two parts of the "Fox Fairy Matchmaker" trilogy, "The Bamboo Industry" and "The King's Power" are also waiting to be broadcast. It is said that because "Moon Red Chapter" did not meet expectations, "Bamboo Industry Chapter" underwent reshoots to save it. But the audience is so strict. If the IP series does not get off to a good start, it will definitely have an impact on the next two parts.
"Snow in July", adapted from Cang Yue's novel of the same name, was also bet on by some people in advance, but Entertainment Xianxian can responsibly predict: "No chance." Cangyue IP has always had an "aging" problem, that is, it is not in line with the current public preferences. Last year's "Jade Bones" (original work "Jade Bones") invited Xiao Zhan to join the cast, and its reputation failed to break the circle.
On the contrary, "Orange Ray" starring Gao Ye is more likely to break through, but judging from the market's response to modern and financial themes in recent years, it is more likely to become a word-of-mouth drama rather than a hit drama.
let’s talk about variety shows. "Return to Reality in Ten Days" currently being broadcast by
is a bold attempt by iQiyi. Rather than expecting it to explode, it’s better to expect it to achieve breakthroughs in small circles or in avant-garde and experimental aspects.
is a variety show that industry insiders find surprising but ordinary viewers find incomprehensible. It does break through the existing variety show framework and wants to be a real "drama-style variety show". 39 guests, including celebrities, live on a 2,000-square-meter "isolated island" for ten days. If they fail to pass the checkpoint, they will be eliminated.
's "Burning Moon", which is the "female version of "Farming"", invites 12 women to live together on a ranch for 180 days, during which flying guests will visit and interact.
In fact, the "popularity" of farming variety shows is related to the special time in 2022 and the social background at that time. People's hesitation and confusion need some "real" things to soothe them. But now there are many ways to alleviate confusion, and the advantages of farming variety shows are not there, and the term "xx version of "Farming" itself is a bit "inciting hatred".
"King of Comedy Stand-up Season" is a new comedy variety show launched by iQiyi to compete with "Happy Wonderful Night". "Happy People" focuses on "sketch comedy", while "King of Comedy Stand-up Season" focuses more on talk shows . Judging from the pilot film, this show can be said to have gathered all the funniest comedians on the Internet. It is the most anticipated show on iQiyi in the second half of the year. But the "bad news" is that Goose Factory's talk show " Talk Show and His Friends " is also going to be launched, and will compete head-on with iQiyi.
If "The King of Comedy Stand-up Season" can be a hit, it will also prove that iQiyi has the ability to operate independently without relying on Miwei.
has looked at the content reserve situation, and we would like to talk about the issue of platform tonality.
Tencent Video and Youku are backed by major manufacturers and supported by the entire ecosystem, especially Tencent Video’s upstream IP address, WeChat, QQ, and other collaborative operations. Therefore, Tencent Video has determined the strategy of big IP + top stars, and it has been proven to be effective many times.
Youku, known as the "No. 1 fashion brand", relies on cutting-edge to win. Although the series lineup is not luxurious, almost every one of them emphasizes feminism and insight into the plight of women from different angles, which is popular with the audience. In addition, Youku also has the "Hong Kong Theater" that has in-depth cooperation with TVB. It is true that Hong Kong drama is declining, but there are many people who have feelings about Hong Kong drama.
iQiyi lacks the advantage of large-scale ecological operations. Rather than using big stars and big IPs to create headline dramas to seize the market, a more suitable strategy may be to gain insights and find out the unmet needs in the market, and formulate Increment. Among several platforms, Tao Chang can be at the forefront of the industry, and the success of games such as "The Hidden Corner", "Hurry" and "Canglan Jue" are all related to this.
From this year’s iQiyi performance, we failed to see this.There are four months left in 2024. Can the peach survive?
