Author | Stir-fried Hawthorn
Editor | Akagi Bottle
"Now I have no desire to follow dramas. Can I come to another Olympics?"
"The influencer on my homepage no longer follows dramas and is still in the Olympic withdrawal period."
Since the end of the Olympic Games, the drama market has been trying to regain public attention with high-frequency new releases, but the reality is cruel. In the past week, topics surrounding athletes were still the first choice for hot searches. Social issues such as marriage have attracted national attention, and there are too many entertainment contents aimed at the final sprint stage of the summer season, such as variety shows and games.
Looking back at the drama market, except for " Willow Boat Chronicles ", which occasionally has a few topics dotted with hot searches, other dramas do not have much topical attention. The plot of the former has also reached its climax: Liu Miantang regains his memory, and the "cat-and-mouse love fight" turns to its extreme. On the Tencent Video site, the popularity of the series has just exceeded 26,000.
's more industry-side observation is: the weekly drama report released by Detawen Data shows that "The Story of the Willow Boat" topped the list with a prosperity index of 1.799, followed by "The Lonely Boat", "Secret Romance" and "Nine Prosecutors" Finally, they are both in the 1.7+ camp. During the Olympic period, the Detawen prosperity index of " Sauvignon Blanc 2" and "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories: Journey to the West" reached 2+ and 1.8+.
In other words, although the Olympic Games are over, the drama market is facing the "lowest period" since the summer. The average quality of the dramas and the lack of top hits to drive the market are the most obvious problems.
However, there is no need to be pessimistic too early: on the one hand, there were new dramas such as " " and "Boundless Future" during the week, and "hardcore" themes continued to attract market attention; on the other hand, "Nine Parts of the Past" Dramas such as "The Prosecutor" and "The Story of the Willow Boat" also achieved new popularity last weekend (the first weekend after the Olympics), with the former's daily prosperity index exceeding 2. Audiences "diverted" by the Olympics are also slowly returning to the drama market.
In the post-Olympic era, how can the drama market rekindle the audience's desire to watch dramas? Can the summer season of "Open High, Go Low" drama reverse its decline at the last moment? The back-to-school season is around the corner, and there really isn’t much time left for everyone.
Is the drama market opening high and going low? It’s not all the Olympic diversion that’s to blame.
We habitually attribute the entertainment industry’s “cold reception” in the past period to the Olympic diversion. The high-gloss scenes dominated by the gold medal moment and the superb sense of relaxation of the post-00 athletes reorganizing the field have indeed allowed countless viewers to break the barrier of time difference and pay absolutely enthusiastic attention and discussion to the event. The other side of
is the decline in popularity of the drama market. What the market uses to prove this is: "Sauvignon Blanc 2", which carried the popularity in the first half, has basically maintained a prosperity index of 2.3+ during the hit period, while "The Strange Story of the Tang Dynasty: Journey West", which supported the market in the second half, rarely breaks through. 2 levels.
But if you extend the timeline again, you will find that there was a downward trend long before the Olympics. 's summer season this year is a typical trend of opening high and moving low: the prosperity index of "Sauvignon Blanc 2" is 2.3+, compared with the popular dramas " The Story of Roses " in June (average 3+) " Mo Yuyun" "" (2.5+) is already a decline. has now fallen below 1.8, which can only be said to have continued this trend.
This is difficult to simply attribute to the diversion of the Olympics. Some media have previously demonstrated this point with the performance of dramas during the 2021 Olympics. In the final analysis, the gradual loss of attention of still lies in the content itself.
Let’s review the trend of public opinion in the summer drama market this year : During the popularity of "In the Rain" and "The Story of Roses", exciting dramas and topical dramas dominated the public's mood for dramas. Although there was no shortage of complaints, they were also tight. Holding the "remote control" in the hands of the audience; but in "Sauvignon Blanc 2", after encountering problems such as censorship, magic modification, and unsatisfactory famous scenes, the complaints have gradually overshadowed the enthusiasm for watching the drama. Its popularity is already supported by its actors.
Rather than saying that the Olympics diverted the popularity of the drama market, it is better to say that it appeared at just the right time to give new exposure to the audience's feelings hurt by the drama. At least there are people around the entertainment unicorn who enjoy eating "Shatou" CP, and the Olympic Games is originally a "paradise" for those who admire the strong. Instead of watching the "big heroine" degenerate into a love-minded and intellectual person in TV dramas, it is better to watch various real-life counterattacks in life and the heroine's fun stories.
"The Strange Stories of the Tang Dynasty: Journey to the West" was able to stabilize the market during this period. This is related to its launch before the Olympic Games, and its rapid reputation based on cases such as "The Death of Wu Zuo", which accelerated the admission of loyal viewers. As of now, the show has a rating of 8.5 on Douban, with over 150,000 ratings.
Of course, there is also wisdom in scheduling: the new pace of has slowed down, and major dramas are relatively vacant, so avoid their sharp edges. "Sauvignon Blanc 2" ended before the Olympics. The theme type of "Tang Gui Westward Journey" determines its audience stickiness. The further released market space also provides competition opportunities for non-headline dramas. "Secret Romance" broke out here and grabbed a wave of attention.
After the Olympic Games ended, the market became obviously active again. Many dramas such as "The Story of the Willow Boat", "Once Upon a Time on the Edge of Water", "Prosecutor Nine" and "A Promising Future" have been launched. However, how can reawaken the audience's enthusiasm for dramas, only new ones are obviously not enough.
What we can see is that uses the Olympics as the dividing line. The first half of the summer season is dominated by female video dramas, and the second half obviously turns to a more "hardcore" track: although there are also ancient and current idols competing fiercely market share, but spy games, suspense, etc. have become the main products in the market. In terms of the creative team and cast of , Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen competed against each other after "Hurry", Cao Baoping entered the online drama, and the director of " begins ", Guo Qilin, Bai Yu, etc. are all very interesting.
is on the conversion track and has a strong "hit gene". Will it become a new opportunity in the drama market? After the fierce competition, will the audience choose to relax with a meal or sweet pets, or will the intense and exciting plot draw their attention ? Maybe it's all an attempt, and the market is betting on it.
"Food" or "hardcore", the anxiety disorder of blockbuster products in the post-Olympic period?
The summer season has always been a battleground for military strategists. In particular, took advantage of the opportunity of the Olympic Games, and iQiyi also attracted a wave of attention with "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories: Journey to the West", and once again stood on the same starting line as Tencent Video and Youku who "preempted" the game. Who can get the first start in the second half? Advantages also appear to be particularly important. After all, the most direct "benefits" that "Mo Yu Yun Jian" brings to Youku is that it also attracts attention for the launch of the follow-up drama "Hua Hua Nian".
Among this wave of new dramas, Tencent Video's "The Story of the Willow Boat" stands out: A costume romance drama that breaks into the crowd of hardcore themes. In terms of content, is relatively interesting: the male and female protagonists are fully stacked with buffs, the male protagonist's switching between large and small sizes in the early stage adds to the comic quality, and the heroine's identity as a strong woman is strengthened after the heroine regains her memory in the middle. , the two-strong game and the cat-and-mouse game are extremely dramatic.
Judging from the parts that have been aired, the series also focused on the treatment of light comedy in the early stage. From the protagonist to the supporting characters, they all have their own laughs, and "When will Cui Xingzhou lose his vest" has also become a support for the audience to follow. The main attraction of going down. However, problems such as the actors' "slightly immature" approach to comedy, the lack of a strong plot rhythm, and the excessive use of filters have also caused the show to face some doubts.
Only since this year, , with the help of short videos, the exit point of the series has become increasingly difficult to predict. Just like who would have thought that what would make Lin Gengxin famous would be the "Landing on the Shore" long after the ending of " and Fengxing ", and the magical transition of "What's in Beijing" in "The Story of Rose"; What made Wang Xingyue and Wu Jinyan famous was the enhanced "wives track" and "revenge drama track" in "Mo Yu Yun Jian".
What is missing in "The Story of the Willow Boat" is probably this part of "luck". On Weibo, the main topic of the show with the same name has only 860 million views. It is a topic for mass marketing # Finally there is a drama where you can see a woman disguised as a man at a glance ## Finally there is a drama where you can spit out the cloth stuffed in your mouth# , seems to directly poke at the audience’s motivation to follow the drama, but the number of reads has only just exceeded 10 million, or 20 million+. The Douyin topic has more than 1.3 billion views, and there is also a lack of out-of-circle topics.
Therefore, although the drama has won the weekly popularity list of dramas such as Maoyan and Detawen, its effective broadcast on multiple platforms is not as good as "Prosecutor Nine" and "Lone Boat", not to mention the "explosion" of the summer season. "Standard configuration" has taken the lead in playback volume. The progress bar is halfway through, and there may not be much time left for it.
iQiyi is considered to be the "first player" in the second half of the summer season. "Guzhou" and "The Prosecutor of Nine Parts" are two-pronged. There are also popular dramas such as "Little Couple " on the site. However, I am afraid that the next say in the market will depend on "Prosecutor Nine": Although "Lone Boat" has a good broadcast volume, Douban's score of 4.7 points also shows the public's evaluation of this drama. After Zhang Songwen became famous, Both works ("hunting" and Douban 4.3) ended up with a 4+ reputation. It is also worth raising a question mark as to how much views his personal brand can drive and how much market trust he still has.
"Prosecutor of the Nine Departments" is the first unconventional criminal investigation theme focusing on the examination of criminal cases of minors, and its pioneering nature is unquestionable. The show's market performance is currently on an upward trend. Last weekend, not only did its popularity hit a new peak of 9243 on the iQiyi site, but it also made breakthroughs on data platforms such as Detawen. On Weibo, Douban and other platforms, Jiang Xiaojie's tragedy also triggered heated discussions among viewers.
In the first half, it earned enough attention with a variety of fresh costume dramas. In the second half, Youku chose to focus on the White Night Theater. As a starter, "Once Upon a Time in the Boundary River" is full of "stars" in all aspects: Cao Baoping is the producer, one of the directors of "The Beginning" is also the director, there is also Guo Qilin's rare attempt at a suspense drama, and powerful actors such as Wu Zhenyu are in charge. The show is currently updated to episode 10, and overall the quality is still online.
Unlike Xiafan dramas, the fermentation of "hardcore" themes often relies on the quality and high reputation of the dramas, and will also release a certain long-tail effect. We can also have higher expectations for the future direction of "The Prosecutor of Nine Parts" and "Once Upon a Time on the Edge of Water". In addition, there are also dramas such as "The Promising Young Woman" and " Jiangcheng Strange Stories " on the market, but these may be the choices of some people.
At present, it seems that it is still not easy to regain the audience's attention in the post-Olympic period. Although the drama market is gearing up, it is obviously not enough to bring freshness and excitement to the market and the audience. After all, if wants to really make the market popular, what it needs is not many hit dramas, but a real hit . Perhaps we can only hope for the word-of-mouth effect of suspense dramas, or new ones, such as "Snow Maze" and "Sifang Pavilion".
