Platforms and production companies have rally.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Daily economy News “(ID: nbdnews) , author: Bi Yuanyuan Wenmeng Hua, editor: Du Yi. Original title: “The maximum period of the summer video website: the head drama is the platform must strive for the “single set payment””
This summer, it can be said that all platforms are performing well, but the latter reflects the increasingly fierce competition between platforms. If the original platform also broadcasts episodes according to the quarter, then this year, each of the betting works will appear in the summer file. At the same time, as the main sales channels of content producers have changed from TV stations to network video platforms, the platform and production company rally also appeared.
Corresponding to the “recession” of film and television listing: In addition to the more stable old TV drama companies such as Huace Film and Television, most film and television companies in this summer file can be described as “no grain.”
Heads become a must-have product
This summer’s summer file, what impressed the outside world is the drama outbreak. The head works between the platforms are courtesy and the type is full of flowers. At the same time, each platform has almost all of its own treasures.
“Summer files are too crowded and too tragic.” One producer sighed that, in her opinion, the summer file has become the biggest schedule for video sites throughout the year. As viewers’ entertainment choices become more diversified, the demands on the series are increasing. “The first demand of users is entertainment demand, and the second is social demand.”
The current audience must give plenty of reasons to watch a play. “The threshold for the consumption of the drama is higher, not the money, but the time and the psychology.” In the understanding of Chen Fei, president of the company, the drama that can be regarded as the head explosion in a year is within 5, “The future, The three platforms will put their head dramas in the summer, so the competition will be very intense.”
Before, according to the reporter, the evaluation of the video website is calculated according to the quarter, and the corresponding head dramas will be broadcast every quarter, but from this year, the summer file and the winter vacation file may become absolute heavy.
If you can broadcast a single drama, then the platform’s new volume and brand influence will rise rapidly. It can be seen from the summer file of the past two years that the head drama is still a product that the platform must compete for, but considering the problems of loss and input and output, the self-owned IP insists that the single broadcast cannot be shaken, but the non-head drama platform begins. Trying to replace and other cooperation, the audience is biased towards the drama of middle-aged and older people. In order not to lack the position, the platform will tend to jointly purchase, and since the second half of last year, the overall purchase price has declined with the rationalization of artist compensation. “For the platform, the broadcast effect of the solo drama can be maximized.” Su Xiao, chairman of the company.
In the eyes of the above producers, the headThe competition for the drama has become more intense, and the budget and procurement of the video website for the middle waist has seen a significant decline. The video website has evolved to the present, undergoing three processes: buying and buying when grabbing market share, seeking differentiated fine operations, and seeking absolute heads for short video competition.
The essence of content video business is the distribution and realization of traffic. The pursuit of explosives in the platform is actually the pursuit of traffic.
In the pursuit of explosives, several platforms have made all the stops, but most of them still rely on the content of the production company. Most people in the industry have heard such a passage: at noon, it must be a boutique. If any platform can broadcast the noon sun drama alone, there will be heat and word of mouth protection. It is understood that the midday sun between the platform and the satellite TV, the current drama can be played on the platform and satellite TV.
The reporter also learned that the copyright fees for most head dramas are higher than the cumulative fees sold to multiple platforms. The single platform does not reduce the investment in the purchase of head dramas. In the eyes of a content producer, regarding the consideration of the head drama, he believes that Youku will think more about the interaction with Taobao and other e-commerce businesses to guide consumers to buy, and Tencent is determined to be a “full-time master”, actually It is highly relevant to the overall e-sports and gaming business.
Why can a content production company represented by the midday sun and the lime flower industry make a market-defined explosion? In this regard, many people in the industry think that a drama brings together big IP, big production, big actors, and builds the foundation of “explosion”. Su Xiao believes that “any explosion has a strong innovative element, and it is difficult to copy the success of the follow-up works, but the explosion is also like a tightrope.”
So, in the past few years, the platform has moved closer to content companies in the form of capital. For example, although Tencent is a shareholder of the company, the two sides share the cooperation. “But we don’t have the exclusive exclusive cooperation requirement at the contract level. Just like “Little Joy”, we cooperate with Aiqiyi, and “Kyushu” is cooperating with Youku.” Su Xiao explained.
Short-term performance decline becomes inevitable
The film company faces innovation challenges. As mentioned above, most of the innovations are nothing more than an “explosive model”, and a gambling win can lead to a beautiful performance, and a gambling loss may drag a company down.
In the exchange with reporters, Su Xiao mentioned, “The mentality of exploding money, the direction is no problem, but from the perspective of business management, it is very dangerous.”
Especially in the past two years, the industry downturn, delay in revenue recognition, rising debt ratio, and fewer projects have led to the shrinking of the market value of film and television companies. A large number of film and television companies face the problem of life and death. However, the operation of the non-listed company, which is still in the film industry, has not been greatly affected.
The film and television industry has its own particularities. Even if it is placed on a global scale, there are bottlenecks that are difficult to break through. Su Xiao said that capacity expansion and performance fluctuations are difficult to change. “There is still a clear ceiling on the single product line, we are doing drama.The set is unlikely to be 3 in this year, 5 in the next year, and 10 in the following year. It is difficult to avoid fluctuations in performance.
This kind of performance volatility, entering the capital market, will bring about obvious ups and downs. In the past few years, the film and television industry broke out, bringing too much attention and hot money. It is not surprising that listed companies have a price-earnings ratio of more than 100 times, but with the shrinking of the industry, these phenomena will hardly reappear.
In the past ten years, film and television companies have rushed to the capital market. However, due to the performance and stock price pressure, some companies are still not stable, and they are anxious to expand their business, such as targeting games, real estate, and tourism. Performance may be lifted in the short term, but it is particularly important when it encounters difficulties. “Using the advantages of the capital market, rapid expansion will encounter problems. After the return of capital, focus on the main business can accumulate advantages.” An industry veteran said, “Many domestic film and television companies want to turn themselves into Disney, but in fact, we The content company has a big gap with Disney.”
When some companies began to wake up, they understood that they should focus on content, so they reflected and contracted. Under this change, the short-term performance decline became inevitable.
The film industry has suffered from the sequelae of the bubble burst in the short term, but most still choose to stay. Su Xiao believes that the market will gradually pick up, and the film and television industry has the advantage of resisting economic cyclicality.
Try for “single set payment”
As the biggest pusher and big winner behind this summer’s summer file, the reporter noticed that the video platform has further deepened the exploration and experimentation of the “TO C” model. The most obvious is the “paid end of the “Chen’s Order”.
At that time, Tencent video will leave the unsold episodes to increase the ending, a total of 6 episodes will be released at one time, VIP members are useless, super VIP is useless, but can pay 6 yuan in a single episode, or directly spend 30 yuan to unlock The finale, and the finale is not only sold.
The action of Tencent Video is undoubtedly an attempt and a test of “single set payment” under the “TO C” mode. Although there was a buzz on the Internet at the time, but the blame, the fans paid the money is very honest. Ten hours after the release of the finale, Tencent video attracted more than 78 million yuan.
In fact, not only is the video platform trying to explore more “TO C”, but for content producers, it is also gradually focusing more on “TO C”. After all, with the continuous strengthening of the platform’s voice, the main sales channels of content producers have changed from TV stations to network video platforms.
In an interview with the reporter of “Daily Economic News”, Su Xiao said: “At present, content companies mainly focus on ‘TO B’, but in terms of trends, the income of TO C end in the entire income structure of the production company It will gradually increase, and the future proportion will be higher and higher.” He also cites that in 2018, Li Meng’s “Fujian” tried to share membership income with the platform. It is understood that at that time, the content of “Fujian” was divided into nearly 10 million yuan.Sub-accounting.
A senior industry insider said that for the single-set payment and membership-sharing model, both the platform and the content producers are “very tangled and waiting to see”. “On the one hand, some parties hope to get through this model in the future. Because the power of the head drama will be even greater, but it is inevitable that the risk of the film may be improved compared to the one-time buyout mode of the platform; the entanglement of the platform is that the member is the platform. The most important rights and assets, after the member purchases the annual card, if you still need to pay for the single set, it will reduce the customer satisfaction to a certain extent.”
It is worth noting that at present, the video website is still at a loss, and the profit problem is still on the three video platforms of Tencent Video, Youku and Iqiyi, and the competition between the three video platforms is fierce.
One industry insider who has worked closely with the three platforms told reporters: “The pressure on video sites to reduce losses is very high, because the audience’s needs have changed a lot, and the platform has also cut a lot of projects below the waist. For the platform, it is also necessary to achieve more lean management as soon as possible, and achieve profitability as soon as possible.”