This article comes from WeChat public account: Bone Network Movies (ID: guduowlj) , author: Guyu, summer
The “Black Swan Incident” triggered by the 2020 epidemic has also leveraged the “fast-forward key” of the video industry.
On February 16th, “Iqiyi collapsed”, “Xiaomi TV collapsed” and “Korean TV collapsed” successively rushed to Weibo. Iqiyi officially released the relevant apology statement, and the app was fully operational after 2 hours. Under the influence of the epidemic, the people did not leave home, and online entertainment ushered in development opportunities. Successive outages have caused many speculations on the video platform traffic. The two parties hold different opinions on “significant increase in traffic” and “bandwidth technical issues”.
Data is the best proof. According to QuestMobile data, since the city ’s closure on Wuhan on January 23, the public ’s comprehensive understanding of the impact of the epidemic has begun, and the proportion of total daily use of the entire network of users has climbed. The first day has soared from 5 billion hours to 5.76 billion, a significant increase. Online entertainment ushers in a good time. As one of its important branches, after the Spring Festival holiday in 2020, the number of users in the online video industry increased by 17.4% compared with weekdays. The average daily active user increase of mobile video was 16% before the holiday. Increased to 36%.
During the epidemic, video platforms that have received a large number of users seem to be entering a critical period of atypical pneumonia in e-commerce. However, also in this special period, the headline department entered the long video platform melee with the help of “Aunt” and Huanxi Media; Station B continued to emerge, with a high daily activity and social user loyalty It is also a rival that cannot be ignored by major platforms. At the same time, Mango Super Media has developed rapidly after its backdoor listing, and recently launched two high-profile dramas, and even caused downtime due to the drama’s hit. The video platform has maintained the trend of “three-legged stand” for many years, and there is already a tendency of loosening.
Under the epidemic, it is not only the long video industry that presses the “fast forward key”. In this special period, the short video platforms, live broadcast platforms and game platforms represented by Douyin and Kuaishou are even more eye-catching. Competitors of the long video platform are also eyeing at grabbing existing users.
Under the opportunity and crisis, the number of members is close to the ceiling and the long video platform that has entered a stable period. How to seize the opportunity to activate and retain users and reverse the loss situation is the key to the second development. The epidemic, for them, is a development “fast forward key” and a mid-term test.
Server “downtime”, critical period of video platform?
According to Guduodu, under the epidemic situation, Youai Tengmeng has experienced an increase in traffic to varying degrees.
Bundo data shows that from January 17th to February 17th, 2020, the total play volume of Tencent video network drama TOP100 increased by 86% year-on-year. According to Youku, Youku ’s daily active users reached a new high since the 2018 World Cup, and the average daily user time set a record for its platform. For Mango TV, the average daily usage time of APP during the Spring Festival was an increase of 42.1% year-on-year.
Under the background of “stop and stop school”, Youai Tengjun cooperated with educational institutions to launch online courses one after another and successfully drained the platform for the second time. This has provided a base for the conversion of platform members, and the recent increase in the number of members of major platforms is a direct manifestation. According to Huili.com data, compared to before the outbreak, iQiyi members increased by 1079% month-on-month, and Tencent Video and Mango TV members increased by 319% and 708% respectively. In the era when the number of members of the platform has exceeded 100 million, the growth rate of new members has slowed down. The epidemic has, to a certain extent, stimulated the recovery of members of the video platform.
On the video platform, capital market response is more acute. On the evening of February 3, the first day when a large number of domestic companies announced that they were working from home, the stock market in US stocks rose significantly. IQiyi and Bilibili rose 7.24% and 6.91% respectively; on February 4, the concepts of live broadcast and online video of Hong Kong stocks became popular, and Hong Kong stock Tencent Holdings rose 3.42%; from February 3 to 6, A shares Mango Super Media rose about 17% in three days.
No matter in terms of traffic growth, number of members, or stock price, video platforms have good digital performance.
The impact of the epidemic has stimulated the development of online entertainment, and video platforms have ushered in traffic growth. Of course, the contribution of the hit drama cannot be ignored. The day when “Iqiyi collapsed” was when the finale of the popular drama “Want to Meet You” was updated; at the same time, the Korean drama TV that “collapsed” and the continuously updated “The Fall of Love” were the hottest Korean dramas recently; Mango TV, which was also down before, is also related to the hit of the romantic drama “The Next Stop Is Happiness.”
The influx of users and per capita usage time, coupled with the help of explosive dramas, have jointly created this time the video platform’s downtime. The last major downtime of iQiyi was when the VIP members of the “Tomb Raider” in 2016 watched the complete episode. This event initiated the paid market for video platforms, which is of great significance for online film and television. Although Lei Ming, CEO of Aimeng Technology, and some in the industry, the downtime incident is related to the short-term surge of users on the video platform and the technical problems of bandwidth. It is not possible to directly draw the conclusion that the video platform ’s traffic has surged across the board. But it is undeniable that behind the downtime, the online entertainment market has risen, and in the bleak silence of the film and television industry, this can be regarded as a great good news.
The industry changes behind a special period may be just the beginning.
In the eyes of investor Hu Shicheng, the increase in traffic this time is expected. After all, watching film and television works is one of the few entertainment methods available to the public under the current circumstances. This is an opportunity for domestic video platforms, but “not at the capital level, but further capture of the traditional TV market.” According to the Bunduo data, in the Tencent videos that have not closed the front-end video playback, from January 17 to February 17, 2020, the total number of TOP100 web drama video playbacks was 1.26 times the TV drama video playbacks. In 2017 and 2018, In the same period of 2019, the former is only 0.35, 0.43, and 0.38 times of the latter. This is the first time that the number of online TV dramas exceeds that of TV dramas, and the increase is huge.
A large number of viewers choose to spend time on video websites. The video platform must provide a service experience that is different from TV media. In the short term, it is not only the content reserve, but also the community service and the creation of the content ecology. In order to distinguish the TV media, the capture of the traditional TV market by video platforms is an irreversible trend.
Liu Qiangdong was interviewed by CCTV 2. Data show that Taobao was established in May 2003, and Jingdong Mall (Jingdong Multimedia) was established in January 2004. According to the WHO definition, the SARS epidemic in mainland China ended in July 2003.
The offline industry was severely hit during the SARS period in 2003. Although the statement that “SARS has succeeded in e-commerce in China” is not entirely accurate, it is undeniable that Taobao and JD.com appeared one after the other during the SARS period.E-commerce has a bud from 0 to 1. It may not be entirely appropriate to compare the promotion of atypical pneumonia to e-commerce business with the impact of the epidemic on video platforms. But the video platform desperately eager to get rid of losses has indeed waited for Dongfeng.
Especially in the current video money burnout battle, how to use members to pay for the transition from 1 to 2 is the key to the development of each platform.
Mid-term exam for long videos: How to activate and retain users after approaching the ceiling?
So now, the question before the video platform is how to activate existing users and retain new ones. To actually answer these two questions, You Aiteng’s three families have already taken action. Last year was a crucial year for the long video. The size of the three platform’s member pool further expanded, advertising revenue fell, and the importance of the member market became apparent. The three companies began to make their own efforts and quickly moved to the C-end market.
At the end of last year, Yang Xianghua, iQiyi’s member and vice president of overseas business, said in an interview with the media that iQiyi is more of Disney’s business model. “The media platform is one third and the park is one third. First, the income of other derived businesses is also one-third, which is a relatively complete structure. IQiyi is now moving in this direction. “Relying on a business model that eats more fish and combines different content categories for derivative development In order to make users sticky, Iqiyi relies on the ecology to get rid of the characteristics of “channels” and wants to become a content-based interactive platform.
In action, Aiqi also experimented with interactive dramas, vertical screen variety shows and other content modes to highlight the iqiyi brand. More attention has been paid to the iqiyi bubble community to build a user community and cultivate fan stickiness In an interview with Budo, Yi Fang also stated that in the future, the bubble community will also become an independent app to develop more functions.
In the face of the C-end market, Youku and Tencent Video play slightly differently from iQiyi. Everyone knows that movies are the real C-end market.At this point, the two platforms have made a series of measures for online movies. Youku is responsible for splitting accounts, and Tencent Video has made great efforts in the IP ecosystem, user fees and self-made movies.
In April of last year, Youku first paid for a single film with “Ji Ji”, but the effect failed to meet expectations. Immediately afterwards, Youku’s “Theater Mode” proposed above the closed-door meeting in February also took action, and successively settled in content partners such as Amoy, New Studio, Yingmei, Hunan Satellite TV, BBC Planet.
It is understood that “Theater” is a self-operating label of the content producer on Youku platform. In the theater mode, the cooperative label will have an independently operated “shop” to achieve customization of page style and content scheduling, and use big data to precipitate label fans, realize private domain traffic, and open up Taobao, Tmall, In the hungry product library, the partner can sell the self-operated or third-party products in the theater mode to get the product sales profit. Youku has become a typical content distribution channel, allowing partners to launch content on their own to build labels, in order to precipitate users and attract users to complete payment actions.
Tencent Video has been in the next big game. The concept of VVIP was pioneered with “advanced on-demand”. Firstly, it has the consciousness of member rating; secondly, it upgrades online movies to self-made movies and increases capital investment; meanwhile, it supports small and medium-sized schools The company absorbs talents, and in the content derivative business, directly profit from users. In the IP, ecology, chain, content talent reserves, show ambitions for the C-end.
But although there are three family ideasRecognizing the importance of the member market, but in a short period of time to achieve a substantial overall absolute profit for members, they still need to be mentally prepared to take the “long march”. At the same time, short video platforms are already catching up.
In the long development of video platform, Aiyouteng has completed the cultivation of user payment habits, but user payment is still a headache for the online film and television industry. Unlike foreign video giant Netflix, it obtains a large amount of user viewing habits data, further expands the exclusive content database based on user feedback, successfully builds a content moat, and fully taps the huge market potential of online content consumption. Without the continuous supply of exclusive high-quality resources, failed to build a domestic video platform with a content moat and user loyalty. The low member unit price, small profits but quick turnover, and discount offers have collected a good membership user base, but have always been stuck in lasting money. During the war, so far it has not been able to turn losses into poverty.
In the third quarter of 2019, iQiyi’s third quarter revenue was 7.40 billion yuan, operating loss was 2.83 billion yuan, and net loss was 3.67 billion yuan. Tencent Media’s advertising revenue was 3.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 28% and a month-on-month decrease of 17 %. In the third quarter, Mango’s net profit attributable to its mother was 171 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 28.8%. A number of film and television industry executives revealed in an interview that the video platform that continues to lose money is also entering a stage of slowing revenue.
This is the “most dangerous” moment of the video platform, and it is also a critical moment.
Where is the long video heading?
The running race of the long video is not over yet.
B station has become more and more full of existence since last year. Relying on the expertise of the UP master and UGC model, it strengthens content creation and user relationships with behaviors such as appreciation, collection, and homepage list. B station reserves highly active users and various users. A variety of content has gradually formed a social user ecosystem based on interaction. Including Douyin Express, users have launched 2.61 billion short videos per day. The headlines in this outbreak took advantage of the situation, and the buy-out of “Aunt” also won the right to launch other content of Happy Media. The long video in the “loss” quagmire has internal and external problems, and traffic peaks in the future. This epidemic is undoubtedly an opportunity for reflection.
The data tells us that, including Mango TV, iQiyi and other long video apps have borrowed Dongfeng in this epidemic, and the traffic growth has intensified. But there is no doubt that the epidemic has benefited short videos such as short videos for social consumption. For a long time to come, several platforms will have to face challenges from these strong competitors, especially the mobile ecosystem and The headlines of big data algorithms.
If you want to complete the transition from aggregator to platform, you must break this loop. Members and video websites have a two-way demand for discovery and discovery. The platform through the ad network and its product matrix, such as The IP incubation system and content production system establish an open ecology that connects users, external websites, applications, and advertisers. Advertisers can flexibly place ads on any site within the alliance based on member behavior. The platform shares the benefits of the sites that have been placed. Only one or more parties can interact with each other and encourage multi-party business exchanges and value exchanges to achieve sustainable win-win results.
The development of future video platforms is truly ecological. From the perspective of investor Zhang Yan, according to the revenue structure, the three major video sites are still not real platforms, they can only be regarded as aggregators, that is, using network effects to gather users and third parties, whose third parties are basically advertisers . Monopolize the commercial value of users or traffic as much as possible. The demand between the two is one-way. Advertisers want to find matching users but users do not want to see ads. This is an unhealthy business loop. As the number of members reaches growth Bottlenecks, unsatisfactory advertising performance, and advertisers ’willingness to pay will also decrease.
“The new revolutionaries portray dreams for everyone and gain people’s hearts for free. When people gradually become accustomed to free services, the new giants form a monopoly and can set prices and slaughter consumers. This is the essence of business and the expansion path of Internet giants . “Regarding the development trend of future long videos, several interviewees gave different opinions, but all mentioned the prediction of member price increases.
“It is precisely because it is quite said that the user has already exceeded 100 million, so it is not so important to convert members at this time, because the upward space is limited, and now it should be a key period of price increase, that is, The low-cost harvesting market has ended, and it is now time to increase prices. An analyst believes that the three major video sites in the future have reached the critical period of “price increases.”
However, the “price increase” method is worth thinking about. In addition to the straightforward approach such as rising member prices, the introduction of the VVIP model, the addition of single-piece payable works, and increased support for online movies and account-sharing dramas, these can quickly move to the C-end and let the audience “paid money” in the form of content to achieve The profit model is the focus of the video platform in the future.
That is to say, When advertising revenue declines one after another, the size of members reaches a certain order of magnitude, and the number of members begins to shrink. The question before the video platform is how to increase the income of members as soon as possible and harvest the market. Iqiyi, which entered the million-member track last year, has reached a stable period. The development and retention results of members will definitely directly affect the future pattern. However, judging from the current situation, member price increases still need a moderation period. The membership revenue of several video platforms continues to grow, but the content differentiation is not very prominent, and the scarcity of quality content is the core issue that has not yet been resolved.
There is no doubt that the membership will be the future, provided that the platform has a content ecology to achieve sticky user training. From the research and development of the IP chain of “Qing Yunian”, “Chen Qingling” and “Song of the Sword Sword”, the continuous trial of the advanced on-demand method, the ecological transformation of Tencent Video and iQiyi is obvious. Open up the market with female themes and focus on vertical circles.
Because the member has the content he wants to see, the advertisement attracts enough viewers to bring him enough information to convey because of the high-quality content. The stability and growth of traffic is also due to the continuous quality content. While robbing, cultivate your own ability to produce fine products, get rid of the serious dependence of suppliers, this is the only wayIt is a key point for the future development of video platforms.
This article comes from WeChat public account: Bone Network Movies (ID: guduowlj) , author: Guyu, summer