Iqiyi Gong Yu: The super online drama model of benchmarking American dramas will become the mainstream in the future

In 2014, the online drama market suddenly emerged. Through the support of online platforms and the pursuit of large amounts of capital and hot money, it has continued to transform and upgrade in the past two or three years. Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQiyi, pointed out that with the gradual completion of the differentiation between online dramas and TV dramas, this emerging art form based on the Internet platform and with a strong sense of the Internet has relied on continuous innovation and trial and error, and the future development trend has become clear.

At a time when cultural and entertainment needs collide with the Internet, creating huge industrial potential, the field of online drama, which serves as an industry vane, is also undergoing tremendous changes.

The online drama market suddenly emerged in 2014. Through the support of online platforms and the pursuit of large amounts of capital and hot money, it has continued to transform and upgrade in the past two or three years. Based on different platforms and audiences, online dramas and TV dramas have gradually evolved into more and more distinctive differences. At the keynote speech session of the "China Broadcasting Federation Television Production Committee TV Drama Industry Forum" on February 19, Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQiyi, clearly pointed out that with the gradual completion of the differentiation between online dramas and TV dramas, this Internet-based platform, emerging art forms with strong Internet feel, relying on continuous innovation and trial and error, the future development trend has become clear.

The weekly broadcast model has been established, and US-style super online dramas will become mainstream

. Among many "Internet +" industries,"Internet + Entertainment" can bring the largest imagination space. The changes in new broadcasting, transmission, and storage methods represented by video websites have brought drastic changes to the entertainment industry, no less than the birth of film technology to the film form and the creation of television technology to the television industry.

After experiencing the attempt of Short Video and the imitation of TV dramas, China's online dramas, which rely on Internet technology, have now explored a set of super online drama models to match American dramas. Verificable results have been achieved in various aspects such as the quality of American dramas, the broadcast methods of American dramas, and the profit model of American dramas. The most important change lies in the broadcast model. In Gong Yu's view, judging from the two dimensions of the creation of the brand effect of the series in the Internet environment and the development of the industrial ecology around the series, the innovative broadcast model of "quarterly broadcast + weekly broadcast" will become the mainstream in the industry.

The Internet, especially the mobile Internet, is reshaping the behavioral habits of today's users. The pace of modern people's life is getting faster and faster, and the reception of information is becoming more high-frequency and high-density. The ways for users to enjoy entertainment have become richer, making it increasingly difficult to fix their attention on more than 60 episodes in the past, or even as many as 90 episodes. Shorter, higher-quality, and more compact episodes are easier to accept by users. A US-style "seasonal broadcast" model with 12 episodes as a season and the duration of each episode starting from 45 minutes or even longer in accordance with current industry practices was immediately born. Online dramas based on seasons will also get rid of the shackles of TV's "daily broadcast" form and upgrade into a more free "weekly broadcast" mode.

In Gong Yu's view, for practitioners, in addition to catering to the general trend of users enjoying entertainment, the "quarterly broadcast + weekly broadcast" model has two advantages. First, it is easy to form a chain brand effect, low cost of new recruitment, and reduce risks and expand profits. Second, in terms of profit methods, dramas that are broadcast in one season do not have much brand effect and development space. Seasonal dramas can have a more time window to develop all aspects of the industrial chain.

Investment in single episodes continues to increase, and online dramas reshape their "movie texture"

broadcast methods and profit models determine that future super online dramas must first be of excellent quality. Introducing talents and increasing investment are inevitable choices. At present, the investment of 5 million yuan in the single episode of "Tomb Robber Notes" is no longer a case. The investment standard for online dramas is close to and exceeds that of traditional TV dramas. Gong Yu believes that this is only a temporary phenomenon. In the future, investment in online dramas will be further enhanced, and the quality of the works must be achieved. It must achieve the quality of the movie. "Soon, this change may happen within a year or two. The premise is still in the form of American dramas. The number of episodes in a single season will be shortened, the investment in a single episode will increase to 6 million or even 8 million episodes, and the overall audio-visual quality will reach the level of the film industry."

At present, online dramas are attracting a lot of capital attention, and emerging talents, traditional TV series producers and film practitioners are all leaning towards online dramas. Gong Yu predicts that a large number of film talents will flow into the entire industry. Original film directors, actors, screenwriters and various types of work will flood into the industry. In fact, since last year, many of iQiyi's high-investment online drama projects have begun to approach the film production team.

"At present, there are clear boundaries between TV drama practitioners and film practitioners in my country, and the degree of overlap is not high. In the future, China market will be the same as the current American market, with more and more cross-practitioners in movies and TV dramas." Gong Yu pointed out that in the U.S. market, the production of American dramas and film production are very close, and the boundaries are not clear. High-quality investment and audio-visual technology are commonly used in the fields of movies and TV dramas, which has a great effect on improving the overall quality of American dramas.

Continuously improving the confidence behind single-episode investment is the continuous maturity of the commercial monetization model of online dramas. According to Gong Yu's plan, the current very clear trend of online drama broadcasting is two window periods. The first window period is for users to charge, whether it is the monthly subscription model that China users are more accustomed to now, or the on-demand model that is more fair and more flexible in transactions; the second window period is free to watch and rely on the advertising model to make profits.

Creation returns to the essence of good stories, the end of the era of small fresh meat, and

the increase in "hardware" investment is one of the driving forces for super online dramas to maintain a rapid evolution. However, after experiencing the expansion and search of the industry full of screens and the ubiquitous small fresh meat. After the period, for today's online drama industry, how to return to the essence of creation and the fundamental proposition that audiences love good stories is the key to leveraging the future potential of this art form.

In Gong Yu's view, what the online drama industry is currently experiencing is no different from that in the early days of the film and TV industries-technological changes have driven the influx of capital and talents, and then ushered in an industry where a large number of new people have emerged and high-quality content has exploded. golden period. Today is the starting point of the "golden age" of online dramas.

In fact, there is no shortage of outstanding actors or high-profile actors in the industry. What is lacking is actors and creators who are both well-known and influential and are accepted by young audiences. In an environment where the relationship between supply and demand determines prices and there are very few actors who are liked by young users, with the rapid expansion of the market, capital does not understand the basic laws of creation, and can only rely on high pay to chase small fresh meat. After the end, the window of opportunity for newcomers officially opened.

However, Gong Yu also emphasized that the necessary condition for newcomers to excel is that online dramas must return to the story itself. As the audience's appreciation ability improves, good actors and good stories have become the most valued content characteristics in the industry. At the same time, practitioners, especially newcomers, who want to make a difference in the online drama industry must also realize that online dramas broadcast on the Internet should have a so-called online feel that is different from traditional TV dramas, and require creators to constantly explore and ultimately produce a good work. Good works must be innovative. Continuous self-innovation and not repeating existing routines are the key to success or failure. Gong Yu said that dramas such as "Tomb Robbing Notes","Remains of Crime" and "Old Nine Gates" actually had very different points when they were created in previous years. "There is no way for routines to be popular. Excellent works must be different."

Editor: vian