Wen | Zhang Shule (Columnist of People's Daily And People's Post and Telegraph, Observer of Internet and Game Industry)
Finally, after iQiyi's price increase, Mango also announced a price increase.
Youai Tengmang, a collective price increase before the holiday, may become a new normal.
On December 22, following the price increase of iQiyi members, Mango TV also announced the price increase of members.
According to Mango, the price of the continuous monthly package will be raised by 1 yuan, the price of the continuous package season will be raised by 5 yuan, the price of the continuous package will be raised by 10 yuan, and the price of the annual pass will be raised by 20 yuan. The price increase period starts from 00:00 on January 2, 2022.
Previously, iQIYI announced that from December 16, the existing Gold VIP member subscription price will be raised: ordinary monthly members will rise from 25 yuan to 30 yuan, and the continuous monthly subscription will rise from 19 yuan to 22 yuan; ordinary season card members will rise from 68 yuan to 78 yuan, and the continuous package season will rise from 58 yuan to 63 yuan; and the price of ordinary annual members and consecutive annual members will remain unchanged. The increase is between 9% and 20%.
Why the price increase, as the only profitable long video platform, Mango can not stand it?
Huang Yang, Zinc Finance Wu Chenguang and Shule had an exchange, and poor Dao thought:
You can't live without a price increase, and it's difficult to live without a price increase.
The standard for the price of video platform members is very simple, that is, the cost problem.
The proportion between the number of paid users and the cost of purchasing film and television rights is the measure of the membership price standard.
If there are not enough paying users, the ability to dilute the cost of copyright will decline, and the price will be easy to climb.
Therefore, the increase in the price of members is actually an industry-wide choice to alleviate the pressure on revenue.
At present, the biggest problem of long video platforms is that the lack of income is aggravated, and the pressure of copyright fees is on the head.
It is said that it is Youaiteng who does not make money, and the mango TV that makes money is now under pressure.
In the first three quarters of this year, Mango TV's revenue and net profit fell continuously from the previous quarter.
With the suspension of fast books and daily upwards, the state's supervision of talent shows increased in August, and the impact of events such as Huo Zun and Li Yundi on popular programs.
Mango TV will be even less optimistic in the fourth quarter.
However, compared to Youaiteng, Mango always has its own unique bottom card.
Hunan Satellite TV behind Mango has a strong program matrix and exclusive resources for film and television.
With mango station's own ability and the attribute characteristics of traditional media, in fact, supervision has the least impact on it, and the ability to quickly change tracks is stronger, and the incubation ability of ace programs is higher.
This is something that Youaiteng does not have.
But the problem of the industry as a whole, Mango is also unavoidable, that is:
The external pressure of short videos further exacerbates the pain of long videos.
Long videos are squeezed by short videos that squeeze the total user time.
At the same time, live broadcasting and short video with goods also cut the cake of long videos in advertising revenue.
Under the pressure of cost, the price increase has become a drinking duck that has to be done to quench the thirst, otherwise the entire long video platform will be unsustainable.
The data speaks best.
As of the end of the third quarter of 2021, iQIYI's subscription membership reached 103.6 million, compared with 104.8 million in the same period last year, and the number of members has also declined.
It can be seen that long videos are suppressed by short videos as a whole, and the revenue scene is insufficient and advertisers are lost.
Even without external supervision and the impact of various events, there are constant thunderstorms in revenue and net profit.
In addition, falling into the current dilemma is, in a sense, the long video is self-inflicted and pitiful.
The direct reason for the successive price increases is the high royalty fee itself.
The copyright fee itself has risen due to the copyright war that has been running long videos for many years.
Now short video as an external force oppression, so that the hidden dangers caused by that year are exposed, it can only use price increases to stabilize the continued investment in copyright costs.
Of course, it should be said that the overall cost of long video is not high compared to the huge content it provides, especially long-tail content.
Therefore, there is still room for price increases.
As a result, there was once a voice that believed that iQiyi's price increase was due to serious losses, so last year's price adjustment did not bring user disgust.
It is foolish to think that users have a psychologically bearable consumer mentality, and frequent price adjustments lead to increased price sensitivity, that is, the reason why last year's price adjustment response was relatively stable and this year's larger.
However, there are also advantages, that is, the prohibition of short video editing of film and television drama content will give you a chance to breathe.
At the same time, in order to allow us to watch film and television dramas and variety shows online in the future, we can only ask Youai Tengmang to increase the price.
Although, everyone is very upset.
Although, I have never bought membership, but support cinemas and libraries...