Published on December 29, 2021| No. 2736
Looking back at the creation of online dramas in 2021, "theater" is still a key word that cannot be bypassed.
If it is said that because of the proud performance of "Mist Theater" in the summer of 2020, the video website ushered in the "first year" of the theater, then 2021 is a year of comprehensive testing of theatrical operation.
This year, all mainstream long video platforms have made big moves in theatrical operation.
iQiyi first launched the long-planned "Love Theater" on May 20, and then ushered in the return of the second season of "Mist Theater" in September; Youku significantly increased its investment in "Love Theater", releasing a list of "520" films including 30 sweet pet dramas on the same day that "Love Theater" was launched; the "Mango Monsoon" theater linked by Mango TV and Hunan Satellite TV was officially launched on May 24, which was also the only non-type mainstream Internet + theater at that time Tencent Video grabbed the tail end of 2021 and released the "Ten Theater" focusing on micro-short dramas on December 22. At this point, the last mainstream long video website that "lies flat" in theatrical operation has also had a momentum of starting.
In the past year, the exploration of the theater model by various platforms has gradually moved towards a differentiated orientation. The advantages of different platforms are different, and the focus of the theatrical operation is naturally different. Is the fulcrum that makes the "theater" lever the most useful is the content matrix, typing, brand premium or something else? After a year of exploration and development this year, the answer is clearer.
Taiwan-network linkage theater: regain the catalytic force of creation
The "Mango Monsoon" theater linked by Mango TV and Hunan Satellite TV is the most special one in the current Internet + theater.
First of all, it is the only Taiwan-network linkage theater among all the mainstream long video website theaters. Of course, this is related to the long-term brand accumulation of the Mango system and the rich radio and television resources, but this linkage is not a fixed action, better than nothing channel distribution, but an effective planning in the mode and user flow.
From the perspective of mode, the linkage between Taiwan and the network determines that the broadcast cycle of the "Mango Monsoon" theater is year-round, and the number of plays is fixed. This is different from the quarterly broadcast mode of iQiyi's "Mist Theater" and the team battle mode of Youku's "Pet Theater".
Since its launch in May this year, the "Mango Monsoon" theater has broadcast a total of 7 dramas, including "I Am Good in Other Places", which has refreshed the quality of urban dramas to a new high, and the first anti-poaching short drama "Wolf Hunter" in China... In addition, there is also "Tianmu Crisis", which has seized the forefront of science fiction drama themes, which was broadcast on mango TV pure network.
In general, because of the control of the total amount, Mango TV, which has just made efforts in the original drama, has achieved a better control over the quality of the series. At the same time, due to the needs of broadcasting on the Taiwan network and scheduling throughout the year, the "Mango Monsoon" theater has also achieved diversified types and realized the convergence of the core audience.
From the perspective of user diversion, Hunan Satellite TV's huge audience still has the potential to provide member increments for Mango TV.
Mango TV has achieved profitability for several consecutive years, the growth prospects of the membership plate are still considerable, how to introduce the huge traffic pool accumulated by Hunan Satellite TV on the TV side into Mango TV, is a problem that needs to be overcome. The linkage of the monsoon theater has obviously provided new ideas for solving this problem.
Secondly, it is also one of the few non-genre theaters among all the Internet + theaters on the market.
As can be seen from the name, the word "monsoon" is more related to Mango TV's desire for the originality of the series. As mentioned earlier, genre theater has the advantage of increasing user stickiness by stabilizing "narrow broadcast". But for the mango platform, which has accumulated many loyal users in the TV era and even has a fan base "Mango Essence" on social networking sites, the advantages of non-genre theater are more obvious.
Non-genre theater has a large tolerance for the subject matter, which can avoid the aesthetic fatigue and development of specific types. Without the type of box, the theater can focus more on theme extension, production quality and even excellent talent resources in project selection.
For example, the family drama "Mother-in-law's Bracelet" broadcast by the "Mango Monsoon" theater is the result of a cooperation with the "academic" production company Wannian Pictures. The play replaces the strong dramatic plot with a fragmented structure, subverting the audience's stereotype of family drama.
The popular "Sleeping Garden", produced by the veteran film and television giant Huace, as a love drama that integrates psychological suspense and social topics, it has also successfully reached the target audience of this drama.
There is also the highly acclaimed "I'm Good in Other Places", which is not only the acting show of zhou Yutong, Ren Suxi and other powerful actors, but also the disgusting place of newcomer director Li Mo.
With outstanding quality, this drama has been awarded the "New Weekly" "New Cutting-edge Drama" and the Douban Rating Top 10 Mainland Drama Series, and Zhou Yutong also won the Best Actress Award of the 32nd Huading Award for Contemporary Theme TV Series for her wonderful performance in this drama.
At present, Li Mo has joined Mango TV as a contracted director. It can be seen that Mango TV's plan to gather talents and enhance self-control capabilities through the "Mango Monsoon" theater is also gradually being realized.
At the end of October this year, Mango TV announced the key films of the 2022 "Mango Monsoon" theater, and the urban civilian drama "Zhang Weiguo's Summer" starring Huang Lei, the female topic drama "Wife's Choice", the urban industry drama "Extraordinary Doctor" directed by Lu Chuan, the primary medical drama "My Family's Doctor", and the emotional suspense drama "Jiangzhao Dawn" were among them, and the "Mango Monsoon" theater had rich reserves.
Dramas have always been one of the most important content categories of video websites, and the establishment of the "Mango Monsoon" theater means that Mango TV has entered a steady development stage of variety shows and drama "two legs" walking. In 2021, when the development of long video websites has suddenly changed, Mango TV's progress in the drama business may have a profound impact on the wrestling pattern of long video websites.
Genre Theater:
Exchange user stickiness for stable "narrowcast"
What is the significance of the genre theater of video websites? Judging from the inheritance and development of the two seasons of "Misty Theater", it has helped iQiyi consolidate the audience group of suspense dramas accumulated since the "Strange Suspense" Theater. At the same time, through the cooperation between the internal studio and the external production team, the "Mist Theater" has also achieved basic quality control and ensured the steady-state output of episodes of medium quality or above.
When "narrow broadcast" and steady-state output are combined, a problem that has long plagued domestic long video websites - the problem of user loyalty - has found a way to crack it.
But genre theater is not without limitations. On the one hand, the selection of audiences for genre dramas is very high, and the brand theater of one platform only focuses on one genre, which can easily lead to excessive "narrow broadcasting". On the other hand, genre dramas have a fairly obvious market cycle, which is related to the objective time needs of genre innovation and the aesthetic changes of the audience.
Only in terms of the development of domestic network suspense dramas, from the first upswing driven by "Psychological Crime" and "Dark one" in 2014-2015, to the second climax set off by "White Night Pursuit" and "Undocumented Crime" in 2017, and then to the third outbreak promoted by "The Hidden Corner" and "The Silent Truth" in 2020, almost every peak is followed by the trough of 2-3 years.
Combined with this year's mist theater's pilot drama "Goodbye, That Day", and "OctagonAl Pavilion Mystery Fog", "Fatal Wish", "Who is the Murderer" three series that have ended, there is indeed no new work comparable to "The Silent Truth" and "The Hidden Corner". Audiences who have some interest in domestic suspense dramas have difficulty in continuously dodging the attack of these four dramas, but genre theaters have indeed been impacted by the "big and small years" of single genre creation.
Of course, for the limitations of genre theater, iQiyi is also trying to break through in the operation of "Love Theater". iQiyi's "Love Theater", which began airing in May this year, has broadcast a total of 7 new dramas, except for "Moonlight Variations" and "In the Dust of the World", the other five have "high concept" fantasy settings. Although the elements of high concept and idol sweet pet are not always suitable, the exploration of type + is worth affirming.
Commercialization of theatre: the matrix and premium
Matrix and premium are the two most critical concepts in the commercial operation of the theater.
In the early days of "Mist Theater", iQIYI relied on the content matrix and scale effect of the theater to integrate and attract investment, breaking the market's doubts about the commercial revenue of 12 episodes of short dramas. This year, Youku's "pet theater" has brought the matrix and premium effect to a new level. The brand premium effect of the non-type theater represented by the "mango monsoon" is also gradually being highlighted.
In terms of quantity, the new dramas launched by Youku "Pet Theater" are far more than the genre theaters of other mainstream video websites. If you count from the end of January to the end of January, "Wind Up Neon Dress", this year Youku "Pet Theater" broadcast 31 new dramas. From the episodic model, it covers works with various creative modes such as copyright, custom/self-made, and sub-account dramas.
If it is reasonable to say that the copyright, self-made/customized drama A-level projects are placed in the brand theater of the platform, and the sub-account drama is also included in the sharing traffic and brand premium, it can be regarded as the innovation of "pet theater".
Of course, this is also related to Youku's leading position in the field of sub-account dramas. Only in terms of this year's "Pet Theater", the sub-account income of the urban emotional drama "Dear Mr. Lemon Essence" and the idol love drama "My Neighbor Is Not Big" has exceeded 50 million, becoming the sub-account champion of the same theme creation.
In contrast, non-genre theaters are more difficult to predict because of their popularity, and it is difficult to play at a premium. However, if it can rely on stable word of mouth to go out of the circle, there is also the potential to further open up the commercial value of the theater.
In 2021, on the same "theatrical" track, different platforms have run in different directions of progress. The number of members is leading, pursuing content differentiation and user stickiness; those who have the advantage of being latecomers pursue creative catalysis and user drainage; those who value the premium effect pursue the enrichment of content reserves in open cooperation.
Since the beginning of this year, the long video industry has been moving forward. The network clear action shook the original variety show and drama traffic model, and the whole industry entered the adjustment stage of development direction and rhythm.
The good news at the end of the year is that the China Online Audiovisual Program Service Association issued the "Detailed Rules for the Standard Review of Online Short Video Content", which stipulates that it is not allowed to cut or adapt all kinds of audio-visual programs and clips such as movies, TV series, online film and television dramas without authorization. This is a strong protection of the copyright of long videos, creating favorable conditions for the development of the whole industry in the coming year.
The competition of long video platforms has entered the second half, and theatrical operation is an important lever to leverage development, and I believe that the fulcrum will also become clearer and clearer.
Attached: 2021 video website mainstream theater broadcast repertoire
【Text/Tin Drum】