Image source @ Visual China
Text | Shenrancaijing, author | Li Qiuhan, Editor, | Wei Jia
"It's too ugly to eat each other", "I won't watch the drama in the future", "Obviously you can grab money, but it still has to send VIP"...
Long video platform, scolded again.
This has to do with two recent events. First, the price increase of Tencent Video members, since April 20, the VIP continuous monthly subscription price has risen from 20 yuan to 25 yuan, the super film and television VIP continuous monthly subscription price has been adjusted from 30 yuan to 35 yuan, and the VIP annual pass price has been adjusted from 253 yuan to 258 yuan, only part of the price remains unchanged.
Second, Youku has caused controversy due to the way the new drama is updated. Youku's new drama "My name is Zhao Jiadi" to try a new update mode, VIP users need to invite 5 friends to help on the basis of members' preemptive viewing, in order to unlock the latest episodes 23 and 24.
The result of this is that #Tencent Video once again announced the price increase #on Weibo hot search, netizens complained, and the unlocking method that Youku new drama tried was ridiculed as "slashing a knife". Long video platforms are once again being pushed to the forefront.
But on the other hand, from the consumer side, the opinions of users are not uniform.
Some users complained about the update method of the platform, and some users hoped to update fancy in order to watch the drama, and even expressed their willingness to pay extra money. The recent hit "The Memories of the Taming of the Fish" is just like the return of the deceased, updated three days a week, two episodes a day, close to the finale, was called by netizens to add more, add more topics and even rushed to the hot search. Some netizens joked, "I cut a knife, can I play the finale of "Just Like the Return of the Dead" this week? ”
How should video platforms meet the needs of users, how much can users pay for video products, and the acceptance of different groups is different.
Some industry insiders shouted for video platforms, "For long video platforms, content is a heavy asset, and when satisfying users, we have to weigh whether we can recover the cost." In his view, since some users do have the phenomenon of fancy urging and demanding more for popular dramas, then the video platform should also have the space for hierarchical operation of users and find value-added services under the premise of respecting and ensuring the user experience, "If only the service is provided, the cost of the platform is not considered, such a service will not last." However, he stressed that the premise is that the content quality is worth the price.
Every time the membership price increases, or the adjustment of the membership business, the long video platform will fall into the whirlpool of public opinion. This time, the long video platform is wronged?
Why are you being scolded again?
The scolding of long video platforms is not a new thing.
In 2021, the video platform collective price increase, users have begun to be dissatisfied. Taking the subscription fee of consecutive monthly subscription members as an example, on April 10, 2021, Tencent Video increased its price for the first time, and the continuous monthly subscription membership fee rose from 19 yuan to 20 yuan, and now it has risen to 25 yuan. On December 15, 2021, iQIYI announced that the price of consecutive monthly subscriptions will be raised from 19 yuan to 22 yuan; on December 22, 2021, Mango TV announced that the price of consecutive monthly subscriptions will be raised by 1 yuan, from 18 yuan to 19 yuan.
The increase is not large, and the complaints attracted are not small.
The larger-scale discontent occurred on the advanced on-demand events that began to be popular in 2019. This is a value-added service of the video platform, and users need to pay an additional fee on the basis of membership in order to unlock the episode content in advance, and the price of one episode is about 3 yuan. This led to a number of members suing the broadcasting platform, and eventually the model was cancelled after being named by the Consumer Association.
Reviewing it, allowing users to pay more money and spend more costs to chase dramas will set off a public opinion storm.
This time too. Whether it is the price increase of Tencent Video members or the fancy update of Youku, it can be attributed to the pull between buyers and sellers.
If the video platform is regarded as a seller, the user is regarded as a buyer, and the episode content on the platform is regarded as a commodity, this incident is equivalent to the seller adjusting the pricing strategy of the product due to revenue pressure. The high content cost of video platforms cannot be ignored, and iQiyi alone will have a content cost of 20.7 billion yuan in 2021. However, let buyers pay more costs, and in the absence of significant improvement in the experience, it is regarded by some users as not talking about "martial arts".
Deep Flame communicated with many industry people, and everyone had different views.
Some station users. In the industry for more than 20 years, senior producer Sun Wenji and the actors in "I am Zhao Jiadi" have cooperated, "their acting skills are remarkable", she said, ordinary stars, Internet celebrities, can no longer let the audience pay, the industry in the production, is returning to the essence of content. She admitted that users have the selfish intention of "the more provincial the better", but in her view, "the action of the platform is a commercial behavior, after the user pays, the important thing is whether it can get a better user experience", and the overall production quality of the domestic drama has not been significantly improved.
There are also station platforms. Although he does not fully agree with the operation mode of the long video platform, the owner of a film and television company complains about the long video industry, "just like passengers taking a plane, divided into first class and business class, spending different prices and enjoying different services, which is no different from the situation of video platforms, but everyone wants to spend less money." ”
Wang Ke, a video platform person, felt incomprehensible, "Order a cup of Starbucks coffee, the cheapest is 30 yuan, the current video platform a monthly card, the price is not as good as a cup of coffee." At theme parks like Disney and Universal Studios, in order to reduce queues, tourists have purchased tickets, and some people will choose to buy fast-track tickets and speedcards, "I don't understand why when it comes to the video industry, it won't work," he said.
The platform and users are full of grievances, what is the fundamental reason behind this?
How to cultivate?
Due to the different payment environments at home and abroad, the charging model of domestic video platforms has been localized. Hu Shicheng concluded, "If the video platform prices according to the way it can earn back the cost, users will be scared away. Users can only be attracted by low prices, and then continue to make them pay money or pay other costs. ”
Judging from the results, the number of members of the video platform over 100 million is the result of the growth of users' awareness of payment, but in the environment of long-term free consumption of content, users' understanding that content is also a commodity and has high costs also needs to be strengthened.
At the same time, video platforms offer limited quality content that satisfies users. "Users' paid consumption habits are lagging behind, and high-quality content production is also relatively backward. On both the supply side and the consumer side, both are deficient," Hu Shicheng said.
As a result, the membership pricing of the video industry has formed the current state, and the "layered operation" of users has become an indispensable step.
With different user needs, is there something wrong with hierarchical operation?
At present, compared with foreign video platforms, in terms of payment methods, domestic video platforms play a bit "flowery". This is also the hardest hit area that users complain about.
Zhang Feng, a senior industry person familiar with the membership system of the video platform, introduced to Shen Yan that the operation logic of the domestic membership system was born in a step-by-step exploration.
In the early years, iQIYI was the first to explore the membership model. He recalled that at that time, the pirated CD was 5 yuan a piece, assuming that users watched a movie for four weekends a month, and it cost 20 yuan. At the same time, iQIYI did user research, asking users to fill in how many yuan of membership prices they can accept, and the final answer was 15 yuan a month.
"The user must have written to a lower level, and later decided to set 19.8 yuan, this number can be attacked, retreated can be defended, if the market feels that 19.8 yuan is set high, you can also discount," he said.
The membership price of Tencent Video and Youku is similar to that of iQiyi, with a membership price of about 20 yuan, and the long video platform has been maintained for 8 years. Such a price is obviously not enough to cover the cost.
On Netflix, only subscribers can consume content and can watch the full episode at a time, and from 2013 to 2015, its top membership price is $11.99, which translates to 77 yuan. In China, there is a lack of paid soil, and long video platforms relied on movies to attract users to pay from 2012 to 2014, but the results were not good. Zhang Feng introduced that the platform began to try to pay for episodes in 2015, and worried that payment would lead to user loss, "just did a layer, ordinary users can follow the platform weekly change, paying users can watch the complete set at one time."
"Since paying for TV dramas, the number of members has skyrocketed," Zhang feng said. The most typical case is the popular "Tomb Robber Notes" in 2015, in which members watch the full episode mode, and users squeeze and crash iQiyi's server. From 2015 to 2016, iQIYI's membership grew from 10.7 million to 30.2 million.
This model is used by video platforms. But this is not the end of the paid method, and the model of releasing the full set at once did not fully expand on a large scale later.
During this period, each platform has been explored to varying degrees.
In 2019, Tencent Video launched an advanced on-demand model on the hit drama "Chen Qingling", and the filmmakers said that the advanced on-demand profit was 156 million yuan at the celebration banquet. This was widely used on platforms such as iQiyi, Youku, and Mango TV, but was later canceled by the platform due to the controversy over this model.
Source / Poster of "Chen Qing Ling"
Youku's practice of "inviting friends to help unlock" has also appeared on other platforms before.
In the 2019 youth love drama "Exclusive Memory" hit, when updated to 12 episodes, non-members chase the drama at a normal rate, members can watch all the remaining episodes that have not been opened, provided that they need to do a task to invite 5 friends to unlock.
Time to 2022, the recent video platform price increase and membership plus more activities, but also the platform to the user layered exploration of the way. However, due to the need to improve the awareness of payment in the general environment, and because the supply of high-quality content on the platform is unstable, long video platforms have been exploring payment methods, and they are in a dilemma.
Although referring to Netflix, the payment model is set, and the payment ecology and membership system at home and abroad are not the same.
In 2012 to 2020, in eight years, the cost of content has soared, and the price of video platform membership is still hovering at 20 yuan. On the other hand, Netflix rose from $11.99 to $19.99 in 2012, converted to 130 yuan, an increase of 66.7%.
Zhang Feng explained that around 2018, iQiyi studied the way Netflix raised prices, rising by about 15% at a time, trying to follow suit. "But there is no bottom, worried that users will run to other platforms." In the first half of 2020, iQiyi felt that it had to rise, but in the face of the epidemic, it was not suitable to announce price increases, and it was postponed for a period of time."
Until the end of 2020, iQiyi took the lead in raising prices. Even in terms of price increases, there is also the idea of hierarchical operation of users. Referring to Netflix, in order to prevent the loss of members, for the old members who have already purchased members, they can continue to buy at the old price for a period of time, and the new members who enter the market need to buy members according to the new price.
"Content should be returned to a reasonable valuation, within the range that users can afford," Wang said. Zhang Feng still regrets the video platform, missed the opportunity to increase prices, and fell into today's passive situation.
What is the way out for the abandoned long video platform?
Lei Ming, CEO of Aimeng Pictures, said that he was worried that "if the long-term video industry loses money for a long time and cannot find a new business outlet, it can only cut the budget and quantity of the project, so that the quality is difficult to improve, and the motivation to attract users to pay will be further reduced, resulting in a vicious circle." ”
The long video industry is facing multiple pressures. Video platforms have been hit by short videos, advertising revenue has declined, and the growth of membership has slowed down, and they can only work price increases and new growth.
On platforms such as Disney+, Hulu, etc., a tiered pricing model is also being implemented. Disney+ membership costs $7.99 a month, but costs $13.99 a month to watch Hulu and ESPN+. On Hulu, ad-inclusive affiliates are priced at $6.99 per month and ad-free affiliates are priced at $12.99 per month. In March, Disney+ announced that it would launch an affiliate subscription service for insert ads in the U.S. this year and plans to roll it out internationally in 2023.
"Users are diverse, the needs are becoming more and more personalized, it is difficult to use simple VIP services to meet, some people have high requirements for the quality of the movie, some people have high requirements for the progress of the release of the series, and the platform also needs some tools to serve them," Wang Ke said.
Now, there are many voices of users for some big hit dramas, and the platform is under the pressure of growth, and it is not entirely a bad thing for the platform to carry out user layered operations, but it needs to be based on the premise of respect. "You can't simply layer for the sake of layering, you have to provide corresponding services to users of the corresponding level, when launching new services, pricing, on-line time, update methods, all must be transparent, can give users a sense of security," he said.
In his view, when trying, the platform must first fulfill the obligation to inform in advance. "If the platform cannot serve multiple users in a hierarchical manner, and some user needs are not met, the platform and users may lose both."
Of course, coming up with high-quality content is the premise for the audience to pay.
Users consume long videos, which is essentially a business behavior. How to make the content play a greater value, the platform and the user need to run in, but also need to leave room for exploration of the long video platform.
*At the request of the interviewee, Zhang Feng and Wang Ke are pseudonyms in the text.