In this era when people are less and less fond of watching TV, why should people buy TV?
This question is easy to answer. Compared with mobile phones, computers, and iPads, the only advantage of TVs is the large high-definition screen. Therefore, the biggest role of TV now is as a device for screen projection. Watching dramas on TV has become the most important way for many people to relax at home.
Screen projection is also charged, and iQiyi has provoked public anger
However, now there is a force trying to block people, wanting people to pay for watching dramas.
This trick is iQiyi, and it is also aimed at its own members.
iQIYI App has imposed restrictions on the screen casting function, and the previous most basic gold VIP members have greatly reduced the maximum support of 4K definition to 480P definition from screen casting. If you want to have a higher definition screen casting, hehe, hurry up and pay iQiyi to buy a platinum VIP member.
In this era when people think that 1080P is not clear enough, it actually costs money to watch a 720P screen projection video, is this still watchable? Isn't that humiliating? How can this not be annoying?
Let's take a look at the comments of netizens.
Everyone generally believes that iQiyi has gone too far this time, eating too ugly, and some people want to uninstall iQiyi and support piracy from now on.
Even the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission came out today and said that "iQiyi's APP's practice of restricting screen projection and charging fees is not generous."
Membership rating, price increases are constant
Among iQIYI's membership tiers, Gold VIP is the cheapest, with a continuous annual subscription fee of 118 yuan for new users and 258 yuan for old users. But this golden VIP can only be used on mobile phones, tablets, and PCs, and cannot be used on TV.
One level higher than Gold VIP is Platinum VIP, the annual fee for new users is 198 yuan, and the annual fee for old users is 388 yuan. Platinum VIP is expensive because it enjoys the permission to log in to watch dramas on the TV side.
More expensive is Star Diamond VIP, the annual cost of continuous subscription for new users is 318 yuan, and the annual cost of old users is 448 yuan. Star Diamond VIP can watch Star Diamond Cinema movies for free, while Platinum members need to pay to watch them. In addition, the Galaxy Kiwifruit APP on the TV side can use Star Diamond VIP, which Platinum members can't do.
As we all know, the domestic video giants represented by iQiyi "burn money every year and lose money every year, increase prices every year, lose money every year". In the case of content cannot be improved, in the face of huge cost pressure, price increases or disguised price increases seem to be the only way.
Let's take a look at the price increase of iQiyi in the past three years. The monthly price of gold VIP members has increased from 15 yuan in 2020 to 25 yuan now, an increase of 66.67%, and the annual membership has increased from 218 yuan to 238 yuan, an increase of less than 10%.
The fundamental reason why iQiyi engages in this differentiated price increase strategy is that monthly paying users are easy to "harvest". Monthly subscription users often spend money to buy a monthly VIP because of a good-looking TV series, or because their idol starred in a drama released. And 15 yuan rose to 25 yuan, 10 yuan more can also bear. Even if consumers are dissatisfied with the price increase of 10 yuan, they often scold in words and pay in action.
Once ahead of the screening, relying on layoffs to make a profit?
Speaking of video giants such as iQiyi, consumer resentment can be said to be growing. On the one hand, prices have increased year by year, on the other hand, there are fewer and fewer high-quality content, and there has also been an operation of "cutting leeks" such as advanced screening.
Under the strong opposition of netizens, video giants such as iQiyi finally canceled the advance screening in October 2021.
After the cancellation of the secondary charge for advanced screening, iQiyi still tried everything to engage in secondary charging, and it was really undying.
Whether this secondary charge is reasonable or not, the author noticed that some netizens raised a technical question and received a lot of likes. He said, "If you buy a member, is it considered a contract before it expires?" The content that can be used when buying a member cannot be used now, does this not mean unilaterally changing the content of the contract service during the contract period? Isn't there a default? ”
This is a good question, if iQiyi reduces the clarity of the TV projection to 480P before the expiration date of the gold membership, it is really possible that it is a breach of contract.
As for some netizens who said that iQiyi died as soon as it improved, this is because iQiyi actually made a profit after years of huge losses in the past.
In the first quarter of 2022, iQiyi achieved its first profit. But much of that profit has been made by layoffs. At the end of 2021, iQiyi reported that 20%-40% of its employees "graduated", and even all employees in some departments were laid off.
Moreover, iQiyi's layoffs this time have laid off many high-paid old employees and middle-level leaders, which will naturally save considerable manpower costs.
By the third quarter of 2022, iQiyi has been profitable for three consecutive quarters. iQiyi, of course, wrote a lot about this, and the company's CFO said that this is because "more investment in content, higher quality of content, higher hit rate." ”
Whether the quality of the content is higher should be evaluated by the audience, not the company itself.
The recently popular and highly rated "China Qitan" is broadcast on station B, and the online exclusive broadcast platform for the upcoming super IP "Three-Body Problem" TV series is Tencent Video, all of which have nothing to do with iQiyi. Therefore, whether the quality of iQiyi's content is high or not, the audience has a scale in their hearts.
Although iQiyi made a profit in the third quarter, everyone knows that profits can be adjusted through various methods. Whether the profit in the third quarter is a long-tail effect brought about by the large-scale "graduation" of employees, readers can judge for themselves.
It should be noted that in the third quarter of this year, iQiyi's membership revenue fell by 2% year-on-year, and advertising revenue fell by 25% year-on-year.
Membership and advertising, which are the core revenue streams of video platforms and the most important basis for measuring the valuation of such companies. iQiyi boss Gong Yu attributed the reason to "due to the impact of the epidemic and summer promotional activities, due to the delay in the launch of content in some plans, the supply has decreased, resulting in users' willingness to pay and the contraction of advertising volume." ”
In terms of the number of subscribers, another important indicator, iQIYI had an average of 101 million daily subscribers in the third quarter of 2022, a net increase of 2.7 million sequentially.
2.7 million, such a low increase, is still based on summer promotions. So to be honest, iQiyi's growth has basically come to an end.
iQiyi, which seriously lacks growth, must know that engaging in screen casting fees will attract dissatisfaction, ridicule and scolding, but it still risks the world's condemnation, and the root cause is its huge financial pressure. In the face of the opposition of users, iQiyi is afraid that it will "lose both fame and fortune"!