At present, network audio-visual has surpassed instant messaging and leapt to become the largest application on the Internet, with a user scale of more than 1.04 billion. Under the catalysis of new technologies and new kinetic energy, the industry ecology is constantly changing. It is increasingly important to meet the new needs of the broad audience, create a good policy environment, and lead the high-quality development of the industry.
The primary application of national access to the Internet, and the demand for network audio-visual changes
According to the "China Network Audiovisual Development Research Report (2023)", the market size of the pan-network audiovisual industry will reach 727.44 billion yuan in 2022. Short videos and webcasts have become important forces driving the market size of the online audiovisual industry. At present, the number of short video users in mainland China has reached 1.012 billion, and the per capita daily usage time exceeds 2.5 hours, which has become the primary application for national access to the Internet.
Zhou Jie, deputy secretary-general of the China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association, said that the ability of short video to "accept new news" far exceeds instant messaging, and 24.3% of new netizens have achieved their first time online through short video applications. The online audiovisual usage rate of middle-aged and young people in first-tier and new first-tier cities is higher, especially watching news and learning knowledge has become an important demand for short video users.
Image source: Visual China
Hou Hong, a professor at the School of Literature and Journalism at Sichuan University, said: "With higher user education and increasing depth and breadth of thinking, the previous 'traffic first' industry growth model may be subverted, and short video works transformed from novels, poetry and other literary works will become more and more marketable." In his view, short videos play an increasingly important role in helping publicity and reporting, disseminating government information, popularizing all kinds of knowledge, enriching leisure and entertainment, and promoting online consumption.
Feng Shengyong, director of the Network Audiovisual Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television, proposed at the "Forum on the High-quality Development of Micro-short Dramas" that in order to achieve virtuous cycle development of new formats such as micro-short dramas, three points need to be achieved: first, "micro" but not weak, and tell the "big theme" of Chinese stories well with "small cuts"; the second is "short" but not shallow, presenting a "new group portrait" of Chinese people with a "small volume"; Third, "drama" has quality, so that "micro but refined, short and beautiful" leads the high-quality development of the industry as the general direction.
AIGC helps the industry release new momentum
In the future, network audiovisual technology, digitalization and intelligence are inevitable trends, and new technologies will help the entire industry release new momentum. The continuous iteration and application of new technologies such as 5G, metaverse, and AI are constantly promoting the creation of higher-level online audiovisual content products, making content innovation more influential and more efficient.
——Artificial intelligence has become a trend, which will bring breakthrough innovation to the industry. AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Autonomous Generated Content) has become a hot topic in the industry. Executives of iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku and other long-form video platforms have all shown great interest in AIGC, believing that this technology application is setting off a huge change in the film and television industry. The combination of AI technology and content creation is about to enter a substantial stage and will bring major changes to the film and television industry. Huace Film and Television emphasized in this year's quarterly report performance forecast that AIGC will improve the efficiency of the entire industry chain.
——New business formats continue to emerge, promoting the transformation and upgrading of the audiovisual industry. The CEO of a Beijing technology company believes that new technologies such as artificial intelligence bring new development opportunities and will also promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry. "In the future, many young people in the industry may become 'super individuals', they are passionate about the audiovisual industry, they can control artificial intelligence technology, and with the help of artificial intelligence technology, they will exert greater energy." He said.
For example, users can now generate short video content through lyrics video production on the NetEase Cloud Music App, and set it as a video RBT with one click. In the future, the threshold for content creation will be greatly reduced, the scale of practitioners will expand exponentially, and with the blessing of AI technology, the key points of content competition will be creativity and precipitation IP.
"Ahead" supervision, prudent and inclusive
The online audiovisual industry is showing a good trend of mainstreaming public opinion communication, high-quality program content, and standardized market order. In addition to the positive side, the short video industry also has problems such as content homogenization, entertainment, and users, especially teenagers.
On March 30, the opening ceremony of the 10th China Network Audiovisual Conference was held in Chengdu. Photo by Shen Bohan
In recent years, the State Administration of Radio and Television has promoted the extension of the corresponding management measures of long video platforms to the field of short videos, improved algorithm control and comprehensive governance measures according to the characteristics of short video platforms, promoted integrated development, and formed an effective mechanism in the management and application of short videos. However, with the emergence of new technologies and new formats, some people try to evade supervision through technical means, and need to be "one foot higher and one foot higher" supervision.
The short video industry is also facing multiple obstacles such as losses on some platforms, production cuts in film and television projects, unstable management policies, and imperfect industry standards. In order to continuously empower new production, new dissemination and new applications of network audio-visual, it is also necessary for government departments to be prudent and inclusive, and strive to break down obstacles to the development of the industry.
In the past few years, online audiovisual platforms have faced difficulties such as backlog of dramas and continuous decline in advertising, and long-form video platforms have been in a difficult situation and suffered serious losses. A person in charge of the platform suggested that relevant departments should pay attention to the virtuous cycle and sustainable development of the industry, and should not only simplify the "brake" treatment for some innovative business strategies of the platform, such as "advanced on-demand" and "screen projection business".
At the same time, encourage the diversification of subject types. The data shows that the number of film and television institutions holding "TV Series Production License (Type A)" was 113 in 2017~2019, 73 in 2019~2021, and 41 in 2021~2023. Some insiders reported that the current supply of online audiovisual content is constantly decreasing, many upstream film and television production companies have reduced film and television projects, revenue and investment capacity have declined, and qualifications have been forced to be canceled. Upstream film and television production companies are difficult to survive, and rigid production reduction may have an impact on the entire industry. On the basis of adhering to the bottom line, regulatory authorities need to pay attention to the internal laws of the industry and the dilemma of enterprise survival, maintain the continuity and stability of management policies such as project approval review and content review, avoid simplistic treatment, and create a good policy environment for the development of the industry.
Half Moon Reporter: Xiao Lin, Dong Xiaohong, Yuan Qiuyue / Editor: Zhang Xi
*This article is the content of the 9th issue of "Half Moon Talk Internal Edition" in 2023