According to a report by the Workers' Daily on April 7: From the explosion of micro-short dramas such as "I Was a Stepmother in the 80s" and "The New Year" during the Spring Festival this year, to the two sessions of the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress, many representatives and members of the National People's Congress have hotly discussed the development of micro-short dramas.
The micro-short drama market will exceed 50 billion
According to a previous Elephant News report: According to the "2023-2024 China Micro Short Drama Market Research Report" released by iiMedia Consulting, the market size of micro short dramas will reach 37.39 billion in 2023, and is expected to exceed 50 billion in 2024 and 100 billion in 2027.
According to relevant information, the total box office of Chinese films in 2023 will be 54.915 billion yuan, and the scale of the micro-short drama market of 37.39 billion yuan is close to 70% of the size of the film market. Since 2024, more than 3,000 new dramas have been launched in the domestic micro-short drama market, of which more than 1,500 new dramas will be launched in January. Take "I Was a Stepmother in the 80s", which exploded during the Spring Festival, as an example, it was only filmed for 10 days, and the later investment was only 80,000 yuan, and netizens paid more than 20 million yuan for it on the day it was launched.
According to the recently released "Research Report on the Development of Online Audiovisual in China (2024)", 39.9% of users regularly watch micro-short dramas, and 31.9% of users have paid for micro-short drama content.
The rise of a new market, the elderly are "hunted"
At a time when micro-short dramas are booming, more and more elderly people are falling into the trap of paying. In January this year, the China Consumers Association and other institutions released the "Hot Spots of Public Opinion on Consumer Rights Protection in the Fourth Quarter of 2023", pointing out several major problems that infringe on consumer rights and interests, among which the short video platform micro-short drama induces payment is impressively listed, which has led to many middle-aged and elderly consumers encountering infringement. According to media reports in March this year, an elderly man in Chengdu has maintained a monthly payment frequency of 6,000 yuan for micro-short dramas in the past six months, and the cumulative recharge amount is as high as 40,000 yuan.
According to CCTV, many micro-short dramas need to recharge their membership or pay to buy to watch all the content. Some users reported that they paid for watching short dramas "inexplicably", and some elderly people were not familiar with electronic payment, and unconsciously, they paid a high fee for watching a drama, and it was even more difficult to get a refund.
Mr. Li said that the elderly are not proficient in using mobile phones, and sometimes after being induced by advertisements such as "unlock an episode for only 0.9 yuan", it is difficult to notice options such as "automatically unlock the next episode by default", resulting in them being deducted without knowing it. After the children found out, they also faced problems such as cumbersome appeal procedures, "We have appealed before, and we have to check in the background, and we have to go to the bank to show the bill, and we have to face authentication, the procedures are particularly troublesome, and the time is still delayed, and the final refund is only 70%. ”
Not only the elderly, but also many young people have also reported through the platform that when they pay for watching short dramas, they often encounter situations such as inability to refund. Ms. Zheng reflected that she watched a short drama on the short video platform, and after watching a few episodes, she was told that she needed to pay if she continued to watch it, because she opened face recognition for quick payment, she paid more than 300 yuan at once, became a VIP member, and wanted a refund, but was told that she couldn't refund the money if she had already watched the drama.
The "myth of getting rich" is riddled with problems
Recently, the China Network Audiovisual Association pointed out that the micro-short drama "Teacher Don't Run" has a vulgar plot and other violations, at present, the show has been offline from the whole network, and many WeChat mini programs that broadcast the play have also been taken off the shelves. During the same period, another micro-short drama was found to use a photo of actor Li Qin as a posthumous photo, and the star studio issued a lawyer's statement to defend his rights.
The successive problems have also raised questions about the vulgar content of micro-short dramas, shoddy production, lax review, and lack of supervision. It is understood that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is stepping up the formulation of the "Detailed Rules for the Creation, Production and Content Review of Online Micro-short Dramas." In the future, will the production companies of micro-short dramas have to have certain qualifications? After the production of micro-short dramas is completed, will they have to be reviewed before they can be broadcast on the platform? How to supervise the induced consumption on the way to the broadcast? These will be problems that need to be solved urgently in the development of micro-short dramas.
Professional institutions enter the market, and Hengdian becomes a "vertical store"
According to the data, in 2023 alone, more than 1,400 micro-short dramas will be launched, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 50% for two consecutive years, and about 3,000 micro-short dramas will be filed throughout the year, which is a considerable number.
"In industry parlance, Hengdian has become a 'vertical store', and in many places you can see the crew filming short dramas on the vertical screen. Feng Bai, who has just finished filming a micro-short drama, told reporters that now in major film and television bases, short drama crews are settled one after another.
At present, a large number of professional film and television institutions, including Huayi Brothers and Ningmeng Film and Television, are entering the micro-short drama market and increasing investment in micro-short dramas. Douyin also announced that it will work with more than 20 media to create high-quality short dramas.
It is understood that some head video platforms have been accelerating the realization of high-quality content and production of micro-short dramas. The entry of these "regular troops" is expected to change the format of micro-short dramas to a certain extent and promote the overall quality and upgrading of the industry.
Experts called for greater self-regulation and regulation of the industry
Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Central College of Culture and Tourism Management Cadres, said in an interview with Jimu News that the production and viewing threshold of micro-short dramas is low, and there are many cool points. Last year, compared with the previous two years, the production of micro-short dramas has obviously risen to a higher level and has been fully recognized by the public. If you want to develop better and go further in the future, you need to take the route of mainstreaming and high-quality products to further improve the level of cultural industry. The above-mentioned professional film and television institutions have entered the micro-short drama industry, which is a good momentum, and they are not simply "sharing the cake", but jointly expanding the micro-short drama market. Professional film and television institutions can bring more resources and professional operation experience to the industry, which can not only improve the overall quality of micro-short dramas, but also further extend the life cycle of film and television IP.
Talking about the payment chaos of micro-short dramas, Sun Jiashan believes that first of all, the platform should assume its own social responsibility and strengthen its own sense of industry self-discipline, whether it is a platform for live short videos, or platforms like WeChat applets, in the event and after the event, should be fully prompted, including in the key links of payment should be strengthened. Relevant departments should set some high thresholds for the link of password-free payment for micro-short dramas, and strengthen the link of confirmation. Especially for the elderly who are "hunted", not only are they financially lost, but some also cause emotional damage. Caring for the elderly is not an empty word, to fully consider their feelings, the need for the linkage of all aspects of society, children should also be more patient to explain to the elderly what is going on with the mobile Internet ecology, only the platform, society, family tripartite linkage, in order to provide a friendly network environment for the elderly as much as possible, so that they can adapt to the Internet media ecology as soon as possible.
Jimu News reporters interviewed and synthesized reports from Workers' Daily, Elephant News, CCTV, and China Film