01
The decline in advertising revenue narrowed, and Mango Supermedia's revenue exceeded 14.6 billion yuan last year
On April 21, Mango Supermedia disclosed its 2023 annual report. The company's annual operating income was 14.628 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.66%, the net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.556 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 90.73%, and the non-net profit was 1.695 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.70%.
From the perspective of industries, Mango TV is still the absolute support of Mango Supermedia. According to the 2023 financial report, Mango TV's Internet video business achieved revenue of 10.614 billion yuan, accounting for 72.56% of the company's total revenue.
In terms of specific performance, Mango Supermedia's membership and operator business will achieve year-on-year growth in 2023, while the advertising business will still decline year-on-year.
In 2023, the decline of Mango Supermedia's advertising business will narrow, and the annual operating income will be 3.532 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.57%. However, in the fourth quarter, advertising revenue rebounded, with a year-on-year increase of 15.95%, among which "Going to a Windy Place" and "Camp with Love" set a new record for the amount of investment and the number of project cooperation customers in the company's dramas in the past three years.
As of the end of 2023, the number of effective members of Mango TV reached 66.53 million, and the annual membership income reached 4.315 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.23%, of which the membership revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 35.64% year-on-year.
It is worth mentioning that the company also proposed for the first time in the annual report to refine and improve the ARPPU (average revenue per user) value of members. Previously, an investor asked Mango Supermedia on the interactive platform, the company's ARPPU value is less than half of iQiyi and Tencent Video, and increasing the ARPPU value of members is the key to improving the company's profitability, does the company have any measures for this?
Mango Supermedia said on the interactive platform that from the perspective of horizontal comparison of the industry, the company's membership scale and ARPPU have relatively large room for improvement. As far as the long video industry is concerned, operating strategies such as innovating user rights and interests and value-added service systems, improving user value perception and willingness to pay, adjusting marketing strategies for special nodes, and increasing the proportion of annual card users are all conducive to improving ARPPU.
In terms of content, variety shows have always been Mango TV's trump card business, and during the reporting period, more than 100 variety shows of various kinds were launched. In 2024, in addition to launching the N generation of ace variety shows such as "Riding the Wind", "Overcoming Thorns" and "Singer", the company will also reserve a number of new variety shows such as "Chinese Village Flower".
In terms of film and television dramas, Mango TV has increased its investment in short dramas. During the reporting period, Mango TV launched 128 dramas of various types, such as key film and television dramas and "Damang Project" micro-short dramas. In 2024, the company will reserve more than 80 film and television dramas and 100 micro-short dramas.
In addition, Mango Supermedia said that the company attaches great importance to the research and development and application of various AI technologies. During the reporting period, more than 40 AI products were launched, and AIGC technology was widely used in business scenarios such as media asset operation, advertising, member interaction, video editing, and content production. AI second-creation short videos are used in variety shows such as "Overcoming Thorns" and "All Acceleration", producing more than 1 million short videos, greatly reducing the cost of content publicity and distribution and the cost of customer acquisition on the platform.
02
TVB issued an announcement: accelerating the momentum of turnaround and is expected to achieve positive net profit in the second half of the year
TV Broadcasting (0511, TVB) announced on the morning of April 22 on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company reiterated its expectation to achieve significantly positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the full year of 2024. In addition, based on the current business momentum, the Company expects to achieve a positive net profit in the second half of 2024, excluding special one-time items, if any.
In the first quarter of this year, the company's overall advertising revenue increased by a double-digit percentage compared to the same period last year. Among them, Hong Kong's local advertising revenue continued to show positive momentum, first of all, due to the company's continued to lead the ratings of Hong Kong's terrestrial free-to-air TV channels, with the combined viewership of its flagship channel Jade, 24-hour TVB and other channels reaching a market share of 79%. Secondly, it is attributed to the high unit price level of prime-time TV advertising on Jade Channel and the return of blue-chip corporate advertisers. In addition, the company's overall advertising revenue this year will achieve further growth compared to 2023 as Jade Channel and Pearl Channel, which have landed in the Greater Bay Area, are attracting local customers in Hong Kong to increase cross-regional advertising.
In terms of OTT streaming, myTV Gold Premium subscribers remained stable in the first quarter of this year, up 11% year-on-year, while the average monthly active user unit (MAU) across all service tiers remained at around 2 million. Digital ad revenue from the myTV Super platform grew by more than 30% compared to the same period last year. The company also expects strong growth in digital advertising revenue in 2024.
In light of the success of last year's series "News Queen" in Chinese mainland, the company signed a new co-production agreement with Youku in the first quarter of this year, and the two parties will co-produce more episodes between this year and 2026. During the first quarter, the company completed the filming of four co-production dramas: "Forensic Pioneer VI", "Anti-Black Heroes", "Black Moonlight" and "The Cliff of the Heroine". The company plans to start filming another 10 dramas within this year, which will be delivered to mainland partners Youku and Tencent Video in 2025.
The e-commerce live streaming business in mainland China also continued to gain momentum in the first quarter, with the number of e-commerce live broadcasts on Taobao and Douyin increasing by 34% compared to the same period last year, and the number of live broadcast viewers also increased significantly. (Feng Gang)
03
The "Funding Scheme for Exploring the Mainland Film Market" was launched in Beijing
On 20 April, the launch of the Funding Scheme for Exploring the Mainland Film Market, co-organised by the Hong Kong Film Development Council and Create Hong Kong, was held during the Beijing International Film Festival. The event launched Hong Kong's "Funding Scheme for Exploring the Mainland Film Market", which aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong, and facilitate the distribution of co-productions and Hong Kong-made films by Hong Kong directors in the mainland.
The subsidy scheme clearly stipulates the level of investment and the amount of funding for films: films eligible for funding must have a production fee of between HK$25 million and HK$150 million, approved films must be released in Hong Kong, and if successfully screened in mainland cinemas, the film will receive a financing grant of HK$10 million. The programme will be open for application from May 6. For details and application procedures, please refer to the website https://www.fdc.gov.hk of the Hong Kong Film Development Council. (Zhong Qian)
04
Youku upgraded the suspense theater to the White Night Theater
On April 22, Youku announced that the suspense theater was upgraded to the White Night Theater. According to reports, "White Night" means "the long night will end, and the truth will be revealed", and the audience will solve the mystery in the cocoon. On the basis of the genre lens language, the White Night Theater will explore more profound social issues, show deeper human care, and provide a more immersive viewing experience, arousing the audience's empathy and empathy, thereby expanding a new path and new space for the quality of Chinese dramas.
After the release of the official announcement poster of the White Night Theater, the emotional suspense drama "Faint Fire", as the first drama of the White Night Theater, announced that it will be scheduled for April 27 and will be broadcast simultaneously on CCTV-8 prime file and Youku.
"Faint Fire" is produced by CCTV, Youku, and Enlightenment Pictures, and jointly produced by Alliance of Gods Pictures and Ruyi Pictures, with Yao Xiaofeng as the director, Zhang Shuwei as the chief producer, and Mao Yunfei as the screenwriter.
"Faint Fire", starring Tong Yao and Zhang Xincheng, tells the story of a murder case that happened in a small town around the turn of the millennium.
The market generally believes that White Night Theater is one of the core grasps of Youku to create a differentiated content mind. Youku's chief operating officer Wu Qian said at the beginning of this year that Youku will create a differentiated content mind through the content layout of "one horizontal and three vertical" in the future, and the drama list announced at that time included "New Life", "Once Upon a Time by the Water", "Snow Maze" and other suspenseful dramas.
In recent years, each platform has gradually formed a relatively differentiated theater matrix, creating a recognizable platform brand recognition with high-quality vertical dramas. In 2020, Youku launched the "Suspense Theater", which is characterized by "suspense +", superimposing various elements such as emotion, theft, and justice, and has successively launched masterpieces such as "The Gate of Rebirth", "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an", "Out of Court", "Coward" and so on. (Feng Gang)
05
"Variety" recruitment
"Variety" Newspaper Co., Ltd. 2024 Editorial Department Recruitment
Layout editing
Job Responsibilities:
Planning cover stories, editing manuscripts for the film and television industry and people.
Job Requirements:
1. Have good political quality and moral character, and adhere to the Marxist outlook on journalism.
2. Bachelor degree or above, major in film and television, economics, communication, sociology and other related majors, CET-4 or above.
3. Active thinking, love film and television, more than five years of experience in paper media editing, working experience in mainstream financial media is preferred.
4. Be news-sensitive, have clear logical thinking ability, solid text editing ability, and planning, analysis and research ability.
5. Have a sense of the overall situation, strong teamwork ability, good at communication, able to work under pressure, and have a positive and optimistic work attitude.
Work address: 1407B, China Radio and Television Audio-visual Archive Building, Xicheng District, Beijing
Send your resume to the mailbox: [email protected]
06
"Howl's Moving Castle" premiered in Beijing
On April 19, Hayao Miyazaki's classic "Howl's Moving Castle" held a premiere with the theme of "True Love First" in Beijing. The filmmaker announced the release picture specially drawn by director Hayao Miyazaki for the film, and he also left a message with his friend Mr. Toshio Suzuki, "Friends in China, please enjoy the movie", hoping that the audience can feel the romance and beauty of this time. The voice actors of the Chinese version of the film, Yu Shi and Tian Xiwei, appeared together for the first time and shared their viewing feelings with everyone at the scene. The film will be simultaneously released in theaters on April 30 in Japanese and Chinese translation.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Howl's Moving Castle and its first release in Chinese mainland. Director Hayao Miyazaki once said that "Howl's Moving Castle" was the film that impressed him the most during the production process. Yu Shi said that when he received this dubbing job, "The stressful part is related to the role, but since I have entered the recording studio, I will do it seriously." At the same time, he also expressed his admiration for director Hayao Miyazaki.
Tian Xiwei said when talking about dubbing, "In the early stage, the ideological baggage will be heavier, so I think about how to present it well and what kind of voice to use to bring Sophie to everyone." At the same time, she also hopes that all girls "will be bright and bright all the way, just like Sophie conveyed". (Zhong Qian)
07
The movie "Spy Playing House Codename: White" premiered
On April 20, the premiere of the family movie "Spy Playing Home, Codename: White" was held in Beijing. The film is adapted from the popular animation IP of popular manga artist Tatsuya Endo, which has become popular all over the world, and has won a box office of more than 6 billion yen after its release in Japan, temporarily ranking as the 2024 box office champion in Japan.
"Spy Playing House Codename: White" tells the story of the "disguised family" Lucky family, which is formed by the spy father "Twilight", the killer mother Joel, the mind reader daughter Ania and the superpowered dog Bond, to complete the top-secret mission. The family that is not related by blood has very different personalities and secrets, but they have warm feelings in the process of performing tasks again and again. It is reported that the film will be released to a national audience on April 30, and the Forge family will embark on a family trip for the first time, in full swing to protect peace.
This premiere ceremony joined hands with China Film CINITY to create the world's first outdoor screening of LED cinema displays, and to create a 1:1 large space real-life interactive block. Many classic scenes from the movie were reproduced on site, and the 1,000-square-meter real-life block built by the organizer allowed the audience to take photos on site, carry out interactive games, flash shopping and other projects. The premiere invited Karina, a well-known cosplayer in the animation industry, and voice actors (voice actors) guests Bian Jiang, Ji Guanlin, and Shan Xin to attend the event and interact with the audience. (Dumainan)
Source: Variety, Beijing News Photo: Variety
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