Is 100,000 episodes of "electronic mustard" a year nutritious

Huzhou Film and Television City is located in South Taihu New District, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, formerly an abandoned paper mill factory. Since 2014, the local area has been renovated on the basis of retaining the overall framework of the old factory building, and a distinctive film and television base has been built, attracting a large number of film and television crews to station for filming and filming, and also attracting many tourists to come for sightseeing and experience. Xinhua

Reporter of China Development and Reform News | Shao Penglu

Nearly 100,000 episodes are produced a year, and the number of broadcasts easily exceeds 100 million...... Micro-short dramas meet the spiritual and cultural needs of people's fragmented time, and also create a new market with considerable potential. With the characteristics of "short length, fast rhythm, dense cool points, rapid updates, and ups and downs of the plot", since last year, micro-short dramas have quickly exploded on short video platforms and become a dark horse in the film and television market. According to the Statistical Report on the Development of the Internet in China, as of December 2023, the number of online video users in mainland China reached 1.067 billion, accounting for 97.7% of the total number of Internet users. The online video content represented by micro-short dramas has shown vigorous development, achieving "quantity increase and quality improvement". In 2023, the number of micro-short dramas recorded will reach 3,574 and 97,327 episodes, a year-on-year increase of 9% and 28% respectively.

According to the definition of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, micro-short dramas are full names of online micro-short dramas, which refer to "episodes with a length of tens of seconds to about 15 minutes, with relatively clear themes and main lines, and relatively continuous and complete storylines". According to the "2023-2024 China Micro Short Drama Market Research Report", in 2023, the scale of the mainland micro-short drama market has climbed to 37.39 billion yuan, an increase of 267.65% over the previous year, and is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan by 2027.

However, behind the boom in the micro-short drama market, paid traps and some low-quality content have been repeatedly criticized. Under the tuyere, how should the micro-short drama industry promote content creation, strengthen market supervision, tap consumption potential, expand industrial models, and promote the steady and far-reaching development of related industries?

"Electric mustard" with rice

Ancient style, crossing, rebirth...... With a series of plots with a "cool feeling", the micro-short drama has captured the hearts of many audiences.

"I watched it all afternoon without paying attention, and I charged the money, it's really 'top'!" "Watching micro-short dramas is more like looking for an outlet, with counterattacks and reversal-based themes, which can directly hit the audience's hearts and give strong emotional interaction, and the time and length of micro-short dramas are within the duration range of the public's visual fatigue, and among young people, micro-short dramas are very popular. ”…… Micro-short dramas are becoming the "electronic mustard" of young people today. According to the "Research Report on the Development of Online Audiovisual in China", at present, the proportion of users aged 19 and below who watch micro-short dramas is 57.9%, of which 38.8% like to watch.

During the Spring Festival holiday in 2024, the micro-short drama "I Was a Stepmother in the 80s" was successfully out of the circle, and the filming of this micro-short drama took only 10 days, with an investment of about 80,000 yuan in the later stage, but the recharge on the day of launch exceeded 20 million yuan. According to incomplete statistics, there are 8 micro-short dramas on a short video platform that have been played more than 100 million times during the Spring Festival.

In the eyes of industry insiders, the main reason why micro-short dramas are so popular is that they adapt to the fast pace of modern life, and the short plot can meet the audience's viewing needs during a short break. At the same time, the content of micro-short dramas is diversified, from light-hearted comedies to tense suspense dramas, which meet the preferences and emotional needs of different audiences. In addition, micro-short dramas need to tell a good story within a fixed amount of time. Therefore, compared with traditional dramas, there are innovations in narrative mode and content creation.

In addition, many micro-short drama practitioners believe that "editor's hands-on + pitcher's assist" is the "introduction" to create popular micro-short dramas. Strong marketing investment and "buying volume and streaming" have also promoted the explosive growth of the spread of micro-short dramas.

Editors who have a deep understanding of the content of a short drama can cut out what makes the show special in the same kind of content. At the same time, excellent editors also understand the psychology of users very well, and can catch users in a few seconds, in addition, rubbing hot spots is also a common skill used by editors.

After the editor cuts the drainage video, it's the pitcher's turn.

The platform will tag users according to the content they browse, and the pitchers will also set target users according to the subject matter, subdivided into gender, age, and region. Relevant industry reports show that with the popularity of micro-short dramas in 2023, the scale of the investment market will reach 31.2 billion yuan, and it is expected that the investment scale will be about 42 billion yuan in 2024.

The hidden worries behind the "big hit".

Relevant data shows that in 2023, more than 1,400 micro-short dramas will be launched in the market, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 50% for two consecutive years, and the number of micro-short dramas recorded annually will maintain a growth of about 3,000. In terms of market output value, the market size of micro-short dramas is nearly 40 billion yuan, reaching the "water mark" of 70% of the film box office market in 2023, and there is a momentum to catch up with and surpass the film market.

Sun Xianyao, a lecturer at the School of Humanities of Communication University of China, said that after the blowout development in 2023, the market value of micro-short dramas has been verified, and there is still a lot of room for the future. "On the one hand, due to the short production cycle, low cost and low entry threshold of micro-short dramas, more producers can participate in the market; ”

Attracted by the huge market scale and huge traffic, short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, as well as long video platforms such as iQiyi, Tencent, and Youku have increased their investment in micro-short dramas, and domestic leading film and television companies such as Perfect World, Ningmeng Film and Television, Huace Film and Television, Changxin Media, and Beijing Wonderful have also set foot in the production of micro-short dramas.

However, the rapid development of micro-short dramas has also exposed some unavoidable problems. According to the "2023-2024 China Micro Short Drama Market Research Report", at present, the mainland short drama market is mostly based on "cool", and the themes revolve around the plot of "slapping the face" and "reversing", including the adaptation of the God of War novel, ancient travel, rebirth counterattack and other themes, and some videos have a large number of "earthy" and "dog blood" content, and the homogenization problem is obvious. At the same time, problems such as piracy and infringement have also begun to emerge.

It is particularly noteworthy that the China Consumers Association released the "Hot Spots of Public Opinion on Consumer Rights Protection in the Fourth Quarter of 2023", which "named" the short video platform to induce payment for micro-short dramas. During the inspection, the WeChat team also found that some micro-short drama mini programs had problems that affected the user's consumption experience, such as unclear price descriptions and service agreements, no clear token consumption reminders during the viewing process, default checks on the recharge page to unlock episodes, and a lack of smooth customer complaint and refund acceptance mechanisms.

In fact, as early as April 2022, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television made arrangements for how to strengthen the management of online micro-short dramas, in November of the same year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television organized and carried out special rectification work for online micro-short dramas such as "small programs", and in November 2023, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced the launch of a one-month special short drama governance work, increasing management efforts and refining management measures from seven aspects, including accelerating the formulation of the "Detailed Rules for the Creation and Production of Online Micro Short Dramas and Content Review". Douyin, Kuaishou and other platforms have successively issued announcements to crack down on illegal micro-short dramas, and a total of hundreds of illegal micro-short dramas have been removed from the shelves;

It is reported that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television recently issued the "Latest Work Tips on the Filing of Micro-short Dramas", which requires that all platforms should report the relevant information of the micro-short dramas that are currently broadcast online without filing to the provincial-level radio and television authorities to their local radio and television authorities for the record before May 31, 2024. From June 1, 2024, micro-short dramas that have not been reviewed and filed shall not be disseminated online.

The new regulations divide micro-short dramas into three categories: key micro-short dramas, ordinary micro-short dramas and other micro-short dramas, which are filed and reviewed in different ways. Industry insiders said that the supervision of micro-short dramas has been upgraded from self-examination and self-broadcasting to hierarchical and hierarchical classification review, which means that the industry will face a "big reshuffle", and those micro-short dramas without qualifications and "nutrition" will not be able to be launched. From the perspective of content creation, micro-short dramas will gradually enter the stage of high quality, focus and quality.

With the increase in the popularity of micro-short dramas, third- and fourth-tier cities have laid out and built "dream factories" for micro-short dramas, such as the "Linying Factory" film and television shooting base in Linping District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, where various modern shooting scenes such as hospitals and schools are readily available. Also in Zhejiang Province, a "short drama super factory" covering an area of about 170 acres and a total investment of about 700 million yuan is being built rapidly in Qujiang District, Quzhou City.

In this regard, Shen Rong, the head of operations of China Internet Writers Village (hereinafter referred to as "Writers Village"), reminded: "The audio-visual industry is changing rapidly, and it is beyond reproach that all localities want to build a more cost-effective and distinctive dream factory to catch this traffic express, but the boom of micro-short dramas will inevitably cool down, so we must also be vigilant that the construction of the base may eventually evolve into a vicious circle of homogeneous competition and production price war, which will inevitably bring a lot of burden and risk to the operation and long-term development of the base." To read the 'business scripture' of the micro-short drama well, you must first calculate an 'economic account' in advance. ”

The potential of "short drama +" waiting to be tapped

After more than 6 years of growth, the Writer's Village, located on the shore of Baima Lake, Binjiang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, has gathered rich content creation resources at the source. Since well-known online writers such as Tang Sanshao, Guan Pingchao, and Jiang Shengnan became the first batch of villagers, 275 online writers have now been gathered, including literary hits such as "Celebrating More Than Years", "The Biography of Miyue", and "Notes on Tomb Robbery", among which a group of "villagers" are eager to try on the micro-short drama track.

Talking about micro-short dramas, Wang Yurong, secretary of the Party branch of the Writer's Village, said: "The boom in micro-short dramas has greatly ignited the creative enthusiasm of the villagers in the Writer's Village, and we are also cooperating with large media companies through projects such as the 'Online Literature IP Direct Express' to actively promote the development and transformation of micro-short drama IP." ”

A few days ago, the press conference of China's online literature IP micro-short drama support project and the online writers' revision class were held in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and 50 supported online literature IP micro-short drama works were officially released at the meeting. This is an attempt to break down the barriers between online literary creation and the audio-visual industry and promote common development.

On the one hand, the writer is ready to go, and on the other hand, the reporter found that AI has also shown its skills in the production of micro-short dramas. The entry of AI has undoubtedly injected fresh blood and vitality into the micro-short drama.

In the view of micro-short drama practitioners, the industry has passed the barbaric growth period, and the future road will definitely emphasize the quality path to achieve the high-quality development of the micro-short drama industry. Whether it is a micro-short drama or a medium-length drama, only content is king, telling a good story, and realizing the "landing" of high-quality content is the foundation of the development of the industry. Previously, "Escape from the British Museum", the time-traveling version of "Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" and other well-intentioned and high-quality "heart-to-heart" boutique short dramas have accumulated reputation for micro-short dramas and enhanced users' views on micro-short dramas. The creation of excellent reputation and excellent quality is the only way to promote the high-quality development of the micro-short drama industry.

At the same time, with the rapid development of mobile Internet and the increasing abundance of new media forms, as an emerging cultural carrier, the advantages of "micro-short drama +" in expanding the space for cultural consumption are also becoming increasingly apparent. Through the organic integration of short dramas with cultural tourism, games and other elements, it not only enriches the expression of cultural products, but also injects new vitality into regional economic development.

In January this year, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television released the "Follow the Micro Short Drama to Travel" creation plan, proposing to create and broadcast 100 excellent micro short dramas with the theme of "Follow the Micro Short Drama to Travel" in 2024, and actively explore the deep cross-border integration with the cultural and tourism industry. A few days ago, China Central Radio and Television released the micro-short drama ecological cooperation plan "China in Micro-short Dramas". "With the rapid development of the Internet, micro-short dramas, as an emerging form of cultural industry, have shown vigorous vitality. Peng Jianming, a member of the editorial board of China Central Radio and Television and general manager of the general manager's office, said.

Zhang Yi, an analyst at iiMedia Consulting, believes that micro-short dramas have become a new cultural carrier, and the people covered by a good drama and the cultural tourism publicity effect formed are immeasurable, and games related to short dramas can also be developed to enhance user participation, and IP linkage, theme and story linkage are formed between short dramas and games, etc., and industries such as film and television, games, and cultural tourism can promote each other's common development and jointly activate new consumption space.

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Yu Fengyuan, senior director of iQIYI and head of short drama marketing: The short drama track is still in a period of rapid rise, the user's payment ceiling has not yet arrived, and there are still a lot of dividends to be caught in the future. At present, short dramas are developing in the direction of high-quality products, and long dramas and short dramas must complement each other in the future.

Wang Sixun, deputy general manager of Kuaishou Magnetic Engine Marketing Business: In 2024, Kuaishou will accelerate the evolution of the short drama marketing ecology, focusing on three major directions: one is to deepen the high-quality products and create Kuaishou high-quality drama planning, the second is to upgrade the lineup and create an ultra-in-depth celebrity director linkage content matrix, and the third is to focus on popular schedules to achieve year-round coverage.

Chen Fang, general manager of Taobao content marketing: Taobao set up a content e-commerce division, adding live broadcasts, short videos, and graphic areas on the homepage to display content in a non-traditional shelf style, and the number of content e-commerce buyers increased by 44% year-on-year, indicating that user behavior and habits have changed. Taobao chose the short drama strategy in order to provide new marketing increments and advertising models for brands. This year, Taobao Short Drama will continue to expand its business, create a 10 billion Taobao Opera plan, and provide a number of support investments such as cash support, traffic escort, short and direct linkage, and publicity and distribution.

Zhu Linli, chief screenwriter of Mingbai Culture: What cultural tourism needs is not advertising but stories, and what "tourism + short drama" needs to do is to integrate local history, culture, and scenery into the short drama, so that the originally boring and boring city promotional film becomes more vigorous. If you want to do a good job in cultural tourism short dramas, you need to carefully craft the content, and realize the effective linkage between online dramas and offline tourism. At the same time, it is necessary to build a full-link short drama business to form a closed loop of sustainable growth of content and traffic.