Author|Xie Minghong
Editor|Li Chunhui
2024 is about to pass the halfway point, what good variety shows have everyone chased?
As far as the eye can see: "Infinite Transcendence Class 2" continues the popularity of the first season, and almost lives on the hot search; "Cat in a Box" takes realistic topics as the starting point to bring the audience an immersive experience, and skillfully combines the entertainment of variety shows with the resonance of drama; "This Is My Island" shows the spark of collision between youth and nature, and stages a realistic version of the bloody ......
Standing in May, where the year has passed for three minutes, we can almost assert that 2024 will become a long-lost year for variety shows. The reason why it can become the node of variety show iteration is that the viewing demand and aesthetic reincarnation accumulated by the user side are on the one hand, and the upstream has been precipitated for a long time, and it is more important to really start a new round of model innovation. This is particularly evident in the Youku variety show list released by the 2024 Entertainment Cloud on May 15.
not only has the strong strength of head variety shows such as "Cat in a Box" and "This is My Island", but also enters special fields such as rap and egg hunting, and launches new content such as "Rap Dream Factory" and "Egg Twisting Masters".
At the same time, "Infinite Transcendence Class 3" continues to focus on the revitalization of Hong Kong arts, return to the acting standard, and promote the integration and dialogue of film and television culture between Hong Kong, China and the mainland; "Zhen Huan's Love Doesn't Stop", "Zhen Ai's Twelve Years", "Why is God - Towards the Movie" and other new models of drama and film linkage are explored, and the popularity is continued with long-term after-sales service, and the popular models are booked.
"Heartbeat 20 Years Old 4", "Let's Be in Love 6", "Mars Intelligence Agency 7", etc., will be "long-termism" consistent, long-term and new, and inject "living water" into the industry.
Hold high and hit high, head strategy; Vertical track, customer and user needs are grasped with both hands; gain insight into emotions and strengthen the linkage of drama and film; Looking forward to the future, long-term cultivation - looking at the layout of Youku's variety shows in 2024, it coincides with the three key words of "deep cultivation of the head", "focusing on characteristics" and "long-term cultivation" proposed by Shen Yan, vice president of Youku and general manager of commercialization, variety show and live broadcast business, in an interview, and it also gives people a glimpse of the development trend of the entire industry.
Deeply cultivate the head and understand young people better from "play".
Shen Yan pointed out that variety shows should have expression, attitude, and values. This is not only a requirement at the individual level, but also a platform that needs to stick to its original intention, clear positioning, return to the most simple starting point, and continue to grow. In the process of rapid economic development and flow as the king, people are inevitably impetuous, and in this process, we should not turn "fire", "red" and "explosion" into the only goal, but should pursue "long-termism".
The so-called long-term strategy, Hard Candy Jun believes that the first task is to understand young people better in "play", and under the guidance of the "fun" strategy, continuously improve the user's participation experience. One is to deeply cultivate the head, give full play to the existing advantages of "head production capacity × head artist", continue to make efforts on popular themes, and do a good job in IP life cycle management.
Now look back at Youku's "This! is the creation of the series, and you can still feel Youku's vision and courage. In that era when hot money poured into the entertainment market and various mature variety show models were copied at an accelerated pace, Youku decided to focus on vertical youth culture, promote niche trend culture such as "street dance" and "robot fighting" to the public, and undertake the historical task of "pioneering cattle" on the new track. This year, Youku's long-term strategy has achieved remarkable results. That is, "IP has become a system of its own. With the iteration of the program, its variety show experience continues to get closer to a more realistic industry operation form, not only for laymen, but also for insiders.
This season's show's presentation of basketball talents in the village can be called the village BA version of the "deformation meter". They will face trials and tests again and again, complete the transformation and evolution from the protagonist of the township basketball stage to the protagonist of the international basketball stage, experience several last eliminations, and finally form the village BA version of the basketball dream chasing team, prove themselves in the international arena, and use basketball to write the miracle of rural dream chasing from the next village to the next country.
As a popular IP in the Q2 quarter, "Cat in the Box" has also found a recognizable gameplay and tonality while gathering a strong lineup of guests, which is not only a model for in-depth cooperation between the platform and celebrities, but also a pioneer experiment for head variety shows to care for the emotions of young people. On the surface, it is a "variety show acquaintance bureau" organized by Huang Lei, but it is on the hot search together with the show's explosive stalks, as well as young users' discussions on practical topics such as spiritual internal friction, social rules and self-acceptance, and the meaning of popularity and traffic. Playing together and going crazy, but also sinking down and thinking together, the show has achieved a delicate balance between "playing stalks in the early stage" and "emotional care in the later stage", and the essence of its dramatic presentation is actually a resonant experience built with users. Taking advantage of the momentum of the artists to detonate the popularity, Youku has made a close connection between the real world and the world in the box through "Cat in the Box".
The new island exploration growth show "This Is My Island", which is currently on the air, is also another masterpiece of Youku in 2024. All the members of the Times Youth League are assembled, and the super lineup makes the show popular before it is broadcast, and it continues to dominate the TOP1 of the Weibo variety show list to be broadcast! 11 "sea-breaking teenagers" came to the mysterious island, learned to be self-reliant in the extreme pull with the director team, and after passing the tests of environmental exploration, survival exploration, humanistic exploration, and self-exploration, they found a way to get along with nature, achieve self-growth and breakthroughs, and redefine the "new era sea-breaking spirit" of contemporary young people. With the blessing of the head lineup + head team, the popularity of Youku station exceeded 10,000 within 38 hours of the show's premiere, becoming the first Youku variety show to exceed 10,000 in 2024, and as of now, 3657 hot searches have been swept across the network.
From a more macro perspective, in order to bring users a more immersive and diversified experience of chasing comprehensives, and also inject enough vitality and confidence into the industry, Youku variety shows have also set up a new vane - "Cool Variety".
This variety show label, which was founded last year, is not only a reflection of Youku's "fun", but also another way to write the "long-termism" strategy. Youku cleverly uses the "cool kuzi" nickname created by the majority of netizens to realize the two-way rush between the platform and the audience. The cool variety with "infinitely exciting, fun in it" as the slogan not only expresses the confidence in continuing to create good content and the imagination of the future of variety shows, but also shows the persistence and determination to provide them with infinite fun and resonance from the perspective of users.
Focus on the characteristics and explore the trendy culture that young people love to "see".
In addition to the renewal of the head IP, Youku variety shows also focus on the characteristic vertical tracks, accurately combining the trends of youth pop culture, not only exploring the love of young people at present, but also exploring some avant-garde pop culture that may be popular in the future, promoting it to more people through variety shows, and in turn leading them to explore more love.
"Rap Dream Factory" breaks the traditional mentor-led model, builds a real label management and survival bond, and uses the all-star top RapStar rap label to reconstruct the rap variety show, "See fireworks China in rap, and look for the next rap superstar among the whole people". Music dreamer Jay Chou, Dream Life Officer Liu Genghong, Dream Witness Officer Wang Hedi, Dream Observer Wudu, 8 label managers GAI Zhou Yan, Bridge, Ouyang Jing MC Jin, Little Ghost - Wang Linkai, Ai Re AIR, Good Morning, VaVa Mao Yanqi, Sheng Yu D-SHINE and many other heavyweight guests together form the label Wang Bang lineup. The king of Chinese rap × the benchmark of rap in the industry, and the chemical reaction of the collision between the guests is worth looking forward to. After the test of the label's survival, the birth of this national rap superstar will tell a more realistic growth story and convey a more authentic attitude and personality expression.
In addition, Shen Yan also specifically mentioned the actions of Youku variety show in the field of "egg" and "racing" in previous interviews. "From the folk table to the competitive sports arena, egg hunting has become one of the most circle-breaking leisure and entertainment methods among young people."
Youku was able to tap into this kind of rare theme that has a wide audience but does not often appear in the variety show market, which indeed shows a delicate insight into the life of mass entertainment. "In 2024, we will launch the first egg elite competition reality show "Egg Masters", organize variety shows of egg breaking in various modes, variety shows will be repeated, show brain competition and integrate the personal growth stories of contestants, and empower new consumption scenarios through cultural tourism, creating one-stop marketing of IP + events + artist brokerage. There is also a variety show of racing that I also highly recommend, there was an F1 race in Shanghai some time ago, in fact, the Chinese people's understanding of racing is still stuck in Han Han and Lin Zhiying's racing drivers, and this matter can be popularized. This time, we have a lot of linkages with upstream associations and the General Administration of Sports, and the promotion of such a project also stems from the insight into real-time hot spots. ”
Last year, Youku launched the "Kuku Comprehensive" label, covering four major theme tracks. In this year's Spring Festival, Youku's variety show track is further subdivided, including five tracks: game reasoning, drama variety film linkage, trendy blood, emotional life, and happy comedy. Whether it is an egg with a wide audience or a racing car that looks tall, its appearance stems from Youku's variety show's insight into users' real-time emotions. For Youku, being a trendy culture that young people love to "watch" is not only to promote a certain culture to a larger scale, but to dig deep into it to dig out the spiritual core with universal significance and communication value.
Left-handed feelings, right-hand emotions, and the mode exploration of drama and film linkage
When it comes to "Infinite Transcendence Class", many people's reaction is that it is "good-looking" and easy to discuss. But what it really locks in users is actually "feelings" and "emotions".
How does a drama/movie continue the audience's unfinished feelings, and how does a variety show capture the emotions of users to be continued, the answer given by Youku is the linkage of drama and film. The successful holding of the previous "Minglong Boy" linkage derivative group variety "Minglong is Burning" and "Infinite Transcendence Class" derivative content "Infinite Transcendence Stars Concert" have demonstrated Youku's pioneering exploration in drama variety linkage, and realized the ultimate release of the commercial value of high-quality drama variety IP.
In the past, TVB's wireless artist training class has sent a large number of newcomers to Hong Kong Entertainment, and many kings and queens have benefited. What kind of reference significance can the model of that year have for today's mainland variety shows? For Shen Yan, one of the focuses of Youku's "Hong Kong Arts Revitalization Plan" is to cultivate young talents, and "Infinite Transcendence Class" is an "extracurricular tutoring textbook", an elective course for young actors. Youku has set up such a class, the first season, the second season, and the third season, and uses an opportunity for young actors to learn from good and virtuous teachers in the process.
At the same time, as a very exciting part of Hong Kong culture, TVB's dramas and actors are worthy of being seen by everyone in the current domestic entertainment market. Hong Kong artists need a new stage to release their brilliance, and mainland audiences also need a nostalgic festival that belongs to mainlanders. In addition to learning, "Infinite Transcendence Class" is also a platform and bridge that links both sides.
In terms of content, the program combines the mentality of Youku's "Hong Kong Theater", and there are many classic Hong Kong film and television works in the restoration of famous scenes online; From the perspective of the lineup, the show continues to tap the actors in the high-quality IP of Ali Dawen Entertainment, such as Gao Haining, who became popular in Youku's hit drama "News Queen", Xu Ruohan, Wang Qiang, and Li Mingde in "Minglong Boy"; From the perspective of the cultivation system, the program has added a market rating for actors, introduced market producers, and established a foundation for cooperation between actors and producers through the program, providing a better platform and opportunities for actors.
At present, the Hong Kong Arts Revitalization Plan has released more than 20 new Hong Kong dramas and new Hong Kong film lists. From 2023 to 2024, the hit of the two seasons of "Infinite Transcendence Class" proves that Youku's Hong Kong Arts Revitalization Plan has a fairly strong mass base. This year's "Infinite Transcendence Class 3" will adopt the dual tutor model of mainland + Hong Kong, China, leading us to revisit Chinese film and television classics.
In addition, according to Shen Yan, in addition to "Infinite Transcendence Class", in the future, Alida Entertainment's "Hong Kong Arts Revitalization Plan" will also establish more in-depth cooperation with Emperor, Media Asia, and Shaw Brothers, not only providing TVB actors with more mainland offers, so that they can participate more in the cooperation of the mainland entertainment industry, but also pay attention to more other entertainment practitioners, not just a drama or a movie.
In addition to using the revitalization of Hong Kong arts to satisfy the nostalgia of mainland audiences for old Hong Kong dramas and Hong Kong films, Youku has also explored new models in the linkage of drama and film through real-time insights into young people's lives, so as to further meet the emotional needs of young people.
"The Legend of Zhen Huan" has always been Youku's classic old drama, and Yunhe data shows that Youku's "The Legend of Zhen Huan" dominates the list of 2023 classic dramas with a cumulative broadcast of more than 1.5 billion. The "2024 Entertainment Cloud Release Youku Variety Show List" released this time, the 12th anniversary group variety "Zhen Huan's Love Non-stop" and the 12th anniversary gala of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" "Zhen Huan's Twelve Years of Love" are among them, which can be described as a "lifetime" for Zhen Huan's fans. As a classic Chinese drama broadcast exclusively on Youku, "The Legend of Zhen Huan" has gathered a large number of fans for more than ten years. The birth of this group comprehensive and celebration party is an effective application of the long-tail effect, I believe that with the blessing of long-term after-sales, the IP popularity can be continued, and Youku will once again lock in the 2024 hit in advance.
And the "Fengshen" group comprehensive "Why Fengshen - Towards the Movie" jointly produced by Movie Channel, 1905 Movie Network, Movie Channel Rong Media Center, Youku, Ali Pictures, Beijing Culture, and Changshengtian has also whetted the appetite of Hard Candy Jun. Last year, the madness of the proton group was still in front of us, and this year, Wu Ershan, Fei Xiang, Yu Shi, Hou Wenyuan, Na Ran and other core members reunited, re-taking the road of sealing the gods, and rekindling the soul of the gods...... Combining variety shows and movie promotion is a relatively innovative model exploration for Youku in 2024, from drama variety linkage to drama variety film linkage, Youku's upcoming film revisit journey with laughter and tears and rich heritage is also worth looking forward to.
Model innovation + new person excavation, long-term cultivation and hard work on the "new".
Regarding the "long-termism" pursued by Youku variety shows, Shen Yan recalled: "The variety show market in 2018 and 2017 was a time of blowouts, but at that time, I mentioned the word 'impetuous' earlier, and a lot of hot money will come to this market, and everyone rarely has time and patience to calm down, settle down, and really think about what the audience wants, what the market and brand customers want." I think it's good to have a cooling-off period where you can think about what the market needs and how we can do better. ”
In the face of different fundamentals of the booming and shrinking market, content creators need to make adjustments of "seeking inward" and "seeking outward". In the general environment, impetuous hot money is pouring in, and calm thinking is necessary. However, in recent years, the market has obviously flattened and cooled, which requires the head variety show and a new model to "save the scene" to boost the confidence of the industry and give a shot in the arm. This cycle of 2023-2024 belongs precisely to the cooling-off period that Shen Yan said, when there is a shortage of head variety shows and user attention is facing dispersion.
At this stage, how to add and promote the entire market through the pivotal role of the platform is another new proposition. This year, Youku Spring Festival released two signals about "new": the first layer of new is model innovation, superimposing variety shows with other industries to create a new user experience; The second layer of innovation is to cultivate new talents, and constantly use the advantages of the platform to use variety shows to tap new blood in the industry.
"Heartbeat 20 Years Old 4" and "Let's Be in Love 6" in the film list focus on the love and life picture of young people. Its new significance is not limited to the theme of love, but to link cultural tourism hotspots with multi-dimensional travel scenes, and "Let's Love 6" is based on the theme of "We Who Can't Be in Love", telling the holiday story of adults crossing the extreme wonders across the border. When super IP is integrated with cultural tourism, it is a relaxed life model that is hotly discussed on the Internet. They not only have insight into user needs and current hot spots, but also improve the IP development chain of variety shows, which are more in line with the current needs of local development of cultural tourism, making variety shows a manufacturer of popular attractions and check-in places.
Taking "Heartbeat 20 Years Old" as an example, Maoyan data shows that the total exposure of the whole network during the broadcast of the last season of the show was nearly 10 billion. After the strong return of "Heartbeat 20 Years Old 4" this year, they will have a "tropical island plan" that rushes out of the country and has unlimited youth. On one side is the ultimate romantic date, and on the other side is a commemorative graduation trip. After the broadcast, I don't know how many viewers will set off the impulse to "just go".
We also noticed that Youku continues to use variety shows to tap new blood in the industry. The emergence of newcomers can not only benefit a single variety show, but also become a new force, giving the entire variety show ecology and industry a new look. "Infinite Transcendence Class" has discovered a large number of new generation actors, Liu Yaowen, Guo Xiaoting, Zhou Keyu in the first season, Jin Chao and Xu Ruohan in the second season, all of which make the market feel golden. It turns out that we don't lack potential rookie actors, but we lack a market mechanism to discover them.
What is surprising is also "Mars Intelligence Agency 7", after the program is upgraded on the original IP, it will open up a comedian discovery and growth model. Xue Zhiqian will take over the position of director of Mars and launch the "Mars Talent Introduction Plan", a group of popular comedy new forces with countless stalks on the earth and super funny ability will join the game with the "most lively" Mars ace agent team to open a new round of "stalks" and "laughter" smoke-filled "Mars Council".
"Island Boys" trained 15 amateurs and asked them to transform an island in 120 days. Amateur, island, 120 days, these three keywords still prove Youku's "dare".
Another new show, "I Love Variety Shows", is specially used to discover newcomers to variety shows. As we all know, in the Japanese, South Korean, European and American markets, there are many artists who do not make dramas and movies, they are professional variety artists. Youku's sword is aimed at professional variety artists, not only to be alone, but also to contribute to the entire variety show market. Shen Yan even joked: "50 'Yang Di' must be selected!" "Well, if that's the case, the degree of variety shows in the future will soar exponentially.
It should be said that Youku's long-termism has made great strides in the content war. In 2023, when the overall popularity of variety shows is low, he will still hand over excellent answers, and enter the upcoming outbreak in 2024 with a rich film list. Through the efforts of deep cultivation of the industry, drama and film linkage, revitalization of Hong Kong arts, and cultivation of new talents, we will continue to go all out for good content. Regarding the future, Shen Yan's eyes are on the new blood: "To do this business is to keep fresh blood coming in, with the inhalation of young people, I am still full of hope for the future." ”
From the layout of variety shows in recent years, it is not difficult to see that Youku variety shows have completed the "role transformation". When Youku gradually transforms from a content creator to a builder of industry infrastructure, then the influence of all the layouts it does will probably radiate backwards in five years. Winning or losing is naturally only in the present, but the real ecological changes in the industry are only accumulating strength in the depths of the still water flow.