"Did you know that a live broadcast is going to be acquired by Weibo?"
"Wasn't a live broadcast a Weibo before..."
In view of the ambiguous relationship between Weibo and a live broadcast, there should be more than a few people who bind them. Recently, with the news of a live broadcast selling in the industry, this "misunderstanding" has a tendency to become a fact.
On the surface, this transaction can be described as reasonable, but if you combine the live broadcast itself and the development history of the live broadcast industry in which it is located, you will find that this matter is more like sending some kind of signal to the outside world. Because all the signs at present are showing that the trend of live broadcasting has gone, anxiety is not only hanging over the head of a live broadcast, but also spreading throughout the industry.
Text: Binbin (Bear out of ink please note)
<h1>The trend of live broadcasting on the runway has gone</h1>
As a gathering place for workplace gossip, the news of this Weibo acquisition of a live broadcast was also initially flowing out of the pulse.
On September 20, the user "Zuo Leng Zen" released a pulse statement, "I heard that the former owner has laid off employees in science and technology, good luck." Supposedly, there was no explosion, but a user downstairs who was certified as a Weibo employee replied, "All the live broadcasts have been received." ”
Subsequently, more and more "details" began to surface. For example, "the acquisition work is expected to be completed in November", "a live broadcast team will join Weibo live as a whole, and the first to merge after the 11th holiday". Xiong Chumo please note that he also asked the relevant person in charge of Weibo, and the reply received was that there is no exact news at present, and it is inconvenient to say more.
However, in the eyes of the melon-eating masses, this has long been a matter of "nailing the nails". The information given by Tianyancha shows that a live broadcast operator, Technology, received a new round of investment from the Sina Weibo Fund on September 27, although the specific amount was not disclosed to the outside world, but the word "merger and acquisition" is really conspicuous.
The gossip news is basically solid, blessing these two newcomers finally to the right results, we should also think, why a live broadcast since the launch of 2016 was built into Sina Weibo, but before that, they were all okay, there has never been any cross-border behavior, and there has never been any lace news?
"In 2016, a live broadcast turned out, at that time, in terms of funds and traffic, there was already Sina Weibo as a support, and its development was also smooth, and the indicators were among the best in the industry", some insiders expressed their views, "Now the live broadcast outlet is no longer, and the technology has encountered industry consolidation and layoffs, Sina Weibo has shot again, which is not only to save the technology, but also to save a live broadcast." ”
This is also as the pulse user said, the next technology is now only one live broadcast is the most valuable. On the other hand, the entire industry, other players who have been with a live broadcast, the days do not seem to be better than where to go, the screener is a smarter one, before the cold winter came to land on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. However, in the understanding of many netizens, Yingke is actually "mixed" into the fourth wave of Internet companies listing, because Xiaomi, Meituan, Pinduoduo, etc. listed in the same period are all behemoths, and Yingke is bent with seven other companies, and only enjoys the treatment of half-sided gongs.
And in the capital market, Yingke does not seem to be very popular. On September 29, Yingke's share price was HK$2.69, down 30% from the issue price of 3.85%. As a representative, the situation of other players can be imagined. This can't help but cause people to sigh, the live broadcast of the show that detonated the "Thousand Broadcasts War", how to say that it is cold?
<h1>Attention to the pain of the economy</h1>
In essence, players in the live show field are always fighting for the user's attention, which is often referred to as the attention economy in the industry.
This requires players not only to have the ability to attract the user's attention, but also to ensure user retention. Because once the attention is distracted, then you will definitely fall into a crisis. Players such as live broadcasts, screeners, and peppercorns are the most typical victims, and instead of the short video of the culprit behind the scenes, they have successfully taken the place.
This allegation is not made out of thin air and is supported by data. According to the "China Mobile Internet 2018 Semi-annual Report" released by QuestMobile, users' dependence on the Internet is becoming more and more intense, with an average of 5 hours per person per day online, an increase of 23.2% over the same period in 2017. However, these new attentions have not been equally exposed to rain and dew, but almost all of them have been used to spoil short videos.
In QuestMobile's statistics, short videos in 2017 have not yet been popular, and the attention of the three typical user groups of Generation Z, small-town youth and white-haired elderly is focused on secondary industries such as instant messaging, online video, information, and browsers. Today, a year later, short videos are like an alien species without natural enemies, breaking the original ecological balance and quickly encircling a piece of their own territory.
The strength of short videos is most prominent in the large category of mobile video. It can be seen that in June 2018, the monthly live activity scale of entertainment live broadcasting almost did not increase compared with June 2017, an increase of only 2.2%, while short videos soared by 103.1%. In terms of total user usage time, the year-on-year growth rate of entertainment live broadcasting has not reached a fraction of that of short video, and in the year from June 2017 to June 2018, the total use time of short video users climbed from 127.2 billion minutes to 726.7 billion minutes, an increase of 471.1%.
In fact, as ordinary users, we can actually feel these changes. For example, the Vibrato Divine Comedy that is now playing on the streets and alleys, the short video that everyone is shooting, is the new wind direction that appeared after the Spring Festival this year.
The Baidu index has recorded this change more intuitively, and in 2018, the search index of Douyin has increased sharply, which is in stark contrast to the cliff-like decline of the search index of hua pepper live, and the creeping progress of a live broadcast and a yingke. Before this year, especially from 2016 to 2017, Douyin was obviously not dominant compared to a live broadcast, a screener, and a pepper live broadcast.
Therefore, the short video killed the live broadcast of the show, which is not an exaggeration. However, this is only the external shock that causes its decline, and the stubborn disease that is difficult to cure itself has also contributed to the tragedy that these players have momentum and no staying power.
It mainly focuses on the two points of business model and content. The live broadcasting platform is highly dependent on user tips and has not yet been able to make substantial changes by players. Even the yingke, who are already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, have not escaped this curse. Last quarter's financial report showed that its revenue from live broadcast tips accounted for 97.9% of the total revenue.
In terms of content, live broadcast platforms also lack novelty, and retaining users is all based on the personal charm of the head anchor. Of course, they have all made "efforts" for content. This year's short-lived live answer at the beginning of this year, after the platforms rushed up, while competing to be a "money thrower", while holding high the slogan of "content innovation", staged a contradictory farce, and finally ended hastily, so far we have never seen any big "innovation" in the live broadcast industry.
This is a common problem faced by the entire industry, and nine times out of ten it is applicable to one live broadcast. In the case of serious homogenization, its original advantage in the attention struggle war was once again weakened.
<h1>Conclusion</h1>
Seeing the representatives of the show live broadcasting these plummeting, it is inevitable to think of some players in the game live broadcasting industry, such as Panda Live and National Live.
Principal Si Cong's own son Panda Live Broadcast, which was raised by the head of the school, should be rich and rich, but who thought that it would fall into the end of a father who did not hurt his mother. At one point, it was even rumored that he was going to be pocketed by fighting fish and tiger teeth, which was simply punching the principal in the face. At the same time, it also throws a question mark, the live broadcast industry that the national husband can't play, how difficult is that?
Knowing this difficulty is also the national live broadcast, I think that the original national live broadcast is also a hegemon in the industry that spent 300 million yuan to acquire other competitors, and now, after experiencing several main broadcasts and salary solicitation events, the news of the national live broadcast low price to find buyers has also been spread.
Finally, it is worth noting that a live broadcast, a live broadcast, a pepper live broadcast and a panda live broadcast, a national live broadcast, these platforms also have a common feature, are in the second echelon of the industry. From this, we can conclude that the trend of live broadcasting has gone, and the situation is very serious for players in the second echelon. There may be only two paths in front of them, selling themselves or seeking capital to continue their lives.
However, at present, the capital has obviously receded, and the attitude towards the live broadcast platform has become cautious and cautious. According to public information, the last round of financing before the acquisition of The Following Technology was on November 21, 2016, the last financing before the listing of Yingke was on September 22, 2016, the sichuan pepper live broadcast was on December 22, 2017, and the latest round of financing of Panda Live and National Live was stayed on May 24, 2017 and September 28, 2016, respectively.
In this way, is selling yourself the only and best choice for some platforms?
This article was first published on the WeChat public account "Bear out of ink please note", text: Binbin, please indicate the source and ensure the integrity of the article