Television is an indispensable medium in people's daily lives. It not only provides a variety of program content, but also undertakes important functions such as spreading culture, educating the public, and serving the society. However, with the development of Internet technology, smart TVs have gradually replaced traditional TVs and become the center of home entertainment. Smart TVs have more powerful functions and more diverse content, but they also bring some new problems, the most prominent of which is the TV "nesting doll" charging model.

The so-called TV "nesting doll" charging model refers to the fact that smart TVs use a multi-level, multi-subject, and multi-method charging method when providing content services, which confuses and dissatisfies consumers. For example, when consumers buy smart TVs, they have to pay a certain hardware fee; when using smart TVs, they also have to bear the basic service fees of cable TV or IPTV; when watching certain content, they also have to purchase membership services or pay a la carte for different platforms or channels; and even when turning on or switching programs, they have to endure pop-up ads. In this way, consumers have to pay multiple prices to watch a smart TV, and it is difficult to see the transparency and rationality of the charges.

The "Matryoshka" charging system has caused public outrage, and users have fled the living room screen

Due to various problems, the living room achieved a leap in hardware and functions, but the experience declined instead of improving, ultimately leading to a large number of users leaving.

The sales of smart TVs in China have entered a continuous downward channel. According to the omni-channel data of AVC, the sales volume of China's color TV market in the first half of 2023 was 14.67 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 12.2%. Secondly, users have little interest in large screens in the living room. According to the "2013 China Audio-Visual New Media Development Report", the TV power-on rate in Beijing has dropped from 70% three years ago to 30%.

With users' dissatisfaction growing day by day, the status of the once "king of the living room" is in jeopardy. Even the "de-living room" decoration style of removing the TV and TV wall has become popular among young people.

In fact, the emergence of this TV "nesting doll" charging model has profound background and reasons.

On the one hand, with the development of Internet technology and industry, competition between content platforms and content providers is becoming increasingly fierce. In order to obtain more users and revenue, they continue to launch new content and services, and adopt membership or single-point payment methods to monetize.

On the other hand, under the wave of intelligence, color TV brands have collectively entered the era of low-profit hardware. In order to improve their profitability and market share under the price war, smart TV manufacturers have to cooperate with content platforms or build their own platforms, and make profits through sharing or advertising.

In this way, smart TVs have become a competitive vehicle for content platforms and content providers, and consumers have become their "cash cows".

However, this TV "nesting doll" charging model did not bring consumers a better viewing experience, but instead caused consumer dissatisfaction and boycott.

According to the "Smart TV-Related Issues Consumer Survey Report" released by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee, when consumers encounter "nesting doll" charges, more than 60% (62.53%) of consumers choose to watch on their mobile phones or tablets, and 60.31% of consumers choose to watch through other channels, and only 28.3% continue to purchase membership.

This shows that the TV "nesting doll" charging model not only fails to increase consumers' willingness to pay, but also leads to the loss and transfer of consumers. At the same time, this charging model also damages the public service attributes of smart TVs and affects the high-quality development of radio, television and online audio-visual.

In order to solve this problem, the authorities finally took action.

Official action, smart TV industry faces new challenges

On August 21, the State Administration of Radio and Television, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation and other relevant units, held a mobilization and deployment meeting in Beijing to govern the complex charging and operation of television "nesting dolls".

The meeting stressed that we must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, treat the solution to the complicated charges and operations of TV "nesting dolls" as a political project, a project to win the hearts of the people and a systematic project, coordinate the three major systems of cable TV, IPTV and Internet TV, grasp the ideological attributes, public service attributes and technological industry attributes of the large-screen TV, overcome difficulties, coordinate and cooperate, and make great efforts to solve the problem of "difficulty and annoyance in watching TV", effectively improve the people's satisfaction with watching TV, and promote the high-quality development of radio, television and online audio-visual.

The meeting required that, based on the preliminary investigation and investigation, a special implementation plan should be formulated in accordance with the working ideas of "systematic planning, step-by-step implementation, easy first and difficult later, pilot first", taking into account the three stages of the near, medium and long term. Before the end of this year, pilot work and special rectification should be carried out, focusing on solving the problems of "many charging packages, multiple charging entities, and opaque charging". The phenomenon of "nesting doll" charging for TV has been significantly improved; the user experience of watching TV when turning on the TV has been greatly improved, and the live TV channels can be basically watched when the cable TV and IPTV are turned on.

The official move to regulate the TV "Matryoshka" charging model has undoubtedly put forward new challenges and requirements for smart TV manufacturers. Smart TV manufacturers must adapt to policy changes and market demands, and can no longer rely on content payment and advertising revenue to make profits. Instead, they must start from improving user experience and increasing user stickiness to create more competitive and attractive products and services.

It is believed that with the government's intervention, improving user experience will become the main theme of the smart TV industry in the future. In this context, smart TV manufacturers will face all-round challenges.

First, optimize the operation interface and interaction methods. Smart TV manufacturers should simplify the operation process and steps so that users can find the content they want to watch more quickly and conveniently. At the same time, they should also improve the aesthetics and friendliness of the operation interface so that users can enjoy more comfortable visual effects and smoother operation experience. In addition, make full use of smart TV's voice, gestures, remote control and other interaction methods so that users can choose the most suitable interaction method according to their preferences and habits.

Secondly, optimize content resources and content recommendations. Smart TV manufacturers should cooperate and coordinate with content platforms and content providers to minimize content duplication and redundancy and improve content quality and diversity. At the same time, they should use artificial intelligence, big data and other technologies to analyze and mine users' viewing behaviors and preferences, provide users with more personalized and accurate content recommendations, and allow users to discover more content that suits their tastes.

Third, optimize the charging model and charging standards. Smart TV manufacturers should comply with the official policy requirements for managing the TV "nesting doll" charging model, cancel or reduce unreasonable charging items and charging methods, and improve the transparency and rationality of charging. At the same time, according to the actual consumption capacity and willingness of users, more flexible and fair charging models and charging standards should be formulated, so that users can choose the most suitable payment plan according to their needs and budget.

Finally, explore new business models and profit methods. Smart TV manufacturers must realize that the official governance TV "Matryoshka" charging model will inevitably affect their original software and additional service revenues. At a time when hardware profits have hit bottom, how to establish new business models and profit methods is the biggest challenge they face.

Summarize

In summary, it is believed that the intelligentization of large screens in living rooms is an inevitable trend and demand, and it has irreplaceable advantages and values. The intelligentization of large screens in living rooms can provide consumers with a higher-definition, more shocking, and more immersive viewing experience, richer, more diverse, and more personalized content selection, and more convenient, smarter, and more interactive interaction methods. It can even serve as the hub of a smart home, reshaping the home life experience for users.

Therefore, the current situation of users fleeing the smart TV platform is a lose-lose situation, which not only damages their viewing experience and quality of life, but also affects the development and progress of the smart TV industry. The purpose of the official regulation of the TV "nesting doll" charging model is to break this situation and let consumers return to the big screen in the living room and enjoy the advantages and value brought by smart TV.

This is a kind of protection and benefit for consumers, a kind of spur and opportunity for smart TV manufacturers, and a kind of regulation and guidance for the entire industry. We hope that the official governance of the TV "nesting doll" charging model can achieve the expected results and make smart TV truly an indispensable part of people's lives.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.