Slandering TV is the biggest conspiracy in China's media industry

Singing bad about TV is the biggest conspiracy in the Chinese media industry. Is there really a conspiracy? It is hard to say whether the conspiracy exists or not. But at present, whether it is the TV industry, new media, or even industry leaders, they are all collectively participating in a carnival of criticizing TV:

When someone leaves a TV station, everyone celebrates and exaggerates.

Every move made by new media is digging the grave of television.

It seems that anyone who doesn't curse television is not a media person.

The collective drug addiction of the entire media industry made me smell a strange atmosphere similar to that of "Luo Yixiao, stop!" My intuition told me that this was not normal.

1. Will television decline? How will it decline?

Everyone is talking about the decline of television and that it will become the next newspaper. However, the historical background, communication form and substitutability of television and newspaper are completely different.

1. Without television, there would be no screen-sweeping spread in the circle of friends.

In this regard, Mr. Leng Suo of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is a rare person who understands the situation. At the 9th China TV Southern Forum, he said, "Don't blindly criticize TV, because without TV, there would be no social media posts on WeChat Moments."

This view is correct: "In the Name of People" would not have achieved the current dissemination effect no matter which video website it was placed on; and if "The Lost Tomb" had successfully landed on Dragon TV, it would have definitely swept social media (but it did not).

Here, Dr. Leng explains the problem of communication characteristics. The linear communication of television is a disadvantage, but it also has a huge advantage of focusing attention on a hot spot!

2. Behind the occupation of the living room - family fun is the mainstream of the times, and television culture is essentially family social interaction.

Newspapers have occupied countless newsstands and stalls, but they disappeared in an instant. Television has occupied the living rooms of thousands of households, will it disappear?

The answer is no, because newsstands were a passive choice in an era when social communication methods were underdeveloped, while television has been fully integrated into family life.

People can obtain knowledge and videos through mobile devices, but they still need a comfortable environment to watch, and still need to socialize within the family (family fun) to communicate.

Take a look at movies. Ten years ago, everyone said that DVDs would kill movies. However, movies are becoming more and more popular. Why? First, it is enjoyable to watch movies in the cinema (comfortable experience). Second, it is instantaneous (or instant pleasure) when it is released. Third, couples need to watch movies on dates. It is a kind of social sincerity. Watching TV with children is a completely different experience than watching mobile phones with children.

3. You said that TV advertising is declining, but Internet advertising is also declining.

There have been more rational voices in the advertising industry recently, as many people are saying that "the communication power of television is still there." Many people say that television advertising is declining, and satellite TV stations are in trouble for attracting investment, and they can no longer survive.

But in fact, the big plate is decreasing and the cake is getting smaller. Satellite TV has decreased, and Internet advertising has also decreased.

You celebrate when a TV show is streaking, but do you know how many online variety shows are streaking? Currently, many programs on satellite TV stations, even second-tier ones, are still sponsored.

Why are the advertising industry a little more rational? Because the sponsors paid the money, and they are not fools. They are really not fools.

4. You say online variety shows are great, but are they phenomenal?

Online variety shows are still in the early stages of development. There is no phenomenal level yet, and the investment is mainly lightweight. The investment of "Ace vs Ace" is unimaginable in the field of online variety shows. In contrast, there is no need to say more about TV.

What's more, the credibility of traditional television news is irreplaceable.

5. The television industry may not be in decline, but it is definitely squeezing out its water.

According to data from 2015, there are 1,998 county-level radio and television broadcasting organizations in China, the highest number in the world and 22 times that of Japan. Note that this is only the number of TV stations, not TV channels. The number of TV channels is no less than 5,000.

Such a huge volume is due to historical reasons, but it is not a normal phenomenon. Shenzhen Legal Channel has stopped broadcasting and Huayu TV has closed down. However, this process of squeezing out water has just begun and will continue fiercely!

The ideal number of TV stations in China is: 1 channel in county-level cities, 1-2 channels in prefecture-level cities, 2-3 channels at the provincial level (including satellite TV), and no more than ten provincial satellite TV stations that are self-sufficient and capable of operating independently (the rest are financially supported).

In the process of squeezing out the water, some third-tier satellite TV stations have been eliminated. Second-tier satellite TV stations are still desperately moving towards the first-tier, and first-tier satellite TV stations are destined to not be able to continue to spend irrationally.

2. Media convergence is the biggest false proposition of this era - what we really need to be wary of is the loss of core capabilities

In fact, media convergence is a completely false proposition. How can new media and traditional media be integrated? The biggest gap between them is the system. Even if you want to have sex with a new media giant, you may not know whether the other party is willing to marry you. What traditional media needs to do is to achieve "media evolution" through reform.

You criticize TV stations for not being able to create "Youku and LeTV", but you don't see that video websites have not yet made a profit, continue to burn money, and have not seen the dawn of profitability. Losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year, which TV station would use state-owned assets to play like this?

You criticize the TV ratings for being fake, but at least this is done by a third-party company. Do you know what coefficients are used to add up the click data on video websites?

Traditional media can actually create People's Live, The Paper, Live Cloud, and CCTV News Mobile.

Mr. Leng Suo said, "The enemy of traditional television is not its sister channels, but WeChat, games, movies, online variety shows, and travel. What we need to do now is to put mobile first. What we need to consider is not necessarily integrated media, but the new media of traditional television, that is, how to make television and mobile phones shake hands and make peace." This judgment is correct.

In fact, it doesn’t matter if media integration is not done well, as long as the core resources are protected. Among the first-tier satellite TV stations, only Hunan’s Mango TV has made bigger moves, but they still have strong vitality.

The real core of the television industry is people, content production capabilities, professional ethics, and the iron-blooded execution of large-scale evening parties and content projects.

Talent is constantly being lost, and this is a real crisis. However, television is still the Whampoa Military Academy, and the industry's top talents are still in the industry. Should we continue to keep them? Reform!

3. Conspiracy theory: Why are they speaking ill of television?

So, why do they take drugs collectively and step on the TV when they see it?

1. Pretend to be an expert to keep up with the trend

The "eating shit article" has flooded the screen. This is the purpose of some people. Scolding TV can make you popular, and TV people are all cowards who won't fight back. Who will sit down and think carefully?

2. Deceiving investors and investors

Video websites spend so much money, investing hundreds of millions every year. Do you think they are joking? How can they fool investors and sponsors if they don’t make TV worthless?

3. Control public opinion

This is a possibility that may not exist, but if it does exist, it is very scary. Most of the major social media and network platforms today are global products, listed overseas, and foreign capital has long been ready to move. If the TV stations really decline as they wish, then new media may become a carnival show for some domestic and foreign illegal forces.

This is not alarmist.

4. Author’s words

For my first article, of course I could write “My heart is as excited as yesterday.”

However, this is meaningless because this industry has already made me "anxious".

In the television industry, there is a well-known fable: "Women are used as men, and men are used as donkeys." This is the hardship of television people, but also a reflection of their struggle and ideals.

The mule is already very unruly, please be nicer to the donkey.

The legendary "eating shit article" that goes viral on this account:

The radio and television people who can't keep up with the heat can eat shit!

In this regard, Qumei Tete interviewed Wang Mingxuan, the author of "The Radio and Television People Who Can't Eat Shit and Can't Keep Up with the Heat", and he said:

It's useless to just get angry! (Laughs) People, people? The audience is gone, the TV talent is gone, the advertising is gone, can you pull it back? What's more, we don't have the money to buy the first round of top dramas, and dramas account for 60% to 70% of the ratings of each station. How much of the remaining 30% is crude video content scraped from the Internet? How many resources do we have left to face the current difficulties?

As an old media person, I can deeply understand this TV person's feelings and love for TV. However, I have to say that he has not yet understood what the information revolution is, and what profound impact the information revolution will have on human society. He also has no way of understanding that its tremendous crushing pressure cannot be influenced by personal emotions and preferences.

Back then, the old and young people of the Qing Empire also shouted: "Long live, long live, long live!" But the Qing Empire has long been buried in the wasteland of history. Going back further, there are camel caravans and horse caravans, and going back further, there are pen and knife craftsmen...

Heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as straw dogs. Instead of shouting for courage, it is better to follow the trend, obey the will of heaven, and do something!

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.