Video websites are struggling to make profits. Can Alibaba's TBO break the payment game?

Video websites that are supported by major sponsors have been trying to break free from the situation of continuous losses, but advertising revenue alone cannot support the high copyright fees, so major video websites have been unable to break through. Video websites in an awkward situation have been worried about profitability, and video payment has become their focus.

Can Alibaba TBO break the payment chess game?

Recently, Alibaba Group has launched the Tmall Box Office streaming video payment service on a specific model of Tmall Magic Box, providing users with Chinese and overseas movies/TV series, including video content from its American partner Lionsgate. The monthly fee for this service is RMB 39 and the annual fee is RMB 365, and users can pay through Alipay. Can Alibaba break the deadlock in video payment on TV?

In the past two years, Alibaba has made various arrangements in the film and television industry. Alibaba acquired China Culture Media and renamed it Alibaba Pictures. At the same time, it invested in Huayi Brothers and Enlight Media, becoming its second largest shareholder. In addition, Alibaba has integrated multiple resources and launched Yulebao, Taobao Movies, Visual Cloud, etc., from the upstream to the downstream of the film industry. And it is more radical in video terminals. Alibaba Digital Entertainment has incorporated 70% of the OTT terminals on the market into YunOS through a subsidy policy for TV box manufacturers. According to incomplete statistics, about 20 million TV boxes were sold in my country last year.

And as early as June, there was news that Alibaba would launch an online video streaming service TBO, similar to HBO in the United States. Its content includes domestic and foreign film and television works and internal productions of the group, and 90% of the content requires users to pay. Judging from Alibaba's move this time, Alibaba only launched this service on some models of Tmall Magic Box. It can be seen that Alibaba is currently only doing a pilot and has no plans to roll out on a large scale all at once. More importantly, the video industry is subject to various policy restrictions, and the situation of TV video is not optimistic. Recently, there are also reports that the Radio and Television will launch TVOS2.0 next year, and the control of TV video will be stricter.

Before users develop the habit of paying, and subject to various policy restrictions, it is not easy for Alibaba to carve out a niche in the TV paid video market through TBO. Now major video websites attract users to pay by broadcasting exclusive and self-made content. I wonder if the content of Alibaba TBO is attractive enough to attract users to pay for videos?

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.