Dialogue with Shao Yiding: Looking at the development of Youpengpule from Huawen Youpeng

Recently, the "happy marriage" between China News Media and Youpengpule has caused quite a stir in the industry. What impact will the powerful combination have on the industry landscape, what major changes will there be in capital, and what businesses will the two parties focus on in the future?

With many questions, we conducted an exclusive interview with Shao Yiding, Chairman of Youpengpule, to get to know the "newborn" Huawen Youpeng from more details.

With additional investment of 1 billion, Huawen Youpeng is no longer mysterious

Talking about the cooperation with China News Media, Shao Yiding described the process of cooperation as "a natural outcome". "China News Media recognized the development of Youpeng's user scale and innovative model. The two sides had very sufficient communication and exchanges, and each side clearly saw the strength of the other. It was a natural thing to reach this step."

It is understood that the new company jointly established by China News Media's wholly-owned subsidiary China News Century Film and Television and Youpengpule is fully named China News Youpeng Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 200 million yuan. In the future, both parties will increase investment to 1 billion or even more based on the company's development.

The investment of real money means that both parties attach great importance to the upcoming business.

Judging from the announcement, Huawen Youpeng will mainly engage in the purchase and sale of film and television content copyrights after its official operation. According to Shao Yiding, after the cooperation, the two parties will have a special fund for the purchase of film and television content. In addition to distribution, they will also explore some new operating models, and it is not ruled out that there will be other interactions with production companies and content providers during the exclusive purchase process.

As we all know, content is an important link in the video industry chain, especially the procurement of exclusive content. For Youpengpule, the paid online cinema model it promotes, in addition to having a certain user scale accumulation, also needs corresponding exclusive content as a filler, so as to provide a larger operating space for this new model of TV cinema. But it does not mean that all of Youpeng's video content comes from Huawen Youpeng. After years of deep cultivation in the Internet TV business, Youpeng has accumulated Hollywood films, 4K sources, movies, music, children's programs and other content.

At present, Huawen Youpeng has entered the stage of substantial formation and promotion. It is also worth noting that Huawen Media holds about 36.8% of the shares of China Media Group Guangdong, and China Media Group Guangdong is responsible for the construction and operation of the integrated broadcast control platform of China International Radio and Television Network (CIBN) Internet TV. Although CIBN has the support of Youku Tudou, due to the resource construction of Youku Tudou itself, its content advantage is not very prominent. In this regard, the outside world speculates that Youpeng Pu Le can help CIBN quickly fill the gap in content resources. In this regard, Shao Yiding said that it is not convenient to disclose relevant information at present.

A brand new Youpeng is about to be presented to the public

"There are more than 600 people dedicated to interactive TV. There is no other company like it in the industry." Shao Yiding proudly described Upengpule's development in the TV business.

First of all, Shao Yiding gave a brand new definition - "interactive TV". He believes that Internet TV (OTT) is not the only form of interactive TV in the future, but should also include IPTV and digital TV two-way high-definition. Youpeng focuses on the development of the TV industry from the perspective of interactive TV.

From the current situation, many Internet companies have dabbled in OTT business, but due to the company's genetic limitations, it is rare to see manufacturers entering IPTV and DVB business at the same time. When Youpengpule first developed the Internet TV platform, domestic manufacturers were still in a vague understanding of this industry, especially when some Internet companies began to make TV hardware and started a price war with terminal manufacturers. Youpeng was already working with partners in the industry chain to integrate OTT, IPTV+OTT, DVB+OTT platforms and provide in-depth user services.

Regarding the future business trends of Youpeng, Shao Yiding introduced, "Youpeng's overall strength will explode in the second half of the year, both in terms of business and capital, and the most important thing in the future is to maximize the expansion of the user scale." It is understood that the number of Youpengpule users is expected to exceed 10 million by the end of this year.

Having a certain user scale is the prerequisite for realizing the commercial value of large-screen TVs. This is like the growth of a big tree. The soil is determined by the market environment, and hundreds of millions of ordinary home users in China who have interactive needs for TV screens constitute the thick trunk. Only with such support can games, e-commerce, education, video and other businesses have room to grow on TV. And Youpeng is doing it right, that is, from the bottom of the tree to the branches and trunks. At present, it has begun to lay out the branches and trunks, and product incubation, cooperation partners, and capital reserves have been completed one after another.

Regarding the issue of whether Upeng will be involved in hardware manufacturing, which some industry insiders are concerned about, Shao Yiding said that Upeng will not consider launching its own TV and box products in the future and will not become a competitor with hardware manufacturers. It is more willing to cooperate extensively with hardware manufacturers to ultimately realize that wherever there is a TV, there will be Upeng.

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.