As the TV drama industry hits its ceiling, will video websites become a lifeline?

At this year's Shanghai TV Festival, the TV series that were strong in previous years were overshadowed by variety shows. In fact, it is not difficult to understand. On the one hand, variety shows are introduced in large quantities, and investors are making a lot of money with quick money; on the other hand, TV dramas are frequently criticized, and dramas like tearing Japanese soldiers apart with bare hands and grabbing crotches and touching eggs can only occupy the entertainment section. Highly artistic dramas are difficult to earn ratings, and even if they attract attention, they can't escape the fate of being banned. No wonder netizens are starting to worry. If all the actors go to record variety shows, who can still focus on acting?

The ceiling of the TV drama market is probably within reach. However, there is another major change in this TV Festival, which is very likely to be a breakthrough for the TV drama industry - video websites have become one of the main forces of the TV Festival, and LeTV has strongly thrown out the slogan "Watch big dramas on LeTV". Last year, TV people who were still uneasy about the "one drama, two stars" have begun to frequently discuss Internet hot words such as "Internet+", "multi-screen", "trend", and "video websites" in major forums of the TV Festival this year. Behind the popular dramas such as "The Interpreter", "The Legend of Miyue", and "Grave Robbers' Chronicles", there are shadows of video websites. Video websites, which were considered "intruders" by the TV industry in the past, are also bringing more funds and opportunities to the industry, catalyzing its huge changes.

The most feared thing is that the rich understand the users

It is well known that Internet companies have wealthy people. It is said that the first season of "Grave Robbers' Chronicles", in which iQiyi participated in the investment, cost 240 million yuan, and more than 2 billion yuan of the funds obtained from Jia Yueting's share reduction a few days ago will be invested in the TV drama section of LeTV. It goes without saying that Tencent, Youku and other companies with financial sponsors have more money.

But this is not the key point. The most terrifying thing is that the rich have a large amount of user needs and data in their hands. The quality of traditional TV dramas depends entirely on the ratings. Putting aside the fraud scandal, it can only give a rough market share. Nowadays, young people no longer watch TV in prime time. Various video apps occupy most of the space on mobile phones and Pads. Internet platforms also have a large number of user habits. Who are the users, what they like to watch, how long they watch, and where they watch, the Internet platforms can accurately grasp them, which means that they can "tailor and provide what they need", which is a terrible thing to think about. Of course, there are also conservative TV people who worry that video websites will eventually be like TV screens, "only focusing on click-through rates."

Therefore, the best solution may be for both to embrace each other. Traditional production companies control the general direction and artistry, while Internet companies provide the needs of new-age users, so that each can take what it needs.

The plate is big, you can ferment it however you want

This year, the keyword IP has spread from the Internet to the TV drama market. In order to ensure the safety of funds, the most reliable way for film and television companies to make large-scale productions is to develop IP. At the Shanghai TV Festival, we can see that large-scale productions such as "The Interpreter" are all popular online IPs. In fact, in a sense, popular award-winning works "Ordinary World" and "Red Sorghum" are also IPs, and LeTV is the producer of these three dramas. Looking around, IPs are everywhere.

But in fact, the number of popular IPs is still limited. How to develop its maximum value? This is also an important measure for IP owners to hand over their works. If IP is to be deeply developed, there must be an Internet ecosystem for it to ferment and grow.

Let's first look at what forms an IP can take. Taking the IP source as an example, it can be developed into TV series, movies, online dramas, games, music, derivatives, and even large-scale development into theme parks and tourism businesses. The most successful one at present is probably "Harry Potter". In addition, it has been discovered recently that a song or a radio program can become an IP. Gao Xiaosong teamed up with LeTV Pictures to develop "Brothers Sleeping on the Upper Bunk", and the movie and online drama were developed at the same time; "Zhang Zhen Tells Ghost Stories" was made into an online drama by LeTV.com, and the movie will also be released soon.

It is not difficult to see that the diversified development of IP must be supported by the Internet, and the overall operation of the big ecosystem is undoubtedly stronger than the fragmented scattered mode. As the famous drama critic Li Xingwen said, the operation and creation of the entire IP industry chain requires a lot of hard and meticulous work between thinking about it and doing it. The synergy of each link of film, television, games, and novels is very important.

Take the IP project "The Night Walk with Brocade Clothes" jointly created by Juxin Culture, LeTV and Guizhou Satellite TV as an example. Judging from the information we have received from all sides, it can be said to be a relatively comprehensive IP operation. In terms of the presentation of the works, there are currently plans for a high-quality TV series, two games and supporting spin-offs, three big movies, and commercial authorization of derivative products; and before the filming started, Qidian Chinese Network, LeTV, and Guizhou Satellite TV began to operate fans and plan a diversified profit model.

As for the reason for cooperating with LeTV, the relevant personnel of Guizhou TV also said that they valued LeTV's overall vertical ecology of "platform + content + terminal + application", which will bring a large amount of data and fan resources, multi-screen integrated marketing and innovative development ideas. It can be seen that in the ecology, the value of IP is like a snowball.

Homemade food is in great demand, but there is a way out even if there is a shortage of food

At TV festivals two or three years ago, many TV series could get orders just by showing a sample. However, after the "one drama, two stars" and the growth of video websites, market rules were rebuilt, and the seller's market suddenly turned into a buyer's market - in order to prevent a sudden shortage of supply like Mango TV, video websites have begun to produce a large number of self-made dramas. At present, the total amount of online dramas is comparable to the capacity of prime-time TV dramas.

On the other hand, early self-produced dramas tended to be produced with small costs in cooperation with studios, but from the joint efforts of LeTV and Guizhou Satellite TV to create "The Night Walk with Jin Yi", it can be seen that video websites are no longer satisfied with dramas that attract attention with topics, but have begun to try their best to produce excellent productions and gain more powerful voice. Therefore, production companies that do not embrace the Internet are doomed to have no way out in the end. Large production companies such as Huace and Shixi Media have already started close cooperation with iQiyi and LeTV.

Various signs indicate that "Internet +" has become a breakthrough for the TV drama industry to change. It is not a trendy way to go with the flow, but a necessary path to seek transformation and innovation. This integration means more of a geometric value amplification generated by platform superposition and ecological fermentation, and the structure of the entire industry chain is also quietly changing.

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.