Exclusive broadcasting has become a shortcut. Can video websites dominate the market by doing so?

January 5 (Reporter Zhang Zhichang) "Exclusive broadcast" is a word that people love and hate both in the video industry and among user groups. With it, some video websites have quickly broken through the siege, and the price users pay for enjoying high-quality video resources is that they have to download and install one video client after another.

Recently, the "Mango TV" APP topped the Apple Store free ranking overnight with its exclusive content "I Am a Singer Season 3". Before that, the Ministry of Railways' ticket purchasing software "12306" also created this "miracle". Supply and demand relations allow those software with exclusive resources to quickly become successful on the charts. So, can the exclusive broadcast model really make a video website dominate? Or is this just a temporary phenomenon?

Exclusive broadcasting is ultimately a content dispute

From copyright disputes to exclusive broadcasting strategies, from copyright purchases to self-produced content, the focus of competition among video websites has always been on the core demand of content.

User cultivation is based on content, and business construction also relies on content advantages. No matter which video broadcasting platform it is, if you want to grasp the competitive advantage, you must always stay ahead in content.

Taking the major popular programs in the past two years as an example, iQiyi has monopolized the online broadcasting rights for the second season of "Where Are We Going, Dad?", Tencent Video has exclusively broadcast the third season of "The Voice of China", Sohu Video has monopolized the second season of the American TV series "House of Cards", and Youku Tudou has already started broadcasting the second season of "The Brain"...

Speaking of LeTV, which was the first to taste the sweetness of "exclusive broadcasting", a domestic palace drama "The Legend of Zhen Huan" won it more than 4.6 billion hits. With this drama, LeTV can be said to have become famous and stood out from the crowd. In response, LeTV announced its exclusive copyright to the costume drama "The Legend of Miyue" early on.

As for Mango TV, which has truly implemented the exclusive broadcasting strategy to the end, Zhang Ruobo, chairman of Happy Sunshine, said that Hunan Satellite TV's "exclusive broadcasting" awareness was the result of iQiyi CEO Gong Yu spending a large amount of money to buy content from Hunan TV.

In April last year, Hunan Satellite TV revamped and integrated its two major platforms, Golden Eagle Network and Mango TV, and launched a new "Mango TV" online video platform; in May, Hunan Radio and Television Station Director Lu Huanbin officially announced his "exclusive broadcast" strategy, stating that it would rely on Hunan Satellite TV's self-produced programs with complete intellectual property rights to build its own Internet video platform - "Mango TV".

Although Mango TV has gained a large number of clicks and downloads thanks to its "exclusive broadcast" strategy, it has never had relatively stable traffic like Sohu Video, iQiyi, and LeTV. The fluctuating traffic is greatly affected by the quality of its exclusive content.

For users, high-quality content is the real driving force that drives them to the major video websites. It is not difficult to predict that once the exclusive content is discontinued, the throne of the number one download will immediately change hands.

Using exclusive broadcast to explore payment model

According to insiders, Hunan TV's "I Am a Singer" Season 3 will not only be broadcast exclusively on Mango TV, but will also adopt a pay-per-view model on Mango TV. The specific operation mode is that each episode can be viewed on Mango TV for free within 10 days after it is broadcast. After 10 days, PC and TV terminals must pay for on-demand viewing, while mobile terminals continue to support unlimited free on-demand viewing.

In addition to strengthening its competition with other major video websites, Mango TV's move is more obviously aimed at promoting its mobile application and further building Hunan Satellite TV's own mobile channel.

Video websites have been developing paid models for a long time, but the results are not obvious. In addition to the new popular movies that can generate revenue, TV series, variety shows, and self-made content cannot develop paid models for the time being.

Mango TV, taking advantage of the rapid rise of mobile terminal applications and the launch of a paid model, may win the recognition and acceptance of some users to a certain extent. Whether it is an advertising model or a new payment model, the ability to create economic benefits for video websites is the foundation of model development.

Currently, the entire paid video industry is still in its development stage, and major video websites have not made any profits from the paid model. The continuous rise in content copyright prices is the direct reason, while user acceptance is the fundamental factor.

At this stage, the exploration of exclusive broadcasting is far more meaningful for video websites than relying on a popular program to attract users in the short term. Gong Yu once publicly stated that video websites will not form a monopoly for a long time in the future, because user needs are diversified, which also gives video websites more room for development.

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.