The billion dollars Lei Jun gave to Chen Tong might go to Baidu?

Frankly speaking, the news that Lao Chen was going to leave Sina for Xiaomi had spread in the Internet TV circle about half a month ago, but most people were just tacitly waiting for Lei Jun to announce the news himself. And Lei Jun did not disappoint everyone. While announcing that Lao Chen was joining Xiaomi, he also announced a major event that shocked the industry: an investment of US$1 billion to be used for Xiaomi's content construction.

There are already a lot of articles online analyzing why Lao Chen chose Xiaomi and what Lao Chen can bring to Xiaomi. The ideas have already been well covered without any blind spots, so today we will not discuss the content here, but focus on a more practical angle: specifically, where does Lao Chen plan to use the ten billion US dollars?

Before discussing how to spend this money, we should first look at the extent to which Xiaomi is short of "content": starting from the first generation of Xiaomi set-top boxes, the exquisite visual design and smooth interactive experience have become a sample for subsequent set-top box products to quickly copy, and the minimalist remote control design has also brought out a large number of followers. It is no exaggeration to say that in terms of software design, Xiaomi set-top boxes can be said to have changed the original format of the set-top box industry; but the success in software design is in contrast to the lack of content, which can be seen very clearly from Xiaomi's long-term efforts to "find" content for terminals:

1. When the first generation of Xiaomi Box was first launched, it aggregated content from multiple video websites in the hope of gaining an advantage in content coverage through cooperation. However, due to restrictions imposed by Document No. 181 of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, this strategy could not be implemented and the platform returned to the embrace of the licensee's broadcast control platform.

2. Xiaomi's TVs and set-top boxes have actively become display platforms for MiLink. Users can use MiLink or Miracast to project the content on their phones to the TV screen. Since Xiaomi TVs are optimized for its own brand phones, the experience is much better than other similar products.

3. Works closely with Xiaomi router, and content stored on the router hard disk can be played directly on Xiaomi TV through the remote control without any configuration.

The above-mentioned approaches basically focus on technology or related products, which have played a certain role in improving the content, but have not been able to lead to qualitative changes from quantitative changes. If you want to truly enrich the content, you still need to work on the upstream of the industrial chain.

According to Wang Chuan's own words, he hopes that "Xiaomi will eventually become the most comprehensive content platform." In addition, the military order issued by Lao Chen is that "the content of Xiaomi TV and Xiaomi Box will undergo earth-shaking changes within half a year." These two sentences have actually made it very clear how to spend the $1 billion: choosing content cooperation rather than content production is the most suitable option at the moment. The only thing that needs to be thought through is which partner to find.

From the perspective of the SARFT policy, there has never been a period where the policy can be interpreted so clearly and transparently (especially after multiple official "interpretations" since June). It has basically been clarified that "the seven Internet TV licensees are the leaders and responsible for content compliance, and the manufacturers are the content display platforms. Each model of Internet TV products can only access the content of one licensee." This has eliminated the past non-compliant operation mode of "licensees simply and crudely renting out licenses, and manufacturers completing content aggregation and operation on their own." Therefore, we now know that many of the comments and articles circulating online that stated that Xiaomi would directly buy a video website are basically preparing to pit Xiaomi to death. Who dares to let content float outside the licensee and out of supervision? I believe that Xiaomi, which has experienced the rectification of the SARFT once, will not be tripped by the same stone for the second time.

If we understand the current Internet TV content operation ideas recognized by radio and television, we can discuss in detail who might get the 1 billion US dollars: There were two completely different rumors in the market, namely Mango Pie (er... this name is too tempting for people who write in the middle of the night) and China Radio and Television Pie. Let's analyze them one by one:

Let's first talk about the possibility of cooperating with Mango TV. Since March this year, Mango Internet TV, which relies on Hunan Satellite TV, has obtained the exclusive broadcasting rights of all Hunan Satellite TV's own programs, especially some popular variety shows such as " Where Are We Going, Dad ?" and "I Am a Singer", which has some advantages in content and has also been recognized by several major domestic TV manufacturers such as Samsung and TCL, greatly expanding its business scope; but at the same time, we also noticed that Mango has developed well as a licensee, but as an Internet video website, it still covers a small number of users. If we carry out in-depth cooperation with Mango, it is unlikely that the value of the purchased video copyrights can be fully realized in a short period of time.

Let's take a look at the imagination space of cooperation with CNR. Although it is a licensee with the Chinese character "Zhong", CNR's origin in broadcasting does not give it a particularly favorable content advantage. Even compared with Future TV, which is also a licensee with the Chinese character "Zhong", there is still a big gap. However, it is precisely because of "poverty leads to change" that CNR has established CNR Galaxy (GITV) with Jiangsu Radio and Television and iQiyi early on. This form of cooperation has not only enhanced the value of CNR's license, but also made it possible for iQiyi's Internet video content to land on smart TVs. Although this model is not new (other Internet TV licensees such as BesTV also have similar joint ventures), another recent rumor has made this model more interesting - according to some sources, CNR Galaxy will integrate iQiyi's Internet TV department to truly become a family in the field of Internet TV. If this is the case, then Xiaomi's cooperation with Galaxy means that it has obtained both the CNR license and the platform advantages of iQiyi. This story sounds like it could be more exciting than the cooperation with Mango TV?

If you further consider that iQiyi has a parent called Baidu, and this parent only made a few tactical moves in the battle for the living room, don’t you think the future story of this cooperation may be even better? To be more specific, through iQiyi’s Internet TV business, Baidu may have a close relationship with Xiaomi. As for the details of this cooperation (joint venture) relationship, it is still unknown.

If Xiaomi really cooperates with iQiyi (Baidu) and CNR Galaxy as analyzed in the article, it will be another bomb for the already calm Internet TV market.

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.