The Radio and Television Administration has taken control of Internet TV, so what?

Recently, the "Coocaa Honor A55" jointly released by Skyworth Coocaa and Huawei Honor has attracted the interest of many people in the industry. The interesting thing about this product is that it has abandoned the title of TV and is called "smart screen". We have commented on this product a few days ago. The reason for bringing it up again is to look at the hidden reality of the industry related to this product from another perspective, as well as the possible trends in the industry.

Internet TV's Painful Period

Unlike other similar products, the A55 does not have a remote control, does not support cable TV, cannot receive live signals from TV stations, and does not have a built-in OTT module. It is reported that it can map all mobile games to the screen and enable control with the phone.

"The difference between a TV and a monitor lies in whether there is a TV module, but don't forget that it was the strong promotion of set-top boxes a few years ago that left the TV modules of most TVs in the country idle and turned them into de facto monitors." A netizen on Zhihu commented, "Huawei's trial this time may affect the integration of three networks, the competition for the entrance to the Internet living room, and the marketization of the radio and television field."

This makes sense. Industry analysts say that with the acceleration of the integration of three networks and the upgrade of broadband, the conditions for video services based on the open Internet to become the mainstream application of living room entertainment have gradually matured, and a market of up to 100 billion yuan will be formed within five years. For Internet companies with video as the core, TV is undoubtedly the best terminal. And because the TV screen is large enough (it not only includes the functions of "watching" but also "playing"), it is expected that sales will gradually increase.

The launch of A55 is also a helpless attempt to circumvent the ban of radio and television. Technology and user demand are driving the rapid development of Internet TV. The radio and television system gradually found that commercial advertisements, which constitute the main commercial system of radio and television, are becoming increasingly difficult to gather around them. They flow to major video websites. Various products of Internet companies (Internet TV, boxes, APPs, etc.) are increasingly threatening radio and television. Therefore, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has issued many bans in recent years, such as requiring Internet TV licensees to close the download channels of various video APPs and video aggregation software in all their Internet TV terminal products, and requiring all Internet TV set-top boxes to stop providing TV program time-shifting and playback functions. In this case, some media quoted insiders of home appliance companies as saying, "Internet TV may develop in two directions in the future. Either it is a display terminal connected to the radio and television set-top box, or it becomes a simple screen. All Internet content comes from mobile phones or other mobile devices, projecting the content onto the big screen." A55 is a product that adopts the second approach.

Some industry insiders are not optimistic about the prospects of this approach. "Nanpi Lao Yin", an observer of the integration of three networks, believes that although this product is not subject to the constraints of Document No. 181 and uses mobile phones, pads and PCs to access the Internet to obtain video programs, the program provider must also hold an "Information Network Audiovisual Program Distribution License" issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and the broadcast content must be produced or introduced by a "TV Program Production License". Radio and television can still control the source of the program. In addition to content, reporters recently learned that radio and television may further strengthen supervision, and TV hardware may become the next object of supervision.

Regarding the current trend of the Internet TV market, Deng Shao, CEO of Streaming Media Network, believes that licensees can take this opportunity to regain the right to speak in the industry, and have room to maneuver for rent-seeking or development. And "Internet companies may need to shrink their ambitions, reposition themselves, and see how to gain more benefits on this platform." Not only Internet companies, but also the cooperation between Huawei and Skyworth is probably within the scope of "shrinking ambitions."

"Deng Shao" also believes that "Internet TV may enter a period of pain in the future, but I believe that technological innovation will drive the pace of the industry, and the market will move from disorder to order, which is good for the industry."

Transformation of radio and television

How can radio and television go from disorder to order? Although they can regain control through various bans to ensure the maintenance of the current regulatory model, it is conceivable that the pressure they are under is unprecedentedly huge. Relatively closed content will make users give up the TV screen, and the reduction in the power-on rate will mean something to radio and television.

Therefore, a senior Internet insider said that after emphasizing that content can be managed and controlled, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television should come up with rectification opinions and a rectification timetable as soon as possible to maintain the healthy development of the Internet TV industry. Otherwise, the entire industry will face the situation of being controlled to death. "So the real advantage of radio and television should be the output of original high-quality content and the creation of competitive advantages in content. Rather than protecting the inherently backward cable network," someone said.

In the United States, more than 90% of Internet users watch online videos at least once a month. A research institute predicts that by the end of the second quarter of 2014, the number of subscribers to Internet services of cable TV companies including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, etc. has reached 49,915,000, just exceeding the total number of pay TV users of 49.91 million. Netflix in the United States transmits video content to more than 20 million users through Internet streaming media and set-top boxes, which has exceeded Comcast in number and is accelerating its expansion in North America and South America. Apple TV and Google TV are both expanding on TV screens. Some commentators believe that this trend is inevitable. The traditional industry chain of television is facing renewal. The conservative and traditional approach in technology will inevitably lead to the backwardness of the entire industry, and the gap with foreign countries will become wider and wider.

This fully demonstrates that Internet thinking is open and diverse, and the Internetization of television is an inevitable trend. It will eventually be integrated with the Internet and mobile Internet. This is an approach that does not violate the rules, and we should learn more from advanced foreign experiences.

Based on the open attitude of the Internet, cable TV may undergo a very big change in the future. You Wenkui, former head of the strategic development department of CNTV Future TV Co., Ltd., and Hu Yong, professor of the School of Journalism and Communication of Peking University, believe that in the future, television will no longer exist. The Internet will swallow up television, and today's programs will become another application on the Internet. When television becomes an application, it means that content providers have to develop content that is "suitable for all screens" (TV, PC, tablet, smart phone ), and as television becomes an application, a new concept of "TV network community" will also emerge, aiming to strengthen interaction with the audience. "Since the Internet has broken the monopoly of video broadcasting platforms and transmission channels, UGC (user-generated content) and PGC (professionally produced content) have Internet broadcasting and transmission channels. Building an open video cloud computing platform and aggregating UGC and PGC content on the platform with a certain operating business model will greatly win users." "Mobile video under the open cloud computing platform will be the top priority of future video business."

For radio and television, challenges are still ahead.

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.