iQIYI Films sets up video website in a high-profile manner and strives to be the "upstream"

Taking advantage of the movie craze during the summer vacation, video websites also joined in the fun. Following the first Internet movie "Old Boys: Way of the Dragon" produced by Youku, Ruyi Pictures and LeTV Pictures, iQiyi, known as China's No. 1 film and television portal, joined the film industry again. It first held the "iQiyi·Internet·New Movie" film strategy conference and officially announced the establishment of iQiyi Pictures Company. Then it launched the "i7·1 Movie Plan", which opened the curtain for the industry's No. 1 Internet video company to merge and win with the film industry. Many industry leaders have shown great interest in iQiyi's establishment of a film company and its entry into the upstream of the film and television industry chain. They have discussed iQiyi's major move and hope to work together to embrace the new Internet media.

Whether it is LeTV, Youku or now iQiyi, all the video websites that have been struggling on the Internet have now entered the upstream field of film content. What is the reason why video websites strive to be "upstream"? Is the "scenery" of the "upstream" really "unique"?

Competing to deploy film and television has become a new trend

Internet video companies are often the focus of people's attention and always set off many new waves in the industry. In terms of content competition, video websites have explored modes such as copyright procurement and distribution, procurement and exclusive broadcasting, and self-production. "Compared with copyright procurement and distribution, the exclusive broadcasting mode of copyright content is the most popular nowadays." Liang Mingliang gave an example, saying that PPTV Juli has accumulated more than 450 million views in the summer theater through exclusive broadcasting of copyrights, with remarkable achievements. However, it is obvious that video websites are not satisfied with the program content from traditional TV stations. Major Internet video companies have withdrawn from the smoke-filled battlefield of the World Cup that just ended, and immediately entered the "upstream" battle of the film and television industry chain. iQiyi is not the first Internet video company to enter the upstream of the film and television industry chain, and of course it will not be the last.

Nan Fang Daily reporter learned that long before iQiyi, many Internet video companies had already made great efforts to enter the upstream of the industry. LeEco is undoubtedly one of the earliest representatives in the film industry. In the eyes of LeEco CEO Jia Yueting, the content provided by its film industry is the most important part of its "platform + content + terminal + application" business model. In addition, Youku Tudou Group, which was the first in China to conduct Internet film marketing, has also begun to taste the "fruits" brought by entering the film industry. Major films including the "Overheard" series and "Old Boy" were all produced by Youku.

Tencent Video, which has powerful traffic resources, has also actively participated in the production of film and television content. "The Darker Side" is a high-quality suspense drama jointly produced by Tencent Video and Ciwen Media Group and created by the main creative team of "Dragon Gate Escort". Data shows that the first season of "The Darker Side" was exclusively broadcast online on Tencent Video Daily Theater. Less than three weeks after its launch, the first season of "The Darker Side" has been played more than 40 million times and continues to be popular with the audience. Sohu Video has integrated technology and content to create China's first 4K online long drama "Fleeting Time", and has strategically cooperated with major home appliance manufacturers to display relevant clips and content of "Fleeting Time" on a large number of 4K TV terminals in advance. The event will cover more than 10,000 home appliance stores and 3C specialty stores across the country, as well as various online and offline channels. It is the largest cooperation between Internet content and 4K TV terminals in history.

Striving for "content differentiation"

The film and television industry provides content, and video websites provide channels. This business model, which has been followed for many years in the field of Internet video, is changing as video websites compete to move "upstream".

"Nowadays, the distance between the Internet and the traditional film and television industry is getting closer and closer, and there is even a tendency to be on par, but this should not be seen as a shock. In fact, online dramas and traditional dramas should not be viewed in opposition. We believe that in the future, the changes in user habits, terminal media and new media will drive the television industry into a new multi-screen era, and the traditional television industry and the emerging Internet are achieving organic integration and benign complementarity." Tencent Video believes that in this integration process, the relationship between the two major media is not a relationship of one rising and the other falling, but a relationship of resonance and win-win. "The film and television industry and video websites have always been interdependent." Internet analyst Liang Mingliang said in an interview with a reporter from Nan Fang Daily that as a video company, the Internet is the cradle of its survival, but the Internet is full of information and various pirated videos. Ensuring the authenticity and originality of the video content on its own website to attract more viewers has become a problem that every Internet powerhouse has to consider. At the same time, film production companies also need to use the Internet for publicity and box office sales. "However, the high copyright prices for film and television content have put video websites under great pressure. After several years of learning and exploration, video websites have gradually grown stronger and have the strength to move upstream. It is in line with the law of development for them to try to produce film and television content."

In the view of many video website industry insiders, in addition to being able to defray high copyright fees, participating in video production can not only ensure the authenticity and originality of videos on their own websites, but also create distinctive features for their websites by producing videos that meet the characteristics of their own websites, spread the website's ideas, and comply with the needs of the overall market environment. "With the entry of new forces with strong backgrounds into the domestic online video field, the already cruel market will become even more intense. Coupled with the current price war in the copyright market, video websites that have been seeking differentiated competition have accelerated their pace of change. Once video websites truly achieve a certain market share for their original content, they will not only avoid the impact of traditional TV stations, but also greatly enhance their user stickiness."

After the trials and tribulations of the initial development of the online video industry in the first five years, all video websites will focus on "content creativity" in the second five years. In the context of a hundred schools of thought contending, the charge for the battle of "content differentiation" competition has already been sounded, and entering the upstream film and television content production has become inevitable.

Although "upstream" is attractive, investment needs to be cautious

Video websites are actively moving "upstream" not only for product layout, but also for the current booming market of the film and television industry. Data shows that Youku Tudou Group and 20th Century Fox have recently reached a marketing cooperation for the 2014 movies, and have achieved the attractive results of "Captain America" ​​and "X-Men: Days of Future Past" both exceeding 700 million yuan, while "Tiny Times 3" invested by LeTV Pictures also exceeded 300 million yuan in box office within 4 days of release. Faced with such temptations, it is natural for major video websites to strive to move upstream.

However, in the view of analysts, although the current investment returns of "upstream" are quite attractive, video websites themselves also need to be cautious. "Entering the upstream film and television field is definitely not an easy task. Many video websites are still in a loss-making state. The video website industry is originally a money-burning industry. Therefore, increasing investment in the upstream competition will undoubtedly cause the company's funds to be tight, leading to increased risks." Liang Mingliang believes that although video websites have tasted certain sweetness in limited attempts, from the experience of the film and television industry, there are many film and television works that are not popular, and the losses caused are also huge. "Video websites should adjust their layout after fully understanding themselves, and should not blindly extend the industrial chain."

"In addition to production, publicity, and distribution, iQiyi Pictures uses its own Internet genes to open up the derivative industry chain, such as online games, online movie ticket sales and other e-commerce services, and uses iQiyi's media resources to increase the interactive publicity capabilities of movies, which is an advantage that traditional film companies cannot have." In the view of iQiyi's Chief Content Officer Ma Dong, entering the "upstream" film industry is also an attempt for iQiyi to use the Internet to transform the traditional film and television industry. "iQiyi can reverse the movie box office with an accuracy rate of more than 80% through the accumulation and analysis of Baidu and our own data and the analysis of the behavior preferences of netizens across the Internet."

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.