Headlines from China: Tencent Video Saw Almost Zero Growth in Q1

Tencent Video Saw Almost Zero Growth in Q1

On May 15, Tencent Holdings released the company’s Q1 financial report. The company overall performed well in Q1 with a 16% increase in total revenues and a 17% increase in net profit. Tencent’s online video streaming unit Tencent Video, however, saw almost zero growth in new subscriptions and advertising income. Currently, Tencent Video has a total of 89 million subscribers, which disappoints many industry analysts who predicted at the beginning of 2019 that the total number of subscribers would exceed 100 million in Q1. While Tencent Video attributes the weak performance to the delayed releases of several new shows, this article points out that lack of big hits, especially in popular genres such as suspense drama, thriller, and variety shows, may have hindered Tencent Video from attracting new subscribers or marketers. Read more on Ent Group

Actress Gong Li Ties the Knot with French Composer Jean-Michel Jarre

According to Chinese media outlet Beijing News, Chinese actress Gong Li, 53, has married 71-year-old French composer Jean-Michel Jarre. On May 15, Gong was spotted at the airport, welcoming his husband to Cannes for the film festival. Gong Li once dated renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou, but that relationship never came to fruition. In 1996, Gong got married with a Singaporean businessman. 13 years later, the two divorced. Gong Li will receive the Women In Motion Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Read more on Mtime

iQiyi Reports Narrower Loss in Q1 2019

On May 17, Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi released the company’s Q1 financial report. The report shows that the total number of iQiyi’s paying subscribers has gone up to 96.8 million. Total revenue in Q1 is RMB 7 billion, a 43% increase year-on-year. Revenues mainly come from subscriptions (48.6%)  advertising (30%) and content distribution (6.3%). The company remains unprofitable in Q1. Net loss is RMB 1.8 billion, down 48.6% compared to the same period last year. This is the smallest quarterly loss since the company’s IPO last year. Read more on Dumou