A Look at Leading Chinese Video Platforms’ Content Strategies
Recently, leading Chinese video platforms, including Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent Video, released their 2018 slates of TV series and variety shows. Here are some trends and content strategies identified based on the released information:
a. Partnerships with Hong Kong companies
According to critic Li Xingwen, high-quality production resources are scarce in China’s movie production field. The fact that multiple video-streaming companies also stepped into the production arena did not solve the problem. TVB and Shaw Brothers, companies based in Hong Kong, combine low cost with efficient execution; partnering with them thus provide an effective solution.
b. Popular genres: science fiction and adventure
Screenwriter Wang Hailin explains that sci-fi and adventure are relatively scarce in traditional television, which makes them particularly attractive genres to video websites, which hope to provide innovative content.
c. A plethora of historical costume dramas
According to Li, costume dramas usually bring traffic and membership growth to video sites — an evident reason for production. Wang states, however, that many sites still lack production experience and need to refine their techniques.
d. The two hottest types of variety shows: reality shows and talk shows
Reality shows in China can be subdivided into clear categories: in addition to traditional categories such as music, travel and parent-child family dramas, dance and mecha are emerging as two popular categories. In terms of talk shows, iQiyi and Tencent primarily produce N-generation content. Youku plans to introduce the Chinese version of “Saturday Night Live.”
Read more on entgroup.cn
May Day Holiday Helps this Week’s Box Office Revenue Reach 1.2 Billion
Aided by the May Day holiday, China’s box office reportedly scored 1.188 billion RMB in revenue last week, a staggering 23.6% increase from the previous week (0.961 billion RMB). Rampage, about to reach 1 billion RMB, currently still prevails in China’s box office, though Avengers: Infinity War is about to sweep in on May 11. Upon release on May Day, both Us and Them and A or B topped China’s box office. Rampage and Ready Player One held 3rd and 5th place on the charts, respectively, while Baahubali 2: The Conclusion was able to maintain 4th place. Us and Them was also the first female-directed domestic film to exceed 1 billion RMB in revenue. It has surpassed Book of Love by more than 0.4 billion (0.787 billion). Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has done well for its first week in China, with a revenue comparable to that of Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) back in the day. However, Bajrangi Bhaijaan had enjoyed a higher reputation and first-three-day revenue stability. Read more on Mtime
Blockbuster ‘Operation Red Sea’ to Shoot 40 Episodes for Television
The Chairman of Bona Films, Yu Dong, recently disclosed at the “Record the New Age” creative conference that Operation Red Sea, the second best-selling domestic film in the history of China’s box office, will be adapted for TV. The 40 episode series will expand on the film as well as lay out its backstory. The line-up of the drama has yet to be disclosed. In March 2015, the Navy’s 19th escort convoy successfully completed its mission to evacuate Chinese citizens from Yemen. Operation Red Sea was adapted from this event. The film premiered during the Spring Festival of 2018 and has made 3.6 billion RMB in China’s box office. On May 4, director Dante Lam published a statement on Weibo thanking the Ministry of Transportation for supporting the crew. Lam, a fan of all things military, has already been thinking ahead about his next movie. According to sources, he has contacted Peng Yuxi, an old partner, to join his new film Emergency Rescue. Read more on Mtime
