Internet Summit | Three Major Reports Released to Server as the Professional Windvanes

In 2020, COVID-19 swept over the world, bringing both impact and chances to the domestic Internet film and television industry. Behind the increase in the scale of Internet audio-visual users is the booming of online boutique content.

Last year, the number of Internet video users surpassed 900 million for the first time, but short videos squeezed users' limited time and pirates through "catch, cut, combination and modification" have repeatedly triggered content disputes. Faced with new opportunities and challenges, how did the Internet film and television industry perform in the past year? And what is the future development trend?

On June 8, the 2021 Shanghai International Film & Television Festival Internet Summit held a keynote forum. At the event, three major reports, "China's New Audiovisual Media Development Report (2021)", "2020 Online Original Program Development Analysis Report" and "China Online Quality Video Research Report (2021)" were officially released. These three authoritative reports together further helped the Internet Summit to play the role as the "weathervane" for the fourth consecutive year via in-depth interpretation and trend release.

The three reports coincidentally pointed out that during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, our country's Internet audiovisual industry ushered in flourish, and as the national strength grows and the 5G era comes, the prospects of the Internet audiovisual industry during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period will be promising. However, if we want to become the real trendsetter in the industry in the future, we must have a sense of quality first.

Fruitful past and promising future

In 2021, the "14th Five-Year Plan" period will officially begin, and a new journey of building a modern socialist country will start. As an important way to enhance the country's cultural soft power, the future of the Internet audiovisual industry is promising with a broad development space.

On the afternoon of June 8, at the keynote forum of the Internet Summit, Zhu Yannan, Director of the Development Research Center of National Radio and Television Administration, released the "China's New Audiovisual Media Development Report (2021)". He said that after 4 years of hard work, the influence and appeal of the Internet Summit have expanded, and the "friend circle" has also expanded. "We are here to focus on new themes, gather new ideas, and showcase new results for the Internet audiovisual industry, and also vision the new future for the entire industry."

The report he released summarizes the development of Internet audiovisual industry in the "13th Five-Year Plan" period just past, and looks forward to the coming new five years.

The report shows that during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, our country's Internet audiovisual system has grown healthily-the Internet audiovisual system has been continuously improved, the Internet audiovisual cause has achieved remarkable results, and the Internet audiovisual arts have been booming.

The content generated online in 2020 has achieved results in many fields. The report pointed out that online dramas have been on a virtuous track of pursuing quality, and the pursuit of realistic themes that reflect the changes of the times, people’s lives, and inner needs has taken root in the hearts of creators; breakthroughs have been made in the production capacity of online movies, and realistic works "to portray the times, record the times and guide value for the times" are emerging endlessly, becoming a key new force focusing on the creation of new era themes; online variety shows are getting rid of the creative inertia of "interesting and meaningless", and production organizations reflect on the variety creative thinking of pure entertainment. Focusing more on the spread of positive energy, "Drama Life" " Street Dance of China S3" and “The Big Band Season 2” and other programs with high ratings voice the cherish for originality from different perspectives; online documentaries in rapid development zoom in on social reality and cultural and artistic themes; online animations show greater technology and content tension, pushing forward the boundaries of the audience circle. In addition, the short video segment of mainstream media is more vigorous. In 2020, central radio and television media has registered 294 accounts on Tik Tok and Kuaishou, and the number of provincial radio and television media accounts reaches 5,716, an increase of 164.86% and 745.56% over the same period in 2019 respectively, with the capability to focus on main themes and serve the overall situation being significantly improved.

Moreover, the Internet audiovisual industry matures further.

The report mentioned that in the past five years, the scale of Internet audiovisual users in our country has steadily enlarging. Especially, with the spread of fiber optic cables in rural areas, the "digital gap" has gradually narrowed. By the end of 2020, rural netizens accounted for 31.3% of the total netizens, reaching 309 million. At the same time, the growth of netizens has expanded from the young generation to white-hair Internet users over 50. There are already 260 million “white-hair netizens” in our country, and netizens under the age of 20 is 160 million, which will provide new growth possibilities for the Internet audio-visual industry in the future.

The report mentioned that in the past five years, the scale of Internet audiovisual users in our country has steadily enlarging. Especially, with the spread of fiber optic cables in rural areas, the "digital gap" has gradually narrowed. By the end of 2020, rural netizens accounted for 31.3% of the total netizens, reaching 309 million. At the same time, the growth of netizens has expanded from the young generation to white-hair Internet users over 50. There are already 260 million “white-hair netizens” in our country, and netizens under the age of 20 is 160 million, which will provide new growth possibilities for the Internet audio-visual industry in the future.

Fruitful past and promising future. The "14th Five-Year Plan" requires that by 2035, our country will become a socialist cultural power. The "China's New Audiovisual Media Development Report (2021)" predicts that in the next five years, the Internet audiovisual industry will usher in four trends: Coordination of security and development, greater volume of mainstream publicity and creation, the mainstream development direction of "Culture + Technology", and the major and realistic political mission of international communication.

More realistic themes and more down-to-earth content

The bright present and future of the Internet audiovisual industry instill practitioners with more confidence to engage in content production.

At the keynote forum, Xiao Dangrong, Deputy Director of the Supervision Center of the National Radio and Television Administration, brought the "2020 Online Original Program Development Analysis Report", which disclosed a set of data related to content production through research and analysis of the six sections of online dramas, online films, online variety shows, online documentaries, online animations, and short videos.

The report emphasizes that the online original programs in 2020 present a good situation of "the excellent programs are becoming more abundant and the supply capacity is constantly improving".

In terms of online dramas, a total of 230 online dramas were presented in 2020, a significant increase from 202 in 2019. Among them, reality-themed online dramas are still favored by creators, with the proportion reaching 70%, including works such as "Don't Want to be Friends with You", "The Long Night" and " If There Is No Tomorrow ", all of which have gained praise and popularity.

An obvious change is that, led by the short drama trend, online dramas in 2020 became shorter too-of the 230 online dramas, 12-episode ones occupies the highest proportion, reaching 80, accounting for 35% of all online dramas; 24-episode ones accounted for 20%, a total of 46; in contrast, there were only 6 "40+ episode" dramas that were once common, accounting for only 2%.

In 2020, online dramas have made significant progress in cultivating users’ consumption habits. 30% of online dramas and 59% of online premiere dramas have achieved early screening. In the survey, 66% of viewers indicated that they have used the early screening function and audience spending for this function for RMB 10-50 totally accounted for 30%.

In terms of online films, the number of films presented in 2020 increased from 638 in 2019 to 659, and the production and creation of realistic-themed online films were gaining momentum. In 2020, there were a total of 60 online films with an independent account exceeding 10 million, an increase of 76% year-on-year compared to 2019, and the box office  record has been refreshed again.

In terms of online variety shows, there were a total of 229 online variety shows in 2020, a slight increase from 221 in 2019. Among them, the multi-version and derivative programs paid to watch by members accounted for 80%, reaching 137.

In 2020, online documentaries had leaped by 70% from 150 in 2019 to 259 in 2020. Among them, works that record, write, and eulogize the new era emerged in an endless stream, which started from the epidemic sweeping the globe to focus on soul-stirring real records; at the same time, the quality of online documentaries continued to improve, and works that had become hot topics for young people abound.

In terms of online Animations, a total of 396 online animations were screened in 2020, an increase of 38% from 288 in 2019. "Chinese style" has become the eye-catching theme of online animations in 2020, and such works became blockbusters from time to time.

In terms of short video, radio and television had entered the field. XINWEN LIANBO, CCTV News, and Yangshipin have made rapid progress in the field of short video, which becoming phenomenal media integration development cases.

Xiao Dangrong also mentioned that the creation, production and communication of original Internet audiovisual programs in 2021 will continue to be active and vigorous. Focusing on the main line of celebrating the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, there will be more highlights in the Internet audiovisual segment. He said that the healthy and upward demand is playing a powerful role in stimulating creative production. Some unhealthy creation tendencies and illegal operation methods will surely decay. "We believe that with the in-depth implementation of the new era boutique project of National Radio and Television Administration, Internet original audiovisual programs will certainly have a stronger historical and contemporary awareness, keep in mind the orientation of high-quality development, strengthen the creation of high-quality content, help drive economic and social development, create a clear network space, and usher in a brighter development prospect."

Boutique thinking" is the way to solve all the pain points

Internet film and television premium content is emerging one after another, and the scale of the industry is further expanded. However, the voice of "the ceiling is approaching" for the growth of Internet film and television users has also been repeatedly mentioned.

This status quo means that the industry has to find new spaces and opportunities. Where are the growth possibilities of the Internet film and television industry in the future? The "China Online Quality Video Research Report (2021)" by the Development Research Center of National Radio and Television Administration, Shanghai International Film & Television Festival Center and Peking University Audiovisual Communication Research Center for the fourth consecutive year may give some answers.

Lu Lu, Director of the Peking University Audiovisual Communication Research Center, opened the report. In the report, Lulu used "virgin land" to describe the space and opportunities that the industry is looking for, and believes that new growth possibilities need to be sought in the young and the elderly age groups and in the countryside. This actually confirms the findings of the "China's New Audiovisual Media Development Report (2021)": the conversion of new netizens is a major growth possiblity, especially when the majority of new netizens are young people and the elderly over 60 years old, the industry should actively think about how to provide the audiovisual cultural content suitable for these groups.

At the same time, a well-off society in an all-round way was achieved in the Internet sector in 2020, finishing the last move for popularization of online video in rural areas. How to do a good job in the rural Internet film and television economy is also worthy of practitioners' thinking.

In addition to the pain points of the growth of Internet film and television users, the report also confronts the pressure on long video platforms from short video content and involution, and proposes "a fresh peach is better than a basket of rotten apricots" "Fresh peaches" is the pursuit of refined content and quality output. As for "rotten apricots", the report denies that quantity-oriented production strategy formerly adopted in the Internet film and television market.

Whether it is to tap new growth possibilities or break through the pain points faced by the industry, the ultimate answer is quality products. Lu Di mentioned that boutique is not a concept, not a product. To create high-quality products, we cannot serve the hour, and the makers cannot create in a rough, short-sighted way of conformity.

In the definition of this report, boutiques must be the eye-catching, touching and long-lasting unity of form and spirit, “The boutiques will not only be popular among our own people, and our generation, but also people from different countries, and the next generation."

He also emphasized that boutique products should be transformed from "luxury products" to "necessities". "As users’ appreciation and taste improve, I think our users’ demand for boutique products will continue to increase in quantity and intensity. Makers and enterprises that cannot produce more high-quality works are likely to be marginalized or even eliminated by the market in the future."