Faced with the sustained popularity of micro dramas, iQiyi has finally made a move.
On September 25th, iQiyi announced the launch of "Short Theater" and "Micro Theater". Among them, the single episode duration of "Short Theater" is about 5 to 20 minutes, in the form of landscape, and the content types include ancient stories, current events, suspense, etc; The duration of each episode of "Micro Theater" is about 1 to 5 minutes, mainly in portrait mode, and the content types include female, male, silver hair, etc.
This means that iQiyi's attitude towards micro dramas has completely changed.
In January of this year, Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQiyi, stated that iQiyi is very cautious about micro dramas, mainly due to the significant differences in aesthetics, talent types, and business ecology between this business and iQiyi's current film and television main business.
In his opinion, what exactly micro dramas are needs to be explored by the entire industry. Previously, I had not thought clearly about what iQiyi's short dramas were equivalent to, but now I have basically figured it out.
Compared with iQIYI's "slowness" in micro skits, many micro skits producers have operated on short video platforms such as Tiktok and Kwai for many years, and have also explored some mature business models. For example, some micro drama producers monetize users by streaming short videos and importing them into WeChat mini programs.
The operating model of iQiyi Design is different from that of short video platforms. The micro dramas in the two theaters mentioned above are exclusively enjoyed by iQiyi VIP members and do not require additional single point payment. The short video platform's short drama operation model will allocate over 90% of its revenue to streaming, while iQiyi will distribute over 70% of its revenue to content producers.
Gong Yu stated that iQiyi short dramas are not equivalent to short, low-cost web dramas, and micro dramas are not equivalent to low-quality mini program micro dramas. Instead, he hopes to collaborate with industry partners to explore and innovate together.
What caused iQiyi to reverse its attitude towards short dramas within a year?
One major reason is the huge appeal of micro dramas to users. The duration of a single episode of a micro drama usually ranges from a few tens of seconds to about 15 minutes, and this short and concise form is very suitable for the fragmented viewing needs of modern people. Meanwhile, compared to long dramas, micro dramas have clear themes, faster rhythms, concentrated conflicts, and frequent reversals. This narrative style can quickly capture the audience's attention both visually and emotionally.
The continuous growth of Tiktok and Kwai in mini dramas also proves this point. According to the data released by the platform, as of July this year, the number of daily live users of short dramas on the Kwai platform had reached 300 million, and the number of users who watched more than 10 episodes a day was about 140 million, up 55.3% year on year; The number of paid users of Tiktok short plays increased 10 times over the same period last year, and the amount of payment increased 5 times.
Another reason is that the continuous changes in the business model of micro dramas have brought new opportunities. With more and more users watching micro dramas, the price of micro dramas has decreased this year and will continue to decline. In Gong Yu's view, the trend of price decline will force the business model of micro dramas to change from pay per episode or multi episode packaging to membership payment.
More importantly, iQiyi also needs short dramas as a supplement to long dramas to continuously attract users' attention.
A practitioner in the long video industry told Interface News that there is a great deal of uncertainty in the content of TV dramas and variety shows. This year, iQiyi did not have a hit like last year's "Crazy Rush" on TV dramas, and many paying users will also flow to platforms with more attractive content. Micro dramas can play a positive role in retaining paying users.
However, a large number of users of micro skits are accustomed to watching on the Tiktok or Kwai platforms. Whether iQIYI's micro skits can be sufficiently differentiated and attract more users to shift positions is still unknown.