On April 2nd, it was reported that Bilibili underwent a new round of organizational restructuring, with the biggest change being the separation of the core business department, the "Main Station Operations Center," into three parts: platform ecosystem related, live streaming business related, and content category related. At the same time, the head of the Game Business Ecology Department is Wu Yan, and the Game Content Department has also been adjusted to report to him. It is worth noting that Bilibili has established the "UP Main Business Service Center" to be responsible for MCN and UP main operations, in order to strengthen the construction of commercial service capabilities. The Southern Metropolis Daily reporter learned from people close to Bilibili that this structural adjustment is true and stated, "Bringing categories to the front desk indicates that Bilibili is anxious about maintaining its own content characteristics and mental state. At the same time, due to its distinct identity, categories can quickly establish strong connections with related industries, business links, and creator groups, which may be beneficial for opening up breakthroughs."
Newly established "UP Main Business Service Center"
The Southern Metropolitan Daily reporter learned that a major focus of the restructuring of Bilibili this time comes from the separation of the "main station operation center". The "ecological middle platform" related to the platform ecology includes the creative platform department, ecological strategy department, and ecological use addition group, which are managed by Xia Bin; The "live streaming center" related to live streaming business includes the live streaming center department, virtual anchor operation department, entertainment anchor operation department, etc., which are managed by Hexin; The remaining business is integrated into the "Comprehensive Category Department", which includes the Knowledge Content Department, Automotive Content Department, Information Content Department, etc., and is managed by Wang Zhikai. All three business segments are reported to Bilibili CEO Chen Rui.
In addition to the changes in the main station operation center, a very important point of this adjustment is the establishment of the "UP Main Operation Service Center", responsible for MCN and UP main operations, mainly to strengthen the construction of commercial service capabilities, under the responsibility of Wang Chao.
The latest financial report released by Bilibili shows that online shopping and content payment have become the two main commercial monetization models for Bilibili UP owners. However, Bilibili's anxiety about content characteristics has also made them more eager to drive the operation of commercial wheels through high-quality content.
According to the financial report, in 2023, over 3 million UP owners obtained revenue from Bilibili through various monetization channels, a year-on-year increase of 30%. Among them, the number of UP owners who obtained revenue through advertising increased by 94% year-on-year; Trading sales have also brought more opportunities. During the Double 12 period, the sales volume of UP's main live streaming sales exceeded 50 million. During the financial report conference call, Li Ni, Vice Chairman and COO of Bilibili, revealed that in 2023, the GMV of e-commerce based on the overall ecosystem of Bilibili has exceeded 10 billion. She predicts that this year, industries including automobiles, digital, home furnishings, home appliances, online services, finance, education, etc. will achieve high-speed growth. In addition, in 2023, over 1.8 million UP owners earned revenue through live streaming, over 200 UP owners earned over 1 million yuan in revenue from paid courses produced, and even UP owners earned nearly 4 million yuan in revenue from a single charging exclusive video.
Each content category forms an independent team
In addition, the head of the Game Business Ecology Department is Wu Yan, and the Game Content Department has also been adjusted to report to him. Therefore, it can be inferred that after being adjusted to the same reporting person, the synergy between the game business content and the ecology business lines will be higher.
After the adjustment, the original main station operation center no longer exists, but is mainly composed of independent categories such as comprehensive categories, animation, games, music, and entertainment, with a focus on pan knowledge and pan life. It can be seen that focusing on categories actually means focusing on content, which will better connect the commercialization path of each content section with the content itself and implement it more smoothly.
Chen Rui previously revealed during the financial report conference call that his main work direction for 2024 includes achieving the company's profit goals. The company will continue to strengthen its commercialization capabilities, continuously improve operational efficiency, further optimize gross profit margin, and manage expenses reasonably. He expressed that the company is confident in achieving a positive operating profit after adjustment in the third quarter of 2024 and starting to make profits; Secondly, on the basis of ensuring profitability, maintain the healthy development of the content ecosystem, and ensure a good reputation and intelligence in high-quality content. This year, we will focus more on discovering and increasing the activity of high-quality UP owners, and provide smooth monetization channels for more high-quality UP owners.