Chapter 380: Web First, Satellite Later

Chang'e Technology developed steadily, and in the short term, there could be no earth-shattering changes—only gradual progress in a positive direction.

Fang Hong had spent the entire year immersed in Chang'e Technology affairs, expending immense effort and time to restructure the company.

It was all worth it.

Discussions regarding Shengda Literature were still ongoing, primarily centered on haggling over price.

Chang'e Video consistently supplied films and TV dramas, including after The Gate, The Three Thirty Days of Heartbreak TV version and The Speed of Youth TV version.

The Three Thirty Days of Heartbreak aired on satellite TV, but reception was poor, with low popularity, though it didn't lose money.

The Speed of Youth did not air on satellite TV; it streamed exclusively on Chang'e Video, where reception was quite good—total views surpassed 400 million since release, with an average of over 30 million views per episode.

The first season gained 600 million plays in just two months, becoming this year's another phenomenon-level TV drama—though it was a web drama.

This achievement showed many people the future of web dramas: even without satellite broadcast, substantial profits were possible.

As long as costs were controlled.

The Speed of Youth had only 16 episodes, each produced at a cost of one million, totaling 16 million.

This drama generated 43 million in revenue for the Chang'e Video Platform—all from advertising, with no membership system; Chang'e Video had not yet launched memberships, primarily aiming to drive traffic.

Of this 40 million revenue, around 30 million went to Yutu, as exclusive rights entitled them to 70%.

This sweet taste encouraged Zhang Nan—he not only made money but also gained over 100 million views—so he personally went to Yutu to discuss web dramas with Chen Zhixi.

We're both bosses—what's there to discuss? Though we're both bosses, we're not the same company; discussion is still necessary.

Chang'e Technology does not produce web dramas itself; it only supports creators in generating content.

After visiting Yutu, Zhang Nan also went to smaller content production groups, such as Wanhe Tianyi, Zheng Yun Studio, Da Peng, etc.

He asked them to supply their short videos to Chang'e Video and Bilibili, offering them revenue shares.

Currently, few companies produce such comedic short videos—papi Jiang and Chen Xiang Six-Thirty hadn't even been established yet.

There was no choice: Chang'e's video platforms still lacked high-quality content and needed more to retain users.

Buying copyrights from legitimate video companies was temporarily unaffordable and impossible to compete with BAT; the only way was to break through incrementally via these small content groups.

"This web drama doesn't make money—the returns are too low," Chen Zhixi complained to Fang Hong after her talk with Zhang Nan.

"How is it too low?" Fang Hong asked, puzzled.

"We worked our tails off and made only a few million—what's the point?" Chen Zhixi shook her head.

They had production costs; after deducting those, after half a year of hard work, they earned only this little—compared to satellite TV dramas and theatrical films, the returns were completely disproportionate.

She saw things differently from Zhang Yiming, Zhang Nan, and Zhang Lidong: Zhang Nan and the others saw the future web drama market's potential to bring massive traffic and advertising clients to the platform.

And the short-to-medium video secondary creation market!

And the ability to keep users' time within all of Chang'e's video sections.

Whether users wanted long videos, medium videos, or news and information, everything could be handled in one stop at Chang'e.

These advertisers, drawn by the TV drama's popularity, were customers—platforms like Toutiao and Bilibili, which distribute and push ads, could earn money for Chang'e.

Ads could be placed not just on films and TV, but also on other short-to-medium videos and Toutiao's information feeds.

A full package, all arranged for you.

Chang'e Technology's management, while trying to retain user time, was already thinking about how to extract as much money as possible from advertisers.

But Chen Zhixi only cared whether Yutu could make money—web dramas were the future, but that was the future.

When the future arrives, Yutu can join then—so such complaints were normal.

"A company making tens of millions is already doing well—your standards are awfully high now," Fang Hong said, speechless.

Chen Zhixi smiled; she hadn't seen the Principal in a long time, and now that he'd finally returned, she just vented casually.

Besides, Fang Hong had always intended to produce web dramas, and she had already agreed with Zhang Nan on supply.

"Why not go 'web first, satellite later'? Why not resell to other video platforms? If that fails, expand into Southeast Asia—movies might not work, but TV dramas definitely will. Even something like My Love from the Star worked in South Korea—why can't we?" Fang Hong said.

He remembered this drama had been sold to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and other regions.

Thailand even remade it.

"Huh? Web first, satellite later?" Chen Zhixi was surprised—there was such a tactic?

"As long as your thinking doesn't slack off, solutions always outnumber difficulties. In this era, as long as you have content, it's hard to lose money."

Fang Hong added again: "Let me tell you, when TV becomes unprofitable, web streaming will be the biggest platform. Just a little push from them and your popularity soars. If you ignore them now, you'll beg to be noticed later."

With TV's future viewership rate, whether or not it airs on satellite no longer matters—it only matters for mainstream recognition and awards.

Everything else is meaningless: the audience is too small, no one watches.

Many TV dramas now stream online first, then air on satellite, because only satellite broadcasts qualify for awards.

Web dramas lack mainstream recognition.

Streaming online first earns more money; once you air on satellite, the value plummets because viewers lose novelty.

For example, Liu Tianxian's later drama, The Dream of Chasing, premiered online first, then aired on satellite, and only then received awards.

This maximizes profit.

This was also why Fang Hong built the video platform—to produce and distribute his own content, creating a closed loop. "Really?" Chen Zhixi was skeptical, yet felt it wasn't impossible.

"True. My predictions have never been wrong. Why else would I exhaust myself doing this? Even if it lost money, I'd do it—because of its strategic significance," Fang Hong said seriously.

Chen Zhixi thought about it, but couldn't figure out why—even if she could, what difference would it make? She was just a content creator, not an internet platform company.

She said: "Chang'e Video is already broadcasting it—why are you asking us to sell it to other distributors? Didn't you say not to sell?"

"I never said not to sell. As long as it's not exclusive, second or third broadcasts are fine—it's no longer fresh," Fang Hong said indifferently.

Continuous content output maintains vitality; old content can only fill gaps, giving users more choices.

Chen Zhixi nodded, indicating understanding.

During this period, Ex-Files had finished its theatrical run, grossing 129 million yuan—about 10 million more than The Battle: Love in the Time of War, which grossed 117 million yuan.

There was no choice: Ex-Files' box office was remarkably stable, holding steady for nearly 20 days before dropping to the million-yuan level.

And "Fierce Battle"—just look at its box office from a few days ago, it collapsed terribly afterwards.

Seeing this situation, Yu Pangzi didn't make a sound either, choosing to play dead.

That's just the kind of person he is—triumphant and giddy when he wins, silent when he loses.

But he was still mocked by Wangyi: "Can't afford to lose!"

"Just jealous. Too small-minded, too petty. Bully the weak, fear the strong. If you don't have the ability, stop yapping."

"He's far behind the Principal. The Principal never talks too much, never badmouths anyone—very steady. At his age, still acting like a kid."

"A man who climbed up by riding on a woman's coattails, then dumped his first wife to marry his mistress—how much tolerance can you expect from him?"

"."

Yu Pangzi didn't say a word in response to Wangyi's roasting. No one knows whether he saw it or not—probably did; everyone surfs the web these days.

The reputations of these entertainment-circle bigwigs are all pretty bad; only Wang Zhangtian is decent, and Fang Hong is also decent in people's eyes.

Of course, these are people who follow the entertainment circle. If you don't follow it, you wouldn't even know who they are.

September 28 was the release day of "Shen Du Long Wang," and "Lucky Key" also opened that day.

Huayi and Yutu Film really went at it with live ammo again. Bona also joined in, putting "Escape" on the 30th—just two days later.

Other films would shift a few days if they could; these few are all bigwigs who can afford to play, while the rest can't.

But there are only so many good release windows, and you can't space them too far apart—basically just the National Day holiday period.

That's how the film market is—only so many good slots, you see each other everywhere, and bloody clashes are unavoidable.

It all comes down to who has more resources, more money, knows how to play the game, and makes better films—those are the ones who win.

But now Yutu Film has resources too. Although it can't compare with those big internet companies and capital, it's still a match for these entertainment-circle fellows.

The box office hadn't come out yet, and on that same day, the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony opened. Liu Tianxian didn't go—she wasn't even nominated, so why would she?

Fang Hong didn't go either. If Liu Tianxian wasn't going, why would he?

Only Zhang Songwen, Zhu Yilong, Li Xian, Xie Miao, Song Jia and the like went, along with director Wen Muye, as well as the behind-the-scenes screenwriters and special effects artists who had nominations.

Zhu Yilong and Xie Miao were there representing "Now You See Me." Not many people went—just these few standout film stars.

In addition, Deng Chao, Duan Yihong, Tong Dawei, Huang Bo and other outside actors who had acted in Yutu Film films also attended.

This edition of the Golden Rooster Awards ceremony was held in Wuhan, Hubei, and was also quite controversial.

Guoji Zhang had won 12 Best Actress awards for "The Grandmaster," and Yan Bingyan had won 8 Best Actress awards for "Wan Jian Chuan Xin."

People had assumed the Golden Rooster Best Actress would be chosen from between the two of them, but unexpectedly it went to Song Jia.

As for why the two didn't win, there are explanations. Someone put it this way: "Guoji Zhang and Yan Bingyan have already won Golden Rooster Awards before, and it's very hard to win a second one."

But if you say it's hard to win a second, then Huang Jiaozhu's second Golden Rooster win came pretty easily.

Anyway, the Golden Rooster Awards are just mystifyingly operated.

But in this life, Huang Jiaozhu's "Partners" was snatched away by Fang Hong, and right now he still doesn't have a single Golden Rooster Award.

His next win was for "The Bravest," which would be in '20.

Song Jia winning Best Actress is fine—she does have the ability.

What drew the most complaints was the double-yolk Best Actor, which went to Zhang Guoli and Zhang Songwen respectively.

When he heard the news, Zhang Songwen was thrilled and hugged Wen Muye, Xie Miao, Zhu Yilong and the others.

After all, it was his first mainstream award—he was quite happy. He didn't care whether it was a double-yolk or not; as long as he could win, it was fine, and it didn't let down the Principal's painstaking efforts.

Zhang Songwen won for "Partners"; Zhang Guoli won for "Back to 1942."

You could say this was another contest between Huayi and Yutu Film. In past ceremonies like this, you wouldn't have seen Yutu Film at all.

But this year, Yutu Film artists could be seen frequently winning awards.

Xiao Wang and Feng Kuzi were both in the audience, their faces dark. Splitting the awards between Yutu Film and Huayi felt deliberate.

(End of chapter)