Chapter 363: Busy Summer, The Grand Stage, The Main and Second Branches

The summer TV market of 2009 was truly a gathering of stars.

CCTV launched "My Brother Is Shunliu," starring Wang Baoqiang, with his longtime collaborator Zhang Guoqiang in a supporting role.

Although the overall quality and reputation of this drama slightly lagged behind its sister series "Soldier's Sortie" and "My团长 My Team," it still achieved outstanding ratings and became one of CCTV's highest-rated dramas of the year, igniting the screen.

Wang Baoqiang, fueled by this drama, became even more popular and was already among the hottest actors at the time.

When people now mention mainland male stars born in the 1980s, they often cite Hu Ge and a few other rising stars, but the most prominent figure today is still Wang Baoqiang.

Not only is he popular, but he also carries multiple buffs that align with the current grassroots-uprising trend, earning him exceptional public favor.

Yet, this same factor that made him successful could also be his downfall.

Wang Baoqiang enjoys high national recognition, but his commercial value and fan popularity are relatively average, leading to him being squarely categorized as a "power actor" and never included among the 1980s rising male stars.

Even within Huayi Brothers, his importance ranks behind Huang Xiaoming, Zhang Hanyu, Lu Yi, and Su Youpeng, and even characters like Duan Long and Li Chen from "Soldier's Sortie" are subtly given more weight.

Ultimately, many people still believe Wang Baoqiang has reached today's status purely through luck and is merely a functional actor.

He is doing well now thanks to roles like Xu Sanduo, Shunliu, and Shageng, along with the popularity of grassroots figures.

But in another two years, when the trend fades, his image and acting range will be constrained, audiences will grow tired of him, and he will fade into obscurity—far outpaced by those actors with both looks and talent.

Not only did Huayi Brothers think this way; even Seeing Yan Li once held the same view.

The industry has had similar actors before; although few reached Wang Baoqiang's level, the pattern remains unchanged: they burn bright for a few years, then fade. With good luck, they might stabilize in the industry and keep getting roles, but they can never match their peak.

This is true in terms of career, but there's another issue: those who rise from the grassroots often have weaker character.

The term "poor man suddenly rich" sounds bad, but it holds some truth.

When people acquire wealth that contradicts their own understanding and character, they often squander it all due to their limited cognition and moral foundation.

Even Seeing Yan Li himself only expanded his horizons and elevated himself through the system, avoiding many pitfalls—he might have failed halfway otherwise.

Therefore, even if someone's career seems stable, personal or lifestyle issues can still cause a collapse, and glory fades.

In the industry, too many stars who rose overnight became arrogant, self-destructed, or were targeted, hunted, and deceived, ultimately crashing spectacularly.

Only after the system triggered a future intelligence report related to Wang Baoqiang did Seeing Yan Li begin to view him differently.

He had misjudged him—there really was a decent person in the entertainment circle!

Hmm, "decent" isn't quite the right word; Wang Baoqiang isn't the type of silent, dull man who can't utter a word even after three whacks—he understands boundaries, shows reverence, holds firm to his moral bottom line, and possesses a relatively high moral standard.

In the glittering, tempting world of entertainment, a rural boy achieving this level is truly rare and precious.

Seeing Yan Li greatly admired him; this drama "My Brother Is Shunliu" was produced by Xiaoma Benteng, and Yi'an also participated in its investment and handled its distribution.

Besides this drama, Yi'an's other dramas invested in and produced this year include:

Tang Ren's production, starring Hu Ge and Yang Mi, "Chinese Paladin 3."

Yu Zheng Studio's production, starring Yang Rong, "Locking the Autumn."

Yi'an's own production, "Xue Dingshan Conquers the West," "Little Aunt Duohui," and three other dramas.

Additionally, the dramas distributed by Yi'an include three others, led by Zhao Baogang's "Whose Youth Is It Anyway?"

In one summer, Yi'an invested in and produced six dramas and distributed nine—this is Yi'an's current strength in the television drama field.

However, television dramas cannot be judged solely by quantity; performance matters too, and in this regard, Yi'an also stood out.

"My Brother Is Shunliu" first became a huge hit, followed by "Locking the Autumn," which claimed the top spot for nearly two weeks and briefly became Hunan TV's hottest summer drama.

The most regrettable was the emergence of "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower Together," which was savaged by media and netizens as a clichéd drama, yet its ratings were wildly high, nearly competing for the title of the hottest summer drama of the year.

The main rival to this drama was "Chinese Paladin 3."

Under Yi'an's distribution, this drama bypassed terrestrial channels entirely and premiered directly on Jiangsu Satellite TV.

In terms of ratings, "Chinese Paladin 3" performed well during the summer season but was far from the best—even making the top three was uncertain.

Yet it was incredibly popular, especially online, where its popularity soared dramatically compared to the same period.

For example, its theme songs and background music dominated major music platforms and charts, spreading with immense influence.

On Weibo ratings, it once neared 8.5 points; although not the highest-rated drama of the summer, it had the most voters—nearly 500,000 ratings, ranking among the highest since Weibo ratings were introduced.

Note: This is Weibo's film and TV rating, which is entirely different from Douban's.

The scale and user base of the former far surpass the latter.

Moreover, the mechanisms differ: Douban requires users to search or actively seek out the work to rate it, which is inconvenient.

Weibo, eager to capitalize on the traffic from these hot dramas, actively encourages users to rate and review them for marketing, promotion, and to spark discussion, even occasionally running campaigns to concentrate ratings.

For instance, it gathers all summer movies and TV dramas together, urges users to rate them, then holds an end-of-year summary with a full-year voting and rating event.

In short, the number of Weibo raters is incomparable to Douban's.

Unless it's a niche film heavily favored by Douban, most films and TV dramas receive two to three times more ratings on Weibo than on Douban; for popular mainstream titles, Weibo ratings can be several times—or even ten to fifteen times—higher.

More voters mean greater influence; thanks to this, Weibo ratings have surpassed Douban ratings in value and importance.

Especially for airing dramas and released films, many people now refer to Weibo ratings; Douban has gradually become a platform for niche film and book recommendations and some professional reviews, pursuing a high-end, specialized route and leaving mass opinions to Weibo.

Even so, it's not entirely smooth, because some critics and fans also post in-depth reviews as long essays on Weibo.

Douban offers pure, niche discussions; Weibo thrives on fan adoration and traffic-driven profits.

It's just a matter of copy-pasting—using both platforms doesn't interfere with anything.

Thus, Douban is now caught between a rock and a hard place.

Commercializing would transform the platform's ecosystem, alienating its core fans and eroding its key selling point.

But without commercialization, continuing to hoard its own niche will never lead to profitability or survival—it will eventually become a dead end.

One general's success is built on ten thousand bones!

Weibo's success has come alongside the decline, mediocrity, and even collapse of many platforms—Tianya, Douban, blogs, and others are all "victims."

The number of raters on Weibo's ratings also reveals the popularity of "Chinese Paladin 3" on Weibo.

It trended constantly, filled with topics, and all lead actors including Hu Ge gained varying degrees of followers.

However, because the leads of "Let's Watch the Meteor Shower Together" were mostly newcomers starting from zero, their follower growth appeared even more impressive.

Even so, Hu Ge and the others benefited greatly, especially with the second Weibo God competition starting this summer, where Hu Ge once held a steady top-three position during the preliminary rounds and easily advanced in the main competition.

If this trend continues, unless Hu Ge faces a top contender early on, his odds of reaching the semifinals are high, and even winning first or second place aren't out of the question.

In comparison, Yang Mi's female lead role wasn't as standout as the other students', but she had capital backing her.

She already had some popularity, Yi'an heavily promoted her, and rumors even spread that she and Hu Ge had fallen in love during filming—scandals and CP hype gave them major exposure.

Penguin's Four Little Flowers—Yang Mi is practically guaranteed one of the spots, and some have even started comparing her to Liu Tianxian.

The 85s Twin Stars!

Never mind whether she fits or not; the old rule still applies: first build momentum. If Yang Mi develops well and becomes familiar and enduring, even if she doesn't fit, she'll be made to fit.

Besides Hu Yang, Liu Shishi and Tang Yan also received widespread attention.

Those eager to discover new talent weren't just Yi'an; everyone had similar mindsets, only differing in intensity and urgency.

But Liu Shishi is hard to poach—Tang Ren's Chief Cai treats her like his own eyes.

At first, Chief Cai considered promoting Liu Shishi for *The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3*, then considered Tang Yan, but Yi'an intervened and dropped Yang Mi in directly.

Chief Cai knows his limits: Yi'an isn't Rongxinda; Yang Mi is absolutely untouchable, and even not poaching Liu Shishi back is considered decent.

Tang Yan isn't easy either—she signed with Chengtian early, and now that she's famous, rumors say she plans to lead the formation of the so-called 【Chengtian Seven Princesses】.

Chengtian is strong, but it depends who you're comparing to—Tang Ren simply can't steal anyone from them.

Thus, Chief Cai pays close attention to Liu Shishi; after *The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3* became a hit, he essentially confirmed her as Tang Ren's number-one female star.

Tang Ren's number-one male and female stars—Yang Mi and Tang Yan—are both heavily promoted newcomers of Yi'an and Chengtian, and the male second lead, Huo Jianhua, is a top young actor from Taiwan—*The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3*'s star-making power is unquestionably top-tier.

In addition, *Locking the Autumn* performed well, and Yang Rong, having previously won the satellite channel annual champion with *The Hard Love of a Diamond Old Man*, also became one of the current popular young actresses.

But this woman is extremely low-key; because of Seeing Yan Li, she declines many events and endorsements, only acting in dramas and theater, or traveling.

Such exposure levels are absolutely unhealthy for a star.

This has left Yang Rong with decent fame, but her popularity and current status lag behind peers of her level—though Yang Rong doesn't really care.

Even Yu Zheng's attempt to capitalize on the momentum by securing her a major drama was turned down—she simply turned around and went to rehearse theater with the Shanghai Drama Troupe.

Regardless of anything else, Yu Zheng, as her studio boss and old classmate, treats Yang Rong with great leniency: if she wants to act, she acts; if not, fine.

Of course, Boss Yan's prior instruction was also a major reason.

*Xue Dingshan Conquers the West* and *My Aunt Duohe* performed relatively worse—some influence and results, but not particularly popular, just average.

The release of *Who Decides My Youth* was decent, but too many strong dramas aired during the summer slot, making it hard to stand out.

Lu Yi, the male lead signed with Huayi, aiming to challenge Huang Xiaoming for top male actor, has already visibly fallen behind.

Other mainland 70s popular young male actors—Nie Yuan and Yin Xiaotian from Ciwen—also show signs of decline; Zhou Jie from Chengtian, due to a car accident and other reasons, is in complete chaos; Ren Quan is simply drifting along; Huang Haibing's momentum has faded.

Currently, only the original Four Top Male Stars launched by Yi'an remain steadily rising.

Those still closely chasing and posing a real threat are Rongxinda's Chen Kun and Yi'an's Qiao Zhenyu.

With the rise of 80s actors like Wang Baoqiang, Hu Ge, Wen Zhang, and Du Chun, Hong Kong and Taiwan young actors are flooding northward—their time is running out.

…

But Seeing Yan Li has plenty of time.

Throughout the entire summer slot, Seeing Yan Li shuttled between Yi'an and Weibo: Yi'an's dramas and films boosted Weibo's traffic, and Weibo's traffic, in turn, fed back into Yi'an's film and television.

In Yi'an's words, Weibo is their outsourced publicity department, and Weibo sees Yi'an as an unofficial content department.

Seeing Yan Li is the direct link between the two; during the first summer slot after their share swap, he personally coordinated their cooperation and gradually developed and established fixed collaboration models.

Besides Weibo and Yi'an, Tudou, which also swapped shares, is within the scope of contact.

But since Tudou isn't led by Seeing Yan Li, and the TV market still centers on broadcast networks, Tudou's presence remains low.

Yet Seeing Yan Li still values Tudou greatly.

Broadcast networks remain the market's core, but the rise of video websites has already become evident.

With access to Yi'an's distribution data, Seeing Yan Li has clearly seen online streaming rights skyrocketing.

Two or three years ago, a popular TV drama fetched only a few thousand yuan per episode, with very few exceeding ten thousand.

For mega-hits like *The Return of the Condor Heroes* and *The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng*, even with deliberate hype to break records, the entire series bundled price was only one million yuan—about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per episode.

Although this situation was unusual, it still stimulated the online streaming rights market to some extent.

Meanwhile, Seeing Yan Li's Yi'an Media and LeTV aggressively acquired rights, forcing Youku and Tudou to enter the market, which also influenced price trends.

This has caused the current online streaming market to rise tenfold compared to two years ago.

The general price per episode is now over 30,000 yuan; popular dramas start at 50,000 yuan, and some especially hot or wildly successful ones reach 80,000 to 100,000 yuan per episode.

This data cannot compare to broadcast networks, where prices routinely reach hundreds of thousands or even over a million yuan per episode.

But don't forget: two or three years ago, one episode was only a few thousand yuan. At this growth rate, video websites will see examples of hundreds of thousands per episode within no more than two years.

Tudou and Youku can't afford to burn cash, so they remain relatively restrained, spending only tens of millions or over a hundred million yuan annually on rights.

But both are preparing for IPOs; if successful, with sufficient funding and increasingly strict rights policies, it will inevitably become a bloody, cash-burning war.

The market follows money—whoever pays more is the boss.

When video websites outbid broadcast networks, the entire film and television industry will vote with their feet.

Even for Weibo, which needs massive film and television star resources, Tudou's importance will rise sharply at that point.

One corner of the curtain has already been lifted on the era when internet streaming replaces traditional broadcast networks.

Keep up, and you'll keep feasting.

Fall behind, and you die.

While Yi'an's TV and Distribution departments, having shone brightly this summer, gloated over their Film and Theater divisions, Seeing Yan Li had already begun drafting restructuring plans for both departments.

The TV department is fine for now—no major changes needed; even as video websites rise, there must still be dramas produced to supply content.

The Distribution department, however, must prepare in advance—especially its TV drama distribution staff.

Once broadcast networks decline drastically, there will be only a few platforms left, and they'll likely prioritize cooperation with Tudou—there's absolutely no need for so many distribution personnel.