Currently, after shedding the excesses of previous bubbles, long-form video content has entered a phase of steady, high-quality growth. As the most crucial sector of long-form video, series have become the primary battleground for platforms. However, competition in this space has evolved to be more positive. Rather than resorting to cutthroat tactics, platforms are solidifying their unique advantages based on historical experience, cultivating differentiation that cannot easily be replicated by competitors. They are reinforcing their distinctive brands to build a content moat. A retrospective view of the 2023 series market and a preview of 2024 through platform content lists reveals this underlying logic clearly.
Reflecting on 2023 Series
In 2023, effective cumulative plays for series surpassed 300 billion across the entire network. Despite challenging external conditions, the market achieved remarkable breakthroughs. Two main pillars supported this performance.
Major flagship dramas on each platform exhibited outstanding market performance, primarily in conventional mainstream genres. Examples include "The Knockout", and "Who Is He", which are suspense series that enjoy broad audience appeal. Their concurrent premieres on both online and traditional TV platforms achieved high online popularity and television viewership. Ancient romances drama like "Till the End of the Moon", "Lost You Forever", and "Destined" were released during summer vacation to target younger viewers. Meanwhile, modern romances such as "Hidden Love" also became popular hits.
In 2023, niche genres like comic adaptations, martial arts, sci-fi, and Hong Kong dramas delivered unexpected successes, with some achieving viral status. "I Am Nobody" and "The Blood of Youth" popularized comic adaptations, opening new content pathways. "The Blood of Youth" and "Mysterious Lotus Casebook" renewed interest in martial arts, giving this classic genre new vitality. Hard sci-fi series like "Three-Body" established a strong foundation for Chinese sci-fi series, with upcoming works from multiple platforms ready to launch. The success of "The Queen of News" showed that Hong Kong dramas could also transcend their niche status, achieving widespread popularity when meeting high standards and aligning with contemporary emotions.
Several factors contributed to the strong overall performance of series in 2023. Supply-Side Improvements: major platforms' efforts to reduce costs and improve efficiency have propelled the industry into a transformative phase focused on quality over quantity. According to data, 305 new Chinese TV dramas were released in 2023, down 10 from the previous year, with a total of 8,829 episodes, a reduction of 278. Quality content is replacing lower-tier productions, significantly raising the industry's average quality level.
Demand-Side Changes: as user aesthetics have improved and diversified, creators are pushed to raise content standards and innovate continuously. In a sea of entertainment options, modern audiences have grown discerning, pressuring creators to keep pace with evolving tastes. They must leave their creative comfort zones and innovate to counter viewer fatigue. Meanwhile, aesthetic preferences are increasingly diverse and personalized, driving the long-form video market toward greater diversity in content development.
Stable Upgrades for 2024 Chinese TV Dramas
Looking ahead to the overall trajectory of series in 2024, the latest content lists from various platforms highlight the industry's navigation path. In the three mainstream genres of suspense, romance, and urban drama, the series for 2024 aim to stabilize and upgrade their existing bases, securing the core traffic foundation.
Suspense dramas are deeply loved for their ability to delve into the depths of human nature, societal intensity, and emotional richness. Across different regions like North America, Europe, and Asia, suspense remains a dominant genre. In China, it has also become a crucial race track for platforms. Youku and iQIYI have the most substantial reserves in this genre, with mature production and operational experience. Platforms have refined their approach by using theater-like operations for meticulous management.
Youku: upgraded its former "Suspense Theater" to "White Night Theater," announcing a slate of eight new dramas including "Tender Light", "Xin Sheng", "Bian Shui Wang Shi", and "The First Shot". iQIYI: Released three seasons of "Mist Theater" and plans to feature new series like "Tell No One", "Lost in the Shadows", "The Limbo", and "Breaking the Shadows". Tencent Video: Does not have a dedicated suspense theater but features several suspense projects in its "X Theater," with "Playing Go" expected to debut here.
In a broader sense, "suspense+" has expanded into richer thematic expressions like "suspense + law enforcement," "suspense + period drama," "suspense + historical mysteries," and "suspense + fantasy adventure." Youku's "In the Name of Justice", "Fa Guan Rong Yu", and "Enforcement Department"; Tencent Video's "Sword Rose" and "Hold a Court Now"; and iQIYI's "Faith & Law"all feature storylines involving law enforcement.
"Suspense + ancient costume drama" and "suspense + historical mysteries" are becoming significant avenues for expanding the genre. Youku has a relatively longstanding development and production experience, having released the critically acclaimed "The Advisors Alliance" in 2017 and the annual hit "The Longest Day in Chang'an" in 2019. Drawing on this experience, Youku will soon release "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", a grand historical suspense series in a seasonal format.
Series in the "suspense + fantasy adventure" genre rely on unique world-building, often derived from the worlds created by novelists like Nanpai Sanshu, Tianxia Bachang, and Weiyu. For example, Youku's "Qi Gen Xin Jian" and Tencent Video's "Love on the Turquoise Land" are adapted from Weiyu's novels, Youku's "Zhen · Tan" is adapted from Tianxia Bachang's novel "Fire God", and Tencent Video's "Tibetan Sea Flower" is adapted from Nanpai Sanshu's work.
The second key genre is romance: romantic dramas cater to the essential viewing needs of younger viewers on streaming platforms, especially young women. This genre consistently holds a significant share in annual content inventories. Youku established the Chongai Theater, and iQIYI created the Lianlian Theater to specialize in producing romantic dramas.
Fantasy dramas are a crucial subgenre of historical romances and a major focus for streaming platforms. Youku previously released hits like "Eternal Love" and "Love and Redemption" and cemented its "Top Fantasy Label" in 2023 with a steady stream of fantasy dramas like "Till the End of the Moon", "The Starry Love", and "Back from the Brink".
Looking ahead to 2024, anticipated historical romances include Youku's "The Princess Royal", "Xian Yu", "The Story of Pearl Girl", "Shu Jin Ren Jia", "Phoenix Stage", and "Kill Me Love Me". Tencent Video's "Moonlit Reunion", "Liu Zhou Story", "Legend of the Female General", and "The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus", and iQIYI's "Fox Spirit Matchmaker", "A Moment But Forever", and "Xiao Yao".
Modern idol dramas are a crucial branch of the romance genre, with top-tier shows requiring significant IP size and notable creative teams. Youku will follow up on the hit "Hidden Love" with "The First Frost", the "sister story" adaptation from Zhu Yi's novel, directed by Taiwanese idol drama director Qu Youning. Additionally, sweet dramas like "Ski into Love" will explore new heights of charm. Tencent Video has prepared dramas like "Love Has Fireworks" and "You're More Beautiful than the Stars", while iQIYI's major modern urban romance is limited to "As Beautiful As You".
Thirdly, in the "National TV-Web Series" genre: distributing web-first dramas to TV networks is now a mainstream approach. From the perspective of TV networks, web-first dramas have achieved high overall quality, while for streaming platforms, these national-scale shows help broaden the user base. Urban dramas depicting urban emotions, workplaces, and families are especially favored by networks. These include Youku's "A Better Life", "Fight for Beauty", and "Qian Tu Wu Liang"; iQIYI's "Born to Be the One", "Ray of Sunshine", and "As Husband as Wife"; and Tencent Video's "The Tale of Rose", all set to be broadcast on TV with simultaneous streaming.
Unearthing the Second Growth Curve
At its current stage of development, long-form video platforms are seeking a "second growth curve" to boost both user and content growth. From the perspective of expanding the user base, there's still room to grow Chinese long-form video memberships, while content innovation demands diversification in thematic development due to varying audience needs. This necessitates each platform stepping outside its mainstream comfort zone and exploring differentiated niches for new industry growth.
Male-targeted dramas: male-oriented dramas are crucial for long-form video platforms to broaden user demographics and balance gender ratios. In 2023, male-targeted dramas like "I Am Nobody", "The Blood of Youth", and "Mysterious Lotus Casebook" were hits in both traffic and reputation. In 2024, platforms will undoubtedly double down on this genre. Tencent Video's "Joy of Life 2" and "Guardians of the Dafeng", and Youku's "The Immortal Ascension", "Dashing Youth", and "An He Chuan" are high-profile anticipated titles. Youku pioneered the "manga-adaptation model," breaking ground in live-action adaptations and inspiring other platforms. Manga adaptations effectively facilitate drama-manga synergy, as evidenced by "The Blood of Youth", whose live-action success led to over 800% growth in its anime counterpart's viewership.
Sci-Fi Dramas: with technological advancements, increasing film production quality, and evolving viewer tastes, hard-core sci-fi is becoming a new popular genre. Every platform is focusing on sci-fi, though with different strategies. Tencent Video and iQIYI focus on high-profile IPs by leading authors, such as Tencent's "Three-Body" and iQIYI's "Ball Lightning", both adapted from Liu Cixin's novels. Youku combines top-tier IPs with emerging ones, adapting "Sea of Dreams" from Liu Cixin's novel while closely collaborating with a new generation of sci-fi writers. Works like "Echoes of Encounter", "Tai Tan Wu Ren Sheng", and "Night’s Nomenclature", which won the Galaxy Award for Chinese science fiction, are all in the process of being adapted for Youku.
Comedy Dramas: platforms primarily produce comedies via theater-like formats, such as iQIYI's Xiaodou Theater, Tencent Video's Bench Unit, and Youku's Family Fun Theater. Despite similar approaches, distinct styles emerge in specific projects. Xiaodou and Bench lean toward internet-style sitcoms like "The Lord of Losers" and "Legend of the Undercover Chef", while Youku emphasizes broad family-friendly hits like the "Village Love" series, strategically scheduled to align with specific seasons.
Hong Kong dramas: historically, all three major platforms (Youku, iQIYI, and Tencent Video) have made varying investments in Hong Kong dramas. In recent years, however, iQIYI and Tencent Video have reduced their focus on Hong Kong projects. Youku, on the other hand, has continued to expand its efforts and refine its Hong Kong drama strategy, producing hits like "The Queen of News" and solidifying its "Watch Hong Kong Dramas on Youku" brand identity through in-depth, large-scale production and operation.
Conclusion
In recent years, Chinese dramas have matured in serialized development. Tencent Video's "Joy of Life" and iQIYI's "Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty" have both succeeded in seasonal dramas, while Youku has explored successful models in its "Day and Night Universe," "Rebirth Universe," "The Blood of Youth Universe," and "Stranger Universe." This serialization marks progress in the industrialization of Chinese dramas and the maturing of content and business models. It also reflects each platform's move toward differentiation.
In terms of distribution channels, "platform co-broadcasting" and "platform exclusive" will be the two dominant broadcast models in the future. iQIYI, Tencent Video, and Mango TV will launch numerous projects as co-broadcasts, while Youku will maintain its exclusive broadcast strategy. At a macro level, the different strategic focuses of each platform and the specific differences at the project level all point to a new, differentiated direction in 2024. Each platform will carve out its path, strengthening member loyalty through distinctive content.
