Author | Huang Yu Editor | Liu Baodan Last year, thanks to the success of the "Speeding" on iQiyi, the company has had a difficult time recently. On the one hand, the explosively popular TV series is on hiatus, and on the other hand, the derivative concert of the variety show "Plant Some Goodness" has been criticized for "free offline but paid online." According to Wall Street News, the second Wheat Field Music Festival, produced by iQiyi's reality show "Plant Some Goodness," was held on June 6th. Some viewers had previously received free offline tickets through official activities, while online viewers, even iQiyi members, had to pay RMB 12 for viewing, and the viewing period was valid until June 14th. This differentiated pricing model has caused dissatisfaction among many viewers, who question that iQiyi's move is "cutting corners." In response, iQiyi's customer service said, "You can buy tickets to watch the concert live according to your own needs, and the edited content of the concert will be launched on the main platform in the future." In fact, this is not the first time that long video platforms represented by iQiyi have been accused of "cutting corners." In recent years, membership grading systems, early access, and inventory restrictions have often caused user backlash, in addition to paying extra for derivative programs. The differential pricing model reflects the growth anxiety faced by long-form video platforms such as "i优腾."

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According to Wall Street News, the second Wheat Field Music Festival produced by iQiyi's reality show "Plant Some Goodness" was held on June 6th. Some viewers had previously received free offline tickets through official activities, while online viewers, even iQiyi members, had to pay RMB 12 for viewing, and the viewing period was valid until June 14th.

This differentiated pricing model has caused dissatisfaction among many viewers, who question that iQiyi's move is "cutting corners." In response, iQiyi's customer service said, "You can buy tickets to watch the concert live according to your own needs, and the edited content of the concert will be launched on the main platform in the future."

In fact, this is not the first time that long video platforms represented by iQiyi have been accused of "cutting corners." In recent years, membership grading systems, early access, and inventory restrictions have often caused user backlash, in addition to paying extra for derivative programs.

Behind the "nested" charging structure, it reflects the growth anxiety that long video platforms such as "I优腾" are facing in the new development stage.

According to the first quarter financial report of iQiyi in 2024, the company achieved a total revenue of 7.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5%. The main reason is that the revenue share of membership services business, which accounts for more than half of the revenue, was less than that of the same period last year, down 13% YoY to 4.8 billion yuan.

iQiyi explained that this change may be related to the high base effect brought by the hot TV series "Speeding" launched in the same period last year.

More than ten years ago, long video platforms such as "I优腾" started to try out the membership business mode by gradually cultivating users' paying habits with richer and higher-quality content. At this stage, the number of members became the focus of competition among major platforms.

However, with the mobile Internet entering the stock competition and the rapid rise of short video platforms, the growth of the number of members and the average daily usage time of long video platforms are facing a ceiling. "I优腾" has begun to spend more effort in exploring new profit points.

An obvious signal is that, following in the footsteps of the overseas streaming media giant Netflix, iQiyi announced in the first quarter of this year that it would no longer disclose its number of members.

iQiyi's management said at the earnings conference that the number of members at a specific time period alone cannot objectively reflect the progress of the membership business, and the core goal in the future is to maximize the long-term membership revenue.

Data shows that iQiyi's daily subscription member scale has dropped from 129 million in the first quarter of last year to 100 million at the end of the year. In the first quarter of this year, Tencent Video's paying members increased by 8% YoY to 116 million.

Behind the slowdown in the growth of membership users, on the one hand, there are environmental factors, and on the other hand, there are reasons for iQiyi's own lack of explosively popular TV series.

2022 and 2023 were relatively glorious years for iQiyi. In 2022, iQiyi had 5 TV series with more than 10,000 heat values. It should be noted that before this, iQiyi had only two TV series with over 10,000 heat values. By the end of 2023, there were already twelve TV series on iQiyi with more than 10,000 heat values.

However, this year, iQiyi has seemed to be somewhat lacking in explosively popular TV series. Tencent Video has consecutively aired two popular TV series "Blooming Flowers" and "Joy of Life 2" this year, sitting in the high position, while iQiyi's emergency launch of "Fox Spirit Matchmaker", compared to "Joy of Life 2", was silent, with only the "Pursuer" ending of the second quarter exceeding 10,000 heat values.

According to cloud合data, in the TOP 20 new TV series with effective playback within 30 days in the first quarter of this year, iQiyi's exclusive TV series occupied 6 seats, and "Going South and Coming North" ranked second, with 4 shows ranked outside the top 10. From April to early May, the main episodes of iQiyi TV series "Harbin 1944", "My Altay", "Pursuer", and "In the City" were among the most viewed.

The first quarter of iQiyi's performance was slightly flat, and the market has more expectations for iQiyi in the second quarter.

Lu Yi, an analyst at China International Capital Corporation, pointed out that the performance of several key TV series has rebounded in the second quarter, and brand advertising has also returned. In 2024, iQiyi will continue to build a stable production system, pay more attention to profit and cash flow performance rather than increasing membership numbers, and the new growth point is expected to come from overseas business, IP derivative payment and AIGC.

In the competition of long video platforms entering the second half, major platforms must hold onto their market position and shift from simply user growth to improving user stickiness, enhancing content quality, and service experience.

The "nesting doll-style" charging method is certainly an important attempt for long video platforms to explore new areas of growth, but if it becomes too aggressive, it may do more harm than good.

There is still a long way for platforms like iqiyi to become the Netflix of China.