Chapter 405 Long and Short Videos

June 21st, summer solstice.

The scorching sunlight pours down on the glass curtain wall of the Tenda Technology Building, reflecting a dazzling light.

In the Toutiao Video office area on the seventh floor of the building, a busy atmosphere hits you early in the morning.

"Good morning, Mr. Zhou!" "Good morning, Mr. Zhou."

Amid the greetings that came one after another, Zhou Juan nodded frequently and walked straight to the office in her high heels.

"Xiao Qi, come here for a moment."

While Zhou Juan was watering the green ivy carefully, she asked her secretary, "Is Dapeng, the host who quarreled with me last time, still in the company?"

Secretary Qi Yue quickly replied: "Mr. Zhou, he is still in the company, but he is no longer in our department. He has been transferred to Tengda Culture."

"Transferred away?" Zhou Juan paused with the spray bottle in her hand, looking surprised. "What happened?"

Qi Yue leaned forward, her expression full of gossip: "Boss Zhou, weren't you planning to fire Dapeng before? But he stopped the chairman's car in the parking lot with the script."

"It actually reached Director Song?!" Zhou Juan's expression suddenly changed, and she asked sternly, "Such a big thing, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

The secretary looked aggrieved: "Boss Zhou, I only found out about it recently. Because "Diaosi Man" has been popular recently, everyone is talking about it, so I roughly understand the whole story."

"And then?"

"It should be the chairman's instructions. The HR department quickly transferred Dapeng's work relationship to Tengda Culture. "Diaosi Nanren" was also invested by Tengda Culture."

"I understand." Zhou Juan sighed. Now that the broadcast results of "Diaosi Nanzi" were in front of her, she had indeed made a mistake when she insisted on canceling this project.

Fortunately, the project was invested by a sister department and the playback platform was still Toutiao Video, so it did not cause any actual losses to the company.

Originally, he wanted to find an opportunity to ease the relationship with Dapeng and invest in the second season of "Diaosi Nanzi". Now that Dapeng is doing very well in Tengda Culture, with Liu Rong's shrewdness, he will definitely not give up this popular IP.

"Director Song is saving face for me." Zhou Juan smiled bitterly and shook her head, then ordered, "Xiao Qi, go and invite General Manager Ye and General Manager Chen over."

"Okay." Qi Yue left quickly.

Not long after, two vice presidents of Toutiao Video, Ye Yuan and Chen Mingyu, came to the president's office.

"Mr. Ye, Mr. Chen, please take a seat. I have something to discuss with you."

After the two deputies sat down, Zhou Juan said frankly: "The popularity of "Diaosi Nanren" proves that short dramas are also a new track.

There will definitely be a lot of follow-up works in the future, and the company can support some high-quality projects in a targeted manner. Mr. Chen, please formulate a set of funding and traffic support policies as soon as possible. "

"It's already being pushed forward. Recently, our subordinates have indeed reported a lot of short drama cooperation projects, and they are being screened and evaluated."

Chen Mingyu nodded in response. As the vice president of Toutiao Video in charge of content production and procurement, project support is his responsibility.

"Please report the detailed information of the selected short play projects to me in a timely manner," Zhou Juan instructed seriously.

Since "Diaosi Nanren" has verified the feasibility of the short drama market and can bring considerable user and revenue growth to the platform, she will naturally pay attention to it.

"We have confirmed our cooperation on a project called "Never Expected". I will send you the project information later."

Zhou Juan nodded, her expression solemn: "Mr. Chen, Mr. Ye, this year's film and television copyright fees have continued to soar, and the cost of purchasing popular dramas is ridiculously high, and the company's operating pressure has increased dramatically.

What’s even more difficult is that even if you spend a huge amount of money to purchase it, the broadcast effect is difficult to predict. After careful consideration, I decided to officially start the “self-made content” strategy. ”

Chen Mingyu frowned slightly and asked in confusion: "Boss Zhou, currently Tengda Culture has two professional teams, plus a production team from Tangren Films, and the three teams are all customizing web dramas for the company.

Taking into account the cooperation projects with other companies in the market, do we really need to invest extra in self-made content? "

Zhou Juan shook her head and gave a clear analysis: "Tangren's film and television works have a single style, and they are basically low-budget campus themes.

As for Tengda Culture, although it belongs to the same group system, they also have independent assessment indicators and profit pressure, and most of their core resources are tilted towards cooperation projects with TV stations.

The quality of the online dramas provided to Toutiao Video is indeed average and has limited appeal to users, so I plan to invest heavily to create truly high-quality boutique online dramas.

Zhou Juan paused and continued, “Moreover, the current optical and electrical review policy for online dramas is relatively relaxed.

The platform's self-produced dramas appropriately broaden the creative boundaries, highlight the sense of reality and online characteristics, and develop diverse themes such as suspense, youth, and costumes.

Through high-quality, exclusive, and ecological layout, we will gradually consolidate the platform's mid- and long-term core competitiveness."

Chen Mingyu lowered his head and thought for a moment: "Mr. Zhou, I personally agree with your strategic concept very much.

However, this plan is huge in scale. Once implemented, it will not only require sufficient financial support, but also require the establishment of a dedicated film and television studio to shoot the drama.

But this will inevitably lead to duplication of resources with Tengda Culture, and I'm afraid we need approval from above."

"I will report this to Mr. Song. He previously supported the platform to go the self-made route." Zhou Juan sat up straight with a serious face, "Mr. Ye, Mr. Chen, there is something I want to inform you of in advance.

At the first quarter business analysis meeting, the group's top management has preliminarily agreed that in order to optimize financial reports and advance the overall listing process, seven business departments including Toutiao Video will be split off and established as independent subsidiaries next year! "

Ye Yuan and Chen Mingyu looked at each other, with a hint of surprise in their eyes. Currently, almost the entire video network industry is in a loss-making state.

Toutiao Video has barely managed to maintain profitability thanks to its early copyright reserves and group support, but once it becomes an independent company, it could fall into the predicament of losses if it is not careful.

Zhou Juan looked worried, but her eyes were firm: "So it is imperative to launch the "self-made content" strategy! Not only will we focus on self-made web dramas, but the platform will also expand into the field of web variety shows.

Last year's collaboration with Hunan Satellite TV on "Flowers and Youth" received a warm response and the second season is about to be filmed.

With such successful experience, we are fully capable of forming our own team to produce variety shows and create exclusive hits.”

Chen Mingyu solemnly stated: "I will fully cooperate and support your strategic deployment."

Zhou Juan let out a long sigh and turned her gaze to Ye Yuan, the vice president in charge of technology: "Boss Ye, there is still half a year before the department is split.

Before the separation, I will apply for special funds from the group to upgrade the distribution network and purchase broadband to ensure that users can play 1080P videos smoothly at any time.

You will have to pay more attention to the technical support and make sure to maintain your leading edge among your peers.

Ye Yuan assured confidently: "Don't worry about the technology, our player technology has always been the best in the industry.

Core functions such as hard decoding, intelligent bitrate switching, preloading, and offline download acceleration are at least 6-8 months ahead of LeTV and Youku in terms of R&D cycle.”

"Technical barriers must be firmly maintained! We must achieve fast startup, seconds of loading, and zero lag.

At the same time, we will continue to optimize the interface design to ensure a simple, efficient and non-intrusive user experience. We will strictly control the length of time it takes to load ads. ”

Home page recommendations, channel pages, search results, and related recommendations should all be deeply personalized so that users “can’t stop once they come in.”

As Zhou Juan spoke, she picked up the phone on her desk and spoke in a gentle and friendly tone: "Secretary Jian, is it convenient for Director Song to come in now? We have some work in our department that we would like to report to him.

After getting a positive answer, he thanked her repeatedly, "Okay, okay, we'll be there right away, thank you for your help."

After hanging up the receiver, Zhou Juan urgently ordered: "Hurry up! Director Song is in the office, follow me upstairs!"

Before he finished speaking, he grabbed a stack of documents on the table and stood up quickly. Seeing this, Ye Yuan and Chen Mingyu hurriedly trotted to catch up with the president.

On the top floor, Jian Ning had already been waiting in the corridor. When he saw Zhou Juan and the other two coming out of the elevator, he quickly helped them swipe through the door.

"Boss Zhou, unfortunately, Boss Zhang has just entered Boss Song's office. You need to wait for a moment."

Zhou Juan responded with a smile: "The leader's business is more important."

Jian Ning suggested: "Why don't you go to the small conference room and sit for a while. I don't know how long Director Song and President Zhang will talk."

Zhou Juan was about to decline and wait in the corridor when she saw Zhang Yong leaning half of his body out of the chairman's office: "Zhou Juan, come in."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Juan hurried into the office with Ye Yuan and Chen Mingyu.

Song Ci was leaning on the sofa. Zhang Yong was sitting on his left. Seeing his three subordinates, he pointed to the sofa opposite and said, "Sit down and talk."

Zhou Juan was relatively calm. After all, as the department president, she had the opportunity to meet with Song Ci and Zhang Yong every month. Ye Yuan and Chen Mingyu rarely met the chairman and CEO, so they were a little reserved at the moment.

"The new membership system of Toutiao Video has been very effective, with significant growth in both users and revenue." Song Ci praised first, then asked, "What do you want to talk to me about? Tell me."

Zhou Juan immediately began to report the plan for Toutiao Video's "self-made project" and applied for funding. Ye Yuan and Chen Mingyu also added some details in a timely manner to try to gain more support.

After listening to the report, Song Ci shook his head and said, "I have always supported the platform's own content, but you have to find a way to raise funds! As for the investment in CDN and broadband, the group cannot support you either."

Zhou Juan's face turned pale with anxiety: "Mr. Song! Headline video..."

Zhang Yong raised his hand to interrupt: "Which department in the group is not in trouble! The exclusive online broadcasting rights of the group and NBA in Asia are about to expire.

I will fly to the United States tomorrow to negotiate with the NBA. I estimate that the copyright fee this time will not be less than 200 million US dollars!

After we get the copyright, we will broadcast it in the sports section of Toutiao Video, and the cost will be borne by the group, so don’t complain, this is already the strongest support for Toutiao Video.”

Zhou Juan was surprised and delighted, and instantly forgot about the application for special funds. "Thank you so much, Mr. Song! Thank you, Mr. Zhang."

Song Ci sighed softly. Although Tengda had a large family and a large business, he had to spend money everywhere, and it was not easy for him as the head of the family.

“Innovate more and broaden your development ideas. Currently, all major video platforms focus on film and television dramas, so you might as well delve deeper into vertical fields.

For interest communities with small but high user stickiness, such as documentaries, high-quality animation, children's education, military, and technology, we can establish exclusive copyright barriers and create differentiated advantages. "

"What you suggested is true. We will go back and implement it right away!" Zhou Juan smiled.

Although she failed to obtain financial support from the group, she was already satisfied with the "fat piece of meat" of NBA broadcasting rights and did not dare to have any other extravagant hopes.

After giving a few instructions, Song Ci was about to let Zhou Juan and the other two leave to discuss NBA copyright issues with Zhang Yong, when he suddenly remembered something: "What video editing tools are commonly used by ordinary creators on the market?"

Zhou Juan cast her eyes towards Ye Yuan, who understood: "Mr. Song, ordinary home users usually use VideoStudio, Maker and the tools that come with Windows.

Creators who pursue fast editing prefer DV video splitting apps such as Kuaishou and Pinnacle Studio. ”

Song Ci solemnly reminded: “I will give your department an important task, which is to develop an editing software that is easy to operate, has a user-friendly interface, and is suitable for novices to quickly get started.

In the future, we will also need to equip it with rich material templates, filter effects and music libraries, and be able to create a movie with one click. The development funds will be allocated by the group and will not be counted as your department’s costs.”

Ye Yuan took the task: "Okay, Mr. Song."

“We strive to build a vibrant creator ecosystem, improve professional empowerment, and provide high-quality creators with technical tools, traffic support, and professional training.

There are even opportunities for content co-production. We can build a creator community and encourage creators to deeply connect and interact with fans," Song Ci added.

He is preparing for the competition in short videos. In the future, these creators may all become Tenda short video bloggers.

Currently, Tenda Group is surrounded by powerful competitors. In the next two years, it needs to concentrate its funds and resources to compete with Alipay and gain an advantage in the field of mobile payments.

Kuaishou has been established, but has not yet entered the field of short videos. Although Tenda has no time to take care of the short video business for the time being, it can prepare in advance.

After the three subordinates left, Song Ci and Zhang Yong continued to discuss the purchase of NBA event broadcasting rights.

Zhang Yong reported: "The league has agreed to a five-year contract at most, with a price tag of $180 million. If we want to add game development rights, the total price will not be less than $200 million."

"Two hundred million dollars for five years!" Song Ci considered it for a moment and made a decisive decision, "If you delay, something will happen. Let's sign it!"

Currently, due to limitations in Internet speed and smartphone penetration, online broadcasting of sports events has not yet fully taken shape, and there is still room for negotiation between Tenda and the NBA.

When the 4G era arrives next year and smartphones enter thousands of households, the price of NBA copyrights will at least triple.

Zhang Yong agrees: "After the country launched the "Sword Operation", piracy has been greatly reduced, and the profit prospects of this renewal are even more impressive."

When Tenda first bought the NBA broadcasting rights, online piracy was rampant. If it were not for the linkage with games such as NBA2K and the sales of co-branded sports merchandise in the sports community, it would have been difficult to make a profit.

Song Ci analyzed: “Without the interference of piracy, Toutiao Video can open a sports channel in due course and recover costs through the paid membership model.

However, the charging standards are still under discussion. The proposed price of 30 yuan per month is too high and needs to be re-evaluated. "

Zhang Yong responded: "I will ask the marketing department to conduct in-depth research to ensure that the pricing is reasonable."

(End of this chapter)