Watch a drama, and your loved ones and friends have to pay extra

In the era of digital entertainment, we are increasingly accustomed to enjoying a variety of dramas and programs through video platforms. However, recently, the membership policies of these platforms seem to have become a hot topic of discussion after dinner. "To watch a drama, you have to pay extra money to watch it with your loved ones and friends." This sentence expresses the helplessness and confusion of many people about the changes in the membership policies of video platforms.

Zhang Shule, columnist for People's Daily Online and People's Post and Telecommunications. After the previous nesting doll becomes the focus of public opinion, a new trick will appear to make another fortune, and the cycle will continue, with each shot moving to another place.

The tricks used by members are becoming more and more incomprehensible.

In a word, I am watching a drama, but this person is my dearest friend, sibling, so I have to pay extra.

Yes, as Mr. Jiaqian said, it is very smooth.

Recently, iQIYI announced that it will launch the Gold VIP Member Family Card service on November 12, namely:

Gold VIP members only need to pay 8 yuan in the first month to open a new Gold VIP membership account for their family or friends.

Starting from the second month, the main account can enjoy a special price of 33 yuan to renew the Gold VIP monthly card, which includes 25 yuan/month for the main account and 8 yuan/month for the family account.

It is worth noting that the limited purchase type of the Family Card is “continuous monthly subscription”.

“Continuous quarterly package” and “continuous annual package” are not within the scope of Family Card services.

At the same time, if you do not consider opening a family card, after 0:00 on November 12, the number of playable devices for newly subscribed Gold VIP members will be reduced from 2 to 1.

Of course, some people also pointed out that the family card membership model is the first to be launched on a domestic long-form video platform, but overseas video platforms such as Netflix and Disney have already conducted related explorations.

iQiyi is trying to be the first to try something new, but it seems like its eating habits are a bit ugly.

What is the use of membership?

In fact, as the driving force of the platform's business, members are happy for some and sad for others.

Since the beginning of this year, iQiyi has chosen to hide the number of its members, and Youku continues to remain silent on the matter.

Only Tencent is still firing shots.

In mid-October, Tencent Video said that its average inventory reached 117 million, ranking first in the industry and increasing by 10% year-on-year.

At the same time, the platform's paid consumption increased by 12% year-on-year, and the average playback time per paying user was significantly higher than that of free users.

However, one problem is common:

Consumers have complained that "there are a wide variety of membership options on Internet platforms, advertisements continue to appear after purchase, and membership rights are shrinking."

Video platforms have been introducing new membership rules. What is the reason behind this?

Why does this phenomenon seem to remain unchanged despite the widespread reporting on the issues surrounding paid memberships?

In this regard, Jia Tianrong, a reporter from IT Times, and Hu Lei from Caijing.com had a discussion with Shule. I think:

Just taking the long video platforms as an example, due to the revenue pressure and limited consumption scenarios, various value-added services will appear.

It can be seen from this that the problem of paid membership on Internet platforms is mainly due to revenue pressure.

In general, membership fees and advertising revenue are the main revenue scenarios for video platforms.

There is a user ceiling for membership fees, but there is still room for expansion in advertising (the limit is to insert dramas during advertisements).

This has led to video platforms taking advantage of the advertising placement method.

As for the repeated jumps in the payment of nesting dolls, it is mainly due to the fluke mentality of long video platforms, namely:

Although consumption scenarios are limited, various vertical demands can be segmented and cut out to form derivative value-added scenarios.

After the previous nesting doll becomes the focus of public opinion and regulatory authorities, a new trick will appear to make another fortune, and the cycle will continue, with each move to another place.

For consumers, there is little they can do except complain.

For regulatory authorities, there are many things they can do, including striking hard.