(Global Times) While according to the Chinese calendar 2018 was the Year of the Dog, when it comes to the TV industry in China it might be better to call it the "Year of the Idol" as competitive idol band reality shows were major wins for streaming platforms in the country.
In January, iQiyi released boy band reality competition show Idol Producer. The 12-episode first season would go on to earn more than three billion views for the platform.
A few months later in April, Tencent Video released a similar reality series Produce 101, which was focused on forming a girl band from the winners of the competition. An officially licensed spinoff of the South Korean show of the same name, Produce 101 garnered more than 4.73 billion views on Tencent Video.
Idol economy
"Cai Xukun will make his debut as leader of Nine Percent! Congratulations!" mentor Zhang Yixing announced on the stage during the last episode of Idol Producer, which was released on the night of June 4. Overjoyed fans of Cai and the show helped make Idol Producer one of the top trending topics of the day on Sina Weibo.
The show's first season had 100 contestants compete in singing and dance contests until only nine final contestants remained. These nine winners, chosen by viewers, went on to form China's newest boy band: Nine Percent.
The show was an immense hit among young viewers in China. According to iQiyi, 73 percent of viewers belonged to China's Post-1995 generation, or millennials.
Besides the nine finalists on the show, the other big winners were the show's sponsors as young fans didn't just engage by watching the show, they also consumed any and all media related to it while waiting for new episodes. By the end of April, related content on Sina Weibo had been viewed 12.5 billion times.
This engagement was a huge boon to advertisers. For instance, bottled water brand NongFu Spring, one of the show's major sponsors, worked hand in hand with iQiyi on a major ad campaign in which fans could earn additional votes for their favorite idols by purchasing limited edition vitamin water and mineral water bottles. While the competition was still ongoing, these "water votes," as fans called them, sold out on several occasions.
Taking the young ages of fans into consideration, NongFu Spring even put a limit on the amount of bottled water that could be purchased through its online shop on e-retailer T-mall.
"If we had not limited purchases, we estimate sales would have reached double the current number or even more," a NongFu Spring director that worked on the campaign told magazine Global E-businessmen in April.
Sports brand Skechers, another sponsor, saw one particular line of sneakers completely sell out on its official T-mall store. Many fans left comments on the store's page that read: I bought this because they're the same ones Cai Xukun wore."
A difficult road
Looking back at the development of reality talent shows in China, after the phenomenal hit Super Girl in 2005, there were few programs that could replicate that hype.
But with the success of Idol Producer and Produce 101, it seems this genre has been given a second life in China.
"This year was a huge break and marks the first year in the reign of idols. Over the next two to three years, I think the industry chain will end up maturing. Once the entire industry chain is set, including the profit model, it will make decent profit," Du Hua, CEO of talent agency Yuehua Entertainment, noted in the documentary Born to Be, which focuses on female idol groups' struggles to make it big in China and the current status of the industry.
However, while this has been a breakout year for the genre on TV, it is probably more difficult than ever for people to become idols in this way. This is especially true due to the rise of social media as candidates now quickly become the center of hot debate whenever they make an appearance.
During the final episode of Produce 101, which was released on June 23, 11 female candidates were chosen by audience vote to become the members of the new group Rocket Girls 101. Adding up all the votes for the 11 members, the final vote tally broke the 1.3 billion mark. Among them, singer Meng Meiqi received 185,244,357 votes to become the leader of the group.
However, it hasn't been smooth sailing for all the winners.
Yang Chaoyue, who ranked at No.3 in the competition, has been the center of some controversy. After Yang won, a significant portion of viewers voiced their anger online since they felt that she was chosen over candidates who were more skilled at performing.
In the face of this doubt concerning her place in the band, Yang said on the show, "My rank is the result of my fans' votes. I'm not afraid."
The show's main director Sun Li has come forward to defend Yang, saying he was impressed by her simple and unadorned style.
In Sun's opinion, idols who win the contest "represent the thinking of young people today."
"In this way, candidates on the program not only show the lengths they are willing to go to in pursuit of their dreams, they also reflect the young people of this era at the same time," she noted.
Source: Global Times