"24-hour recharge broke 20 million yuan" and "8-day recharge exceeded 100 million yuan" ......The myth of wealth in 2023 belongs to paid micro-short dramas. In the second half of this year, more and more ** began to report on this new variety of film and television that made a lot of money. Different from the free short dramas that have emerged in the past two years, these fast-paced episodes of 1 minute per episode and 100 episodes long** often require the audience to jump to different mini programs to pay for ** follow-up when the audience sees about 15 episodes, so they are also called"Mini Program Skit".。As for the content plot, such as the male frequency of the god of war, the son-in-law and the female frequency of the flash marriage, sweet pet, etc., play the routine of traditional online literature to the extreme, with fast pace and strong emotional experience, let a large number of viewers "go up" and pay for it. 
Box office celebration posters for some of the short dramas. (Figure Network).According to ** reports, the daily recharge consumption of paid short dramas on all domestic platforms has been about 60 million yuan recently, and the peak of holidays can even exceed 100 million yuan. According to the data of the giant engine, in November 2023, the average daily turnover of domestic short dramas will reach 80 million yuan. At the same time, many people are also wondering: "There doesn't seem to be anyone watching, how did they make so much money?""When asked who is watching and paying for micro-short dramas, it seems easy for people to think of keywords such as "sinking market" and "middle-aged and elderly people", but this is obviously not a complete portrait of the audience of micro-short dramas. 
How to find an audience for a short drama?In order for a commodity to sell, it is necessary to find a suitable market for it, this is the obvious logic. So how does a person who makes a micro-short drama find an audience who is willing to pay for it?From the earthy** advertisement, "Crooked Mouth Dragon King" to today's paid micro-short dramas, someone must have discovered:It is popular with people who live in third- and fourth-tier cities or rural areas, have a low consumption ceiling, and have more leisure and entertainment time. 
Middle-aged and elderly people have relatively more leisure time and are one of the main audiences of micro-short dramas. (Picture "Welcome").According to a report by Yien, a data intelligence service provider, more than 70% of the users of micro-short dramas are low- and middle-income people. In addition, among the paying users of mini program short dramas, people aged 30-40 account for ninety percent, and the ratio of male and female users is 7 3. On social platforms, there are a large number of "receiving scripts" posts, and the disclosure of a 50,000-word script is around 10,000 yuan. Someone analyzed: "Mature screenwriters with higher asking prices basically don't take short drama books, and senior editors guide white authors to be more cost-effective." "A considerable number of short drama editors are online writers or editors who have a keen sense of smell in the market. An editor of a copyright owner told New Weekly: "The audience of short plays is between 30 and 60 years old, and there are also young people in third- and fourth-tier citiesIt's basically a group of people who used to love to read online articles. 
Skits and online texts have similar genes. (Screenshot).The gene of online literature is rooted in micro-short dramas, and the content of short dramas that can attract the target group is not much different from online texts, and some are even adapted from online texts. For example, the content aimed at female users is often after a flash marriage with a blind date, and it is found that the other party is actually the president of a wealthy family;The content aimed at male users is that the protagonist is reversed after being bullied, revealing that the protagonist's true identity is actually the god of war Dragon King, and a group of younger brothers follow him. An editor posted a post instructing the author to write a script, saying, "If you don't know what to write, ask your parents what they like to read." "But it's not enough for the content to appeal to the target audience. Many short drama viewers interviewed by New Weekly said that they almost never take the initiative to search for micro-short dramas**, and only accidentally swiped the short dramas when they brushed the short **, so they would watch them. A fact that cannot be ignored isThe profitability of micro-short dramas is extremely dependent on streaming, that is, by placing advertisements on the platform, so as to help the short drama accurately find the target audience. Therefore, paid micro-short dramas can be said to have brought the logic of "content to find people" under the recommendation mechanism to the extreme. 
"Crossing over" is the most common background setting for short plays. (Picture "Oops, the Queen Mother Comes to Work").According to a number of ** reports, the cost of streaming micro-short dramas accounts for ninety percent of revenue. After a micro-short drama is launched, the delivery team often invests small-scale funds first, and decides whether to expand the scale of delivery according to the user's rechargeIf the ratio of streaming cost to recharge income is less than 1 11, it will not continue to be delivered. Different from the account-sharing mechanism of traditional film and television works, the main profit method of Mini Program short dramas is distribution, that is, the copyright owner directly authorizes distributors and **merchants to carry out secondary processing of the content of short dramas, and buy and place them on the short ** platform. Mr. Yu, who does short drama delivery work, told New Weekly, "This line is very rollyI've seen companies put 800 accounts at the same time every day, and even more exaggerated 4,000 accounts."。These companies assign multiple accounts to pitchers, and use software to batch new accounts and materials, which may run hundreds of thousands of yuan or even millions of yuan in a day. 
The essentials of the production of short drama advertising materials. (Figure @买量小飞机).It's not just the number of accounts, but also the quality of the materials. The delivery team needs to edit different materials, and attract users with "eye-catching at the beginning, conflicting performance in the process, and hook (suspense) at the end". The forms of single-segment coherent plots, multi-episode plot splicing, and narration that users have swiped are all promotional materials produced by them. The "life cycle" of a piece of material is only 1-2 daysAfter the deadline, it is difficult to continue to "place orders", so the delivery team has to continue to produce new materials. Mr. Yu said: "The best way is to do a second mix of materials that have been raised, although the effect will not last long, but there is no way, there are too many new accounts on everyone, this is a track to grab traffic, and refined operation is useless." "It is edited into a variety of short drama material that is essentially similar to the routine, and in this way it is delivered to the information flow of the target audience and occupies their field of vision. 
People who have lost their cultural physical strengthIf you just ask who is watching the skit, the answer is actually broader than you think. Some industry insiders revealed to **In recent months, the audience for skits has expanded to include men and women between the ages of 20 and 60Many white-collar workers also began to watch. An actress who often appears in female short dramas told New Weekly: "Judging from the account data, the fans who follow me range from 15 to 50 years old, and the proportion of men and women is not much different. "Obviously, for quite a few people, skits are just as much entertainment as short **. 
I'm tired enough from work, so don't embarrass yourself when you take a break. (Picture "I, get off work at the end of the day").Momo, who was born in the 90s, works in a public institution and sometimes has to work overtime until after 8 p.m. When she gets home, she will brush up on the short ** to decompress, "I just want to see something that doesn't use my brain". "After work, I gradually lost my 'cultural physical strength'. "After a day's work and relationships, the workers are no longer able to do anything that requires mental power. One day in November, Momo swiped a micro-short drama for the first time on the short ** platform, "It's very top, there are a lot of reversals, there are many small climaxes in the middle, and there are some villains that make you want to know what happened to them, so I have to watch it in one go, otherwise I won't be able to sleep." Momo feels that the plot of the short drama does not have any profound significance, it is simply "cool". “The short ** cultivates the audience's Xi of 'instant happiness', and the short drama further makes everyone feel 'cool' faster. ”
Completing the act of defying the sky casually is a common plot of short dramas. (Picture "Wushuang").is also a volume of more than an hour, watching a movie requires slow immersion, and short dramas can be opened at any time, there are several cool points in a minute, there is no need to wait for the male and female protagonists to slowly cultivate their feelings, and there is no need to wait for updates like TV series. For example, it is like taking the initiative to help the audience skip the 9 episodes of the plot of Ganlu Temple in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", and directly let Zhen Huan return to the palace, complete the slap in the face of the nobles in 1 minute, defeat the queen in 5 minutes, and become the queen mother in 10 minutes. People don't have to **"3-minute commentary drama" short**, the short drama directly filmed this 3 minutes that condenses the plot. Some viewers also said: "The story line of the long drama must be meticulous and reasonable to be interesting, otherwise it is better to watch the short drama." "It's not that the traffic ancient puppets look down on it, but the local short drama is more cost-effective. "The core of micro-short dramas lies in "cool", and Shuangwen has always had a huge market. In 2018, with the popularity of "Yanxi Raiders", "China Youth Daily" launched a survey on "cool culture", "through the pleasure brought by the protagonist's halo and the expectation of the 'impossible' in real life" has become the reason why the post-80s and post-90s generations like "cool culture".
Workers who have lost their cultural and physical strength can only see the ** that does not cost their brains. Figure "The Legend of Zhen Huan").The popularity of micro-short dramas is undoubtedly the ultimate expression of "cool culture" in contemporary society. After all, for migrant workers, the reality is tired enough, relying on short dramas to get some immediate compensation and quick recovery, and there is nothing else to think about. It is worth noting thatFor the young people who are on top of the short plays, it is rare to continue to pay for them。Momo said: "As soon as I saw that it cost dozens of yuan to unlock the whole episode, I felt that it was not worth it. The college student circle told reporters: "Mini program short dramas all require recharge tokens, and then use tokens to exchange for ** episodes, I don't know how much it will cost to watch one." "The well-developed piracy industry chain allows interested users to easily search for free resources. The New Weekly reporter found a resource sharing group, and the group administrator said that he already had resources for more than 6,000 short dramas. Some netizens posted that they spent dozens of yuan for the local short drama, and there was a comment below that in a certain **free**, the poster will "feel that he is wronged".
After paying the money, many young people found that it was not worth it. (Screenshot of Xiaohongshu).Some netizens said: "I directly bought an annual membership of 365 yuan, but it turned out that there were less than 20 short dramas in the entire mini program, and I clicked in and asked everyone how to return the money." ”
The price is hundreds of yuan, how long can it be sold?Who the hell is paying for the short dramas?At the very least, users with a higher willingness to pay are not active on the internet. Many young netizens complained: "I have never watched a very popular short drama recently, and I have always wondered who is watching it until it is time to eat."Dad Mom opened the skit and charged hundreds of yuan in one meal. A dentist in Hangzhou told New Weekly that she met an elderly male patient, a local retiree, who watched a short drama while seeing a doctor, "He said that he could spend more than 100 yuan a night watching this kind of drama, and sometimes it would cost more than 300 yuan to finish a movie."
Retirees used to play mahjong and square dance, but now they watch skits. (Picture "Welcome").If you want to say that the audience who pays for micro-short dramas is very rich, it seems to be biased, but it is better to say that they are people who have time and spare money. Under the rendering of the myth of wealth in the industry, people seem to default that as long as they shoot short dramas that are fast and cool enough, and leave a good payment hook, these audiences will naturally pay. But this is not a static rule, even if the middle-aged and elderly can pay generously, a considerable number of them sooner or later, or rely on the young people around them, will always see through the recharge routine. The reporter also asked his parents, and they all said that they had seen a short drama when they watched the short **, but they did not pay for it. The reporter's mother didn't notice that there were paid links, and her father soberly pointed out: "I think the excerpts of Xiao ** are the most exciting clips, and the content behind them is not necessarily worth paying." Another colleague said that his father had paid for a short drama, but after paying more than a dozen yuan, he found that it had not yet reached the end, "It was too expensive, so he gave up."
Some young people find that their parents are charging money to watch skits. (Screenshot of Xiaohongshu).College student Chenchen's mother is in business, and sometimes she is idle when she looks at the store, so she will brush up on the short **. Once, Chenchen accidentally checked her mother's WeChat payment record and found that she was recharging to watch a short drama. "It started with 59 yuan, 9A small payment of 9 yuan, followed by 199 yuan, 399 yuan, the highest sum of 365 yuan,According to statistics, nearly 40,000 yuan was paid this year. Because there was no password-free payment, Chenchen's mother knew that she had paid, but there were so many in total, "she was also shocked." Although many small programs say "once sold, it will not be returned", Chenchen still tried his best to recover some of the money charged by his mother. "Many illegal skits have not been recorded, prepare payment records, call 12315 to complain, and basically return them within a year. "New Weekly reporter searched and found that nowSome short drama mini programs still have recharge routines,The interface will list different recharge amounts,But it doesn't tell how much money is needed for the whole set.,Only in an inconspicuous place, a single episode** is marked in small print**About 3 yuan。
The top-up interface of the micro-short drama. (Picture: Screenshot of a small program).The Mini Program skit is free at the beginning, and the charge for the second half is obviously borrowed from the profit model of online articles. Chenchen feels that the fee is beyond reproach, but the pricing of the skit is obviously unreasonable, after all, the annual membership of the long ** platform is within 200 yuan. Chenchen's mother also said that watching the skit was "too wasteful of money" and would never watch it again. On the other hand, just as young people who are tired of watching "the domineering president falls in love with me" have long felt that these plots are vulgar and earthyThere will also be moments of aesthetic fatigue in the sinking market。An editor in charge of the copyright owner of the short drama said: "The hot themes in the entire market are updated quickly, which is also related to the short production cycle of the short drama. "Screenwriters will judge the market trend based on the weekly list and analyze the audience's preferences. When the micro-short drama first developed, the male frequency was the mainstay, and the female frequency came later, and the themes became more and more diversified, such as from sweet pets to revenge dramas.
The involution of micro-short drama content is the norm. (Screenshot of Douyin).According to Daily People,Among the 500 new mini program short dramas on the market every month, only about 20 of them stand out, and the works that have not become popular are likely to be unsuccessful. This may also be the reason why the micro-short drama industry is so fast-paced. Write a 50,000-word script in 10 days, shoot 100 episodes in 7 days, and put in traffic worth tens of millions of yuan in 1 day, so that the audience can see their works before they are aesthetically fatigued. Sooner or later, most viewers will get tired of watching homogeneous content, and they will not pay easily after passing by, no matter how big this market is, there are obviously limits to this crazy nuggets. Under the current charging model, no one knows how long micro-short dramas can still be earned. Article**: New Weekly.