On October 4, 2021, when the topic #Multiple Video Platforms Cancel Advance on Demand# appeared on the hot search list, it can be said that the membership system of video websites ushered in a great change.
From this day on, the consumption model "advance on demand", which has been criticized and complained by consumers, has gradually faded out of the sight of netizens and has become history.
From "Chen Qingling" in the summer of 2019, to "Celebrating More Than Years" in November of the same year, and then to "Sweeping the Black Storm" in 2021, the "advance on demand" model has emerged from video websites, bringing huge benefits to online playback platforms. It took only about two years for the revenue to be "criticized" by consumers, and named by the China Consumers Association, and then to "end of life".
After the disappearance of "advance on demand", the membership system of video websites is still controversial. Even if you buy expensive website members, there are still more and more paid content: single-chip payment, automatic renewal, and enjoy Dolby Art. Quality... The phenomenon of spending money but not getting a good experience still exists in the consumption of video websites.
"Chen Qing Ling" to "Celebrating More Than Years"
Why does "membership pay again" cause public anger?
A few days ago, the cover reporter had an exclusive interview with Wu Shengwei, a full-time lawyer at Shanghai Zhengce Law Firm and a well-known Weibo legal blogger.
In December 2019, he announced on the social platform that he would sue the video website iQiyi for "advance on demand", which gained a lot of attention at that time.
In the game that lasted for half a year, the court finally ruled that iQiyi's unilateral addition of the "pay-forward-on-demand" clause damaged Wu's main rights and interests, and it did not change the validity of the contract.
"The problem with the current membership system is that the rights and interests of members are not clear to a certain extent." In an interview, Wu Shengwei believed that the current video membership fee system still has "disadvantages".
Advance on-demand means that paying members of the video platform pay an additional advance on-demand fee of several yuan per episode on top of the VIP membership fee already paid to unlock the remaining episodes in advance.
The rise of this model also begins with the hit drama "Chen Qingling" that swiped the Internet in 2019.
In June of that year, "Chen Qing Ling" was broadcast, and Tencent Video started "advance-on-demand" near the finale of the show. The audience could choose to unlock the last 5 episodes in advance, and each episode would cost 6 yuan for advance-on-demand.
According to media reports, the producer of "Chen Qing Ling" once revealed at the celebration banquet that the number of paid on-demand viewers of the play reached 5.2 million, and the total amount of advance payment reached 156 million yuan.
It can be seen that the "advance on demand" mode has brought huge economic benefits to the broadcasting platform.
When this model was just emerging, consumers didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Since then, major video platforms have opened the "advance on demand" mode.
Relevant reports show that from January to August 2020, nearly 60% of first-run TV dramas and nearly 30% of key online dramas provided advanced on-demand services.
But when "Celebrating More Than Years" was broadcast in November of the same year, consumers began to "slow down".
At that time, the drama sparked a wave of chasing dramas, and the broadcasting platforms successively launched the "advance-on-demand" payment model. On the basis of VIP's pre-emptive viewing of 6 episodes, an additional 3 yuan/episode or 50 yuan can be watched in advance for 6 more episodes.
This operation caused collective dissatisfaction among netizens, who believed that after paying to become a member, they would have to pay to watch the content of the drama separately, and then set off a huge controversy on the Internet.
Subsequently, the People's Daily also issued an article criticizing it, pointing out that "advance on-demand" is ugly, and a "game" between the platform and users has officially started.
And Wu Shengwei became a participant in this game.
On December 16, 2019, Wu Shengwei posted a long article on his personal social platform, and at the same time published a civil complaint, saying that he would sue iQiyi for "advance on demand".
He said in the article that as a video member of iQIYI, when watching the costume drama "Celebrating More Than Years", "Not only do you need to watch the patch advertisement, but you also have to pay to watch it in advance. The cost of one episode is as high as 3 yuan - very incredible. , I remember that members do not need to pay extra, so I looked at the agreement and rules, only to find that iQIYI unilaterally modified the agreement."
From prosperity to death
Long-term "game" between the platform and users
Now, when you click on Wu Shengwei's personal social platform, you can still see this long article on the top. Not only did it have more than 60,000 likes, but thousands of netizens expressed their support in the comment area.
Before Wu Shengwei officially announced his lawsuit against the video website, the majority of netizens had already been "suffering to 'advance on-demand' for a long time", and the People's Daily also issued an article saying that "VVIP is set up in addition to VIP, and extra money can be used to enjoy advanced on-demand video. The website is creating anxiety. Induce user consumption".
"The substantive trial process of the case lasted for about half a year. The trial was broadcast live on June 1, 2020 and the judgment was pronounced in court. The verdict of 'advance on demand' has no effect on me. iQIYI cannot charge me separately and compensate me. The loss of 1,500 yuan in notary fees." Wu Shengwei said.
Although Wu Shengwei won the lawsuit, the "advance on-demand" model still exists, and the platform continues to implement the advanced pay-on-demand model, and users who want to get the content first will still have to pay.
However, with the fermentation of the case, the video platform is also facing huge pressure from public opinion.
In August 2021, "Sweeping the Black Storm" was launched and enabled the "advance on-demand" mode, starting from 15 episodes, and the advance on-demand fee was charged for each episode of 3 yuan in order, which must be "unlocked" in the order of the episodes. Netizens are dissatisfied.
Subsequently, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee clearly criticized the matter, and Tencent Video and iQiyi promised to make improvements and support the unlocking of the anthology.
On September 9, 2021, the China Consumers Association issued a document advising the long video platform to "less routines and more sincere", and emphasized that the VIP service of the video platform should comply with laws and regulations and match the quality and price.
It is mentioned in the article that long video advance on-demand is voluntary, and the episode-by-episode restriction should be canceled: "The video platform stipulates that single-episode charging, episode-by-episode purchase or episode-by-episode unlocking, whether consumers need it or not, must be purchased in order to achieve advance on-demand, there are It damages consumers' right to choose and goes against consumers' true wishes."
And less than a month after the article was published, on October 4 of the same year, the three major video platforms iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku announced successively that they would cancel the controversial advance-on-demand service for episodes.
After two years of gaming, "advance on demand" has finally become history.
Why has this consumption model, which has been criticized by consumers, still persists for two years amid the scolding?
"From a historical point of view, video platforms are accustomed to temporarily increasing prices, increasing codes, and reducing membership rights." Wu Shengwei said that when he sued for "advance on demand", he sued the patch advertisements together, but the court did not support it in the end.
"Users who often watch dramas on video platforms will have the impression that when they first opened a membership, there were no advertisements at all. But later, there were patch advertisements recommended by popular dramas, and advertisements were inserted in the dramas. The platform step by step Exploring the audience's tolerance limit, compressing consumers' rights and interests step by step, and achieving commercial profits, have been tried and tested."
Another practical reason is that, even if consumers are uncomfortable and disapproved, the cost of safeguarding rights through judicial channels is high and the benefits are low.
"Fortunately, I am a lawyer myself, and I am familiar with the judicial path. It is definitely difficult for ordinary people to do it."
When "advance on demand" is a thing of the past
Video website consumption is still under criticism
After two years of competition with the consumer group, the three major video platforms canceled the advance on-demand, which made countless video website consumers happy.
In addition, the membership system of each video website has made consumers quite critical to varying degrees.
For example, members of video sites still need to "pay per movie" when watching certain movies; after purchasing a movie alone, viewers can watch it within 7 days from the date of payment, and it will become invalid when it expires; after purchasing a movie alone, you cannot enjoy the highest definition If you want to "enjoy" the highest-definition version, you have to purchase a membership of this platform...
"Membership fees and separate fees have certain conflicts and contradictions in themselves." In response to this problem, Wu Shengwei said that the current membership system is mainly due to the lack of clarity of membership rights.
"Where is the boundary of rights? For example, a member can watch movies for free, but some movies have to be paid for. In this case, the boundary corresponding to the free viewing privilege of a member cannot be determined, and it is still the platform's unilateral decision. .The platform has complete control over the formulation and revision of membership rules, you can revise it whenever you want, and you can change it however you want.”
According to the "2021 China Online Audiovisual Development Research Report" released in June 2021, as of December 2020, the number of online audiovisual users in my country reached 944 million.
Among them, 45.5% of users pay for online video programs within half a year, and the habit of paying has gradually formed.
Behind the huge consumer group, how to protect the rights and interests of consumers to the greatest extent has become a problem that the online audio-visual industry should pay attention to.
"For various reasons, the public sometimes has no way, time or economic cost to defend their rights. I think that as long as injustices are encountered in the daily consumption process, they can be published through public platforms. Because there will always be some people who speak up. People in the legal profession are willing to stand up for everyone's rights." Wu Shengwei said that it is necessary for consumers to be willing to "voice".
At the same time, some public welfare organizations, such as consumer associations, can protect the rights and interests of consumers through public interest litigation, which not only saves a lot of costs, but also benefits many consumers.
Cover reporter Li Yuxin