Our reporter Li Haoyue
In recent years, the animation industry has continued to heat up.
According to the Tianyancha App, the total number of related companies is increasing year by year. In 2020, there will be 295,000 new animation-related companies nationwide, 618,000 new companies in 2021, and 1.175 million new animation companies in 2022.
As of November 27, 2022, the number of animation-related companies nationwide will reach 2.45 million.
At the same time, the domestic long-form video platforms Tencent, iQiyi, Youku, and Station B are constantly increasing their animation list while talking about "cost reduction and efficiency increase".
According to incomplete statistics from the "Securities Daily" reporter, since the beginning of this year, the total number of cartoons on the above four major platforms has exceeded 200, which has exceeded the sum of 2021.
Animation audience continues to expand
In April of this year, the official Weibo of Tencent Video's exclusive animation "Douluo Dalu" announced that since its launch in 2018, the number of views of the animation has exceeded 40 billion, making it the most played Chinese manga in history.
The broadcast volume of an exclusive animation can exceed 40 billion, which means that the platform itself has a huge audience.
In August of this year, She Yuanyuan, head of the animation channel of Tencent’s online video platform operation department, said that the number of users of Tencent’s video animation has grown from tens of millions in 2015 to 100 million today.
Sun Min, general manager of Youku Animation Center, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that, on the one hand, young people are becoming the main viewers of long-form video platforms.
The activity rate of young users on the Youku platform has reached 55%. Post-90s and post-00s users are the main audiences of animation works. On the other hand, high-quality animations can complement TV dramas and change the viewing habits of platform users.
Li Fei, head of Legendary Studio, an animation studio under iQIYI, introduced to the reporter of Securities Daily that iQIYI has used the IP of "Cang Lan Jue" to produce two forms of works, animation and TV series. of the audience achieved "mutual diversion".
The novel IP based on the heroine is also more suitable for platform users in terms of animation adaptation.
In addition, the growth of animation users has also brought a considerable increase in the payment rate of the platform.
For example, according to the official data of station B, among the group of people watching domestic animation at station B in 2022, the number of users over the age of 25 will increase by 7 million within one year.
Some users aged 40 or older have also begun to watch domestic animation.
Zhang Shengyan, vice president of Bilibili, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the annual growth rate of membership income for domestic animation content exceeds 120%.
In November of this year, Bilibili announced the revenue data of domestic animation for the first time. In 2022, the domestic animation revenue of Bilibili is expected to be 2 billion yuan.
The value of the long tail is immeasurable
While animation works have brought considerable growth to the payment rate of the platform, a large number of animation derivatives have also brought a steady stream of income.
According to data from the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute, the retail sales of entertainment/character licensed products in my country, mainly animation IP licensed products, have grown rapidly from US$3.7 billion in 2014 to US$6.9 billion in 2018, and will exceed US$8 billion in 2020, accounting for about A quarter of the total output value of my country's animation industry.
For example, after Tencent Video and Shimei Films produced the "Magic Daozushi" animation became popular, the animation joint brand covers more than ten fields such as food, stationery, make-up and daily necessities.
Station B's exclusive animation "Ling Cage" has also launched a large number of joint products.
Ding Jie, the founder of the male care brand Blue Line, said in an interview with a reporter from the Securities Daily that the animation of "Ling Cage" has a strong sense of technology, and it fits well with the preferences of male users of the Blue Line brand.
The joint name of the blue line and the "Ling Cage" animation has greatly helped to increase brand sales.
According to the "2021 White Paper on the Development of China's Brand Licensing Industry", the continuous penetration of the two-dimensional culture has made cartoon and animation the most important type of authorized IP, accounting for 29.4%.
The person in charge of Tencent Video told the "Securities Daily" reporter that users not only consume products, but also consume symbols, culture, and even emotions.
From the theme activities that are deeply integrated with Guoman IP, to the joint marketing that is strongly bound to animation characters, the content influence of animation is actually being transformed into commercial influence.
Zhang Shengyan told reporters, "As the public pays more attention to the virtual world, the commercial value of the characters and story settings in the animation is also greater, and the long-tail value is immeasurable. This is why various platforms pay more attention to animation. one of the reasons."
The relevant person in charge of the game company Stacked Paper Games, which established Stacked Paper Animation, told the reporter of Securities Daily that animation is the most attractive form besides popular series.
Compared with live-action film and television, commercial needs such as shooting sequels and developing peripherals for animation works are more controllable and have more potential.
It is understood that in terms of content, iQIYI has already used the IP of "Canglanjue" to develop various forms of works including audiobooks, comics, animations, live-action film and television dramas, etc., and the animation of "Canglanjue" was broadcast Before, iQiyi started to make some physical derivatives and digital collections.
Talking about Youku’s exploration of the follow-up value of IP, Sun Min said that animation IP can be linked with other content categories on-site and off-site to produce large-scale and serialized IP effects and form a healthier revenue model.
In Youku Animation's promotion of Chinese comic culture this year, virtual dancers modeled on the characters in "Qin Shi Mingyue" and real dancers completed a cross-dimensional performance of national style on the same stage.
In the entire film and television IP industry chain, in the past, online literature was often the source of the adaptation of live-action film and television. However, with the increase of animation audiences, more and more popular animations appear, making animation IP usher in the trend of live-action film and television adaptation. .
For example, the well-known animations "Fox Fairy Little Matchmaker" and "Under One Man" hatched by the long video platform. After the copyright is sold, live-action drama series are also under preparation.
Tencent B station leads the investment
In October this year, Li Ni, Vice Chairman and COO of Station B, revealed when talking about the industry that in 2017, there will be no more than 30 Chinese animation companies that can complete animation.
Today, there are nearly 1,000 content chain companies active in China.
Established vendors have no shortage of institutional attention.
The "Three-Body Problem" animation invested by Bilibili is huge, and the investors behind the producer Yihua Kaitian include listed companies such as Tencent, Bilibili and Sanqi Mutual Entertainment.
In March 2022, after Yihua Kaitian completed its B round of financing, its valuation was nearly 2.5 billion yuan.
In terms of investing in animation manufacturers, Tencent and Bilibili are firmly in the top two positions.
Youfan data shows that in 2021, there will be at least 48 investment and financing incidents in the domestic animation industry, Tencent invested in 16 companies, and Bilibili invested in 15 companies.
According to incomplete statistics from the reporter, there will be 13 investment and financing incidents in the animation industry in the first half of 2022. Although the number has decreased compared with the same period last year, Tencent and Station B are still the companies with the most shots.
In the first half of this year, Tencent invested in Gengsan Animation, the producer of "Pillow Knife Song", Mangado, one of the producers of "Under One Man", and Yihua Kaitian, the producer of "Three-Body Problem"; Bilibili invested in SF Light novels and blank paper animations.
In addition to investment, the long video platform is also trying to establish its own animation studio.
For example, iQIYI’s animation studios include Youliao Studio, Gaoneng Studio, Legend Studio, etc., focusing on different tracks and types of animation works, covering the content needs of users in different circles.
Li Fei believes that the advantages of the long video platform to do its own animation are that first, it can combine animation with platform attributes, and the platform can control both commercial behavior and artistic behavior; second, in terms of content production, a The success of innovative works can also give the platform a lot of production experience.
The animation of "Cang Lan Jue" is a good example.
As the animation industry continues to mature in technology and content, some production companies have also embarked on the road to IPO.
For example, in June 2021, Yuanli Digital, the producer of "The Legend of Mortal Cultivation of Immortals", submitted an IPO prospectus.
In May 2022, Force Digital withdrew its listing application.
However, the "Securities Daily" reporter learned from industry insiders that Force Digital will soon re-apply for listing.
In September 2021, Xuanji Technology, the production company of "Douluo Dalu", signed a listing guidance agreement with China Securities Securities, planning to list A shares.
In addition, animation companies such as Ruohong Culture and Motion Magic are all planning to go public.
A person in charge of an animation production company, who did not want to be named, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that there are two reasons why animation production has been favored by capital in the past two years.
"First, after years of development, the industry technology has matured. Compared with the remuneration of live-action film stars, the cost of animation is lower; second, with the popularization of the two-dimensional culture and the concept of the metaverse, the public is more interested in ACG (animation, comics, games) The acceptance of content is increasing, further accelerating the commercialization of animation products. For investors, the animation industry provides an imaginable value-added space." (Securities Daily)