Starting from a Fake University-Chapter 1569 - 828: Pay Television Drama, Copyright Awareness_2

Chapter 1569: Chapter 828: Pay Television Drama, Copyright Awareness_2

Ding Yue looked at An Yujia and asked.

"To create the largest entertainment streaming media platform domestically, and even globally." An Yujia replied.

"Then, as cultural entertainment, should we charge for it? Do movie tickets cost money? Do songs cost money? Do games cost money?" Ding Yue asked again.

"Considering the current trends and global awareness of copyright, charging is naturally mainstream."

An Yujia responded.

Given this, An Yujia basically understood what Principal Ding meant.

The free trial era of the Feiyue Home streaming media platform might need to come to an end. After all, the Feiyue Home streaming media platform now had a substantial user base.

"How many active users does our Feiyue Home streaming media platform have now?"

Ding Yue asked.

"More than ten million daily actives."

An Yujia replied, "Currently, on the Feiyue Home streaming media platform, the quantities of movies, anime, games, dramas, live streams, and user-generated content are all increasing. Especially works inspired by creations on the platform, which have surged in volume. The increase in content has led to a growing user base. The events we held before brought in a lot of new users. Now, the daily active users on Feiyue Home streaming media platform have exceeded ten million, and monthly active users are over a hundred million."

"So, we already have a very strong user base. In an environment with strong copyright awareness, we can start moving towards a paid strategy, but we won’t follow the VIP model."

Ding Yue said calmly.

"No VIP model?"

An Yujia was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.

Since the platform was moving towards a paid strategy, VIP seemed like an obvious choice. Platforms like Penguin Video and AiYi Video adopted VIP subscription services, and even Bilibili offered a premium membership.

Clearly, membership models had been tested on other platforms and were viable. If Feiyue Home streaming media platform were to start charging, a membership system would indeed fit the bill.

But why was Principal Ding saying that Feiyue Home streaming media platform wouldn’t adopt a membership model?

"So, Principal Ding, what do you mean?"

An Yujia asked with some confusion.

"If it’s paid, then every piece of content, whether it’s a song, a game, or a drama, has its own value."

Ding Yue didn’t explain directly but spoke in this manner.

But how could someone as sharp as An Yujia not understand Principal Ding’s intention at once?

Independent pricing.

Just like the current model for novels or songs—if you want to read a novel, you pay for its content; if you want to listen to a song, you buy it and then listen.

The same principle could be applied to dramas—if you want to watch a drama, you pay for it.

But here lay the issue—what was the appropriate price for a drama?

Novels and songs already had an established market value. Novels were generally about 0.03 Yuan per 1,000 characters, and unlocking a song typically cost 1 or 2 Yuan, which was relatively cheap.

But dramas were a different story.

The effort and costs involved in producing a drama were noticeably higher than those for a novel or a song.

Therefore, it was evident that the pricing of a drama wouldn’t be as low as a few Yuan. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"Independent pricing is indeed possible. But, Principal Ding, so far, there’s no precedent for such an approach in the domestic market. And what about determining the price for a single drama? That’s another issue."

An Yujia expressed the doubts in her mind.

"As for pricing..."

Ding Yue stroked his chin, realizing that this was indeed an issue.

How to set a price that would satisfy the audience?

As An Yujia mentioned, there was currently no precedent in the domestic market for individually pricing dramas. Such a practice existed for games and music but not for television dramas. Determining such pricing required a pioneer.

And as Ding Yue contemplated it, he didn’t have an immediate answer on how to set the price.

If the price was too high and the drama failed to satisfy the audience, it would certainly draw criticism.

But if the price was too low, it wouldn’t do justice to the hard work of the production team.

So, to strike the right balance, a solution needed to be devised.

"Miss An, consider whether this is feasible—setting a price based on audience feedback for the drama?"

Ding Yue looked at An Yujia and asked, "For example, offering the first episode for free and then using the audience’s feedback on that episode to determine the price."

An Yujia raised a question upon hearing this: "But Principal Ding, what if the reviews are flooded with fake accounts or competitors?"

"That’s true."

Ding Yue took a deep breath, acknowledging the validity of An Yujia’s concern. The idea he had just proposed was indeed not very practical.

It was a bit too idealistic.

"If worse comes to worst, let’s just set a price. We’re confident in ’The Legend of Fairy Sword,’ right? The price only needs to justify what the audience spends."

Ding Yue shrugged and said.

Instead of overthinking it, why not go for a straightforward approach? No episodic releases like updating one or two episodes daily or a few times a week.

Those tactics were nothing but an insult to the audience, weren’t they?

If it’s going online, release the entire season all at once. Let the audience buy it and binge-watch! Teasing with one or two episodes a day—wasn’t that just toying with the audience?

"Are you suggesting, Principal Ding, that we set a price and release the entire season at once?"

An Yujia asked upon hearing this.

"Exactly."

Ding Yue nodded.

"Many overseas platforms already do this. I’ve always felt that the domestic practice of releasing episodes gradually is just stringing the audience along. We could certainly try releasing the whole season at once—buy it and watch it in one sitting."

An Yujia fully supported Principal Ding’s idea.

"Exactly."

Ding Yue calmly said, "As for pricing, consult with the production team and gather some feedback from Feiyue Home streaming media platform users to set the price by tomorrow before the official release of ’The Legend of Fairy Sword.’"

"Got it, Principal Ding, I’ll get on it right away!"

Realizing there wasn’t much time remaining, An Yujia swiftly took action.

To finalize the price for ’The Legend of Fairy Sword,’ input from the drama’s production team as well as feedback from Feiyue Home streaming media platform users needed to be considered and balanced.

The next morning.

Bright and early, An Yujia sought out Principal Ding to report on the temporary pricing for ’The Legend of Fairy Sword.’

"Principal Ding, ’The Legend of Fairy Sword’ will premiere at 8 PM tonight on Feiyue Home streaming media platform. After extended discussions with the drama’s production team yesterday and a review of the platform user survey responses, we’ve decided to price it at 1 Yuan per episode, totaling 34 Yuan for the series."

An Yujia reported.

’The Legend of Fairy Sword’ comprised a total of 34 episodes. The story pacing was decent, without unnecessary filler, covering the entire narrative of ’The Legend of Fairy Sword’ in those 34 episodes.

The price of 34 Yuan seemed reasonable.

"Good."

Ding Yue nodded after hearing this and said, "This is a pioneer experiment for us. Let’s see what kind of feedback we get from the audience, and we’ll gain experience for the future."

"Indeed, Principal Ding."

An Yujia shared the same thought.

After all, ’The Legend of Fairy Sword’ would be the first drama in the country to adopt such a model, and its reception was yet to be seen.

"Alright, let’s settle on the price of 34 Yuan and see how it performs tonight."

Ding Yue approved the pricing.

Whether or not the audience would accept it depended entirely on tonight.