Huayu 2011: Starting with Hilarious Men

Zheng Nan took the opening joke of the first episode of the second season of "Hilarious Men" very seriously and directly brought up Qiao Shan.

Qiao Shan's show "Happy Meeting Room" has been airing on Longjiang TV for more than five months. Although the TV ratings are average, the online discussion and word-of-mouth are extremely high. Many young viewers and students are familiar with Qiao Shan.

So as soon as Qiao Shan appeared, some viewers went to the "Happy Meeting Room" forum to promote it.

Qi Bin has made it big! He's on "Hilarious Men"!

The joke about Qi Bin comes from the skit "Looking for Parents," which premiered a few days ago on November 28th and left a deep impression on the audience.

"Buy cement? Look for Qi Bin!"

"Give me a scene with two thousand people!"

"Jiajia Brugen!"

"Qi Bin is actually starring in 'Hilarious Men'! What a surprise! A complete surprise!"

"I only saw Qiao Shan, but I didn't see the other members of 'Happy Meeting Room'?"

"I haven't watched 'Hilarious Men'."

"It's really interesting, similar to 'Happy Meeting Room,' I recommend you check it out."

The first episode of the second season was twelve minutes long and finished airing very quickly.

Those who read it immediately saw that it was only 8:30. Today is Friday, and tomorrow is Saturday, so going to bed early is out of the question. Time to find some like-minded people to chat.

As a result, discussions about "Hilarious Men" can be seen on Baidu Tieba, Weibo, Douban, Zhihu, and Hupu.

"That familiar feeling is back!"

"Holy crap, I saw young Shen Yang in the first episode!"

"The quality of the second season is significantly higher than that of the first season."

"Xiao Shenyang's joke was a bit awkward, not quite in line with Zheng Nan's usual standard."

"Who can maintain such a high output level all the time? Don't use your brain when watching comedies."

"I followed Zheng Nan on Weibo before and saw that he collaborated with 'iPartment', but I didn't see it in the first episode."

"There are eight episodes in total, so it'll be in the last seven."

"The quality has improved, but the release schedule has slowed down! Season 1 had two episodes a week, Season 2 had one episode a week, and at this rate, Season 3 will probably have to air one episode every two weeks!"

"Dude, are you the math class representative? According to your calculation, season four would have to be one episode a month, and season five would have to be one episode every two months."

…………

At 8 a.m. on December 3, Zheng Nan, who was sleeping on the company sofa, was woken up by the ringing of the phone.

"Hello, who is it?" Zheng Nan asked in a hoarse voice, barely able to open her eyes.

"Are you sleeping?" Liu Chun's voice came from behind.

"Mr. Liu? I had insomnia last night and only managed to doze off at three in the morning. What's wrong?" Hearing Liu Chun's voice, Zheng Nan became much more awake.

Liu Chun wouldn't call him unless there was a reason, Zheng Nan quickly rubbed his eyes and sat up from the sofa.

"Young people are still too young, what are you so nervous about?" Liu Chun's voice was cheerful, and he even had the mood to tease Zheng Nan.

"The data is out?" Zheng Nan thought to himself, "How can I not be nervous?"

"As of now, it has garnered over four million views in 12 hours since its release, and has the potential to surpass five million views on its first day! Moreover, its user acquisition effect is excellent! It's even better than many hit TV series!" Liu Chun excitedly announced.

The competition among film and television platforms is essentially a battle for users. For any film and television platform to gain a foothold and grow stronger, the core first step is to retain existing users and attract new users.

Why would users specifically download your software or visit your platform?

The key lies in whether the platform has the appeal of "you are indispensable".

For example, fans of "Bright Sword" who want to rewatch the series enthusiastically search for it online.

It turned out that the online streaming rights to this classic drama had been exclusively bought by one platform, and other places either didn't have it or only had a few minutes of clips.

In order to watch the entire series to their heart's content, this fan had no choice but to obediently download the platform's app and register/log in.

Then the platform gained a new user.

If a platform doesn't have such exclusive content, users can easily watch it elsewhere, making it difficult to persuade them to take the step of downloading and registering.

Whether it's bidding high prices for exclusive rights to top films and TV shows or creating original content, the essence is to create a sense of scarcity that "only I have it," thereby continuously driving new user growth.

The reason why major platforms value hit dramas and are willing to pay exorbitant copyright fees for them is because hit dramas are effective at attracting new users.

Currently, the new user acquisition effect of "Hilarious Men" is comparable to that of hit TV series. Liu Chun, as the person in charge of negotiating the copyright of "Hilarious Men", deserves credit and is naturally very happy.

"So low?!" Zheng Nan was somewhat surprised.

He remembered that in his previous life, the second season of "Men's Diary" had six million views on its first day, while "Men's Laughter" benefited from the popularity of "Women's Diary," and its first-day views were still one million less.

"This is low?! The current record for online drama viewership is held by 'Hilarious Men'! Zheng Nan, you're getting cocky."

Liu Chun quickly reprimanded Zheng Nan, not wanting her to get too cocky.

When people get carried away, they easily lose sight of themselves and tend to create things that are aloof and only concerned with self-expression.

Comedy must be something that the masses like, and Liu Chun doesn't want the third season of "Hilarious Men" to become an art film.

After Liu Chun pointed it out, Zheng Nan realized that he had forgotten to consider the crucial factor of timing.

The second season of "Men's Diary" premiered on June 5, 2013. The second season of "Men's Laughter" was produced a full year and a half earlier, and the current number of netizens is much smaller than in 2013.

"It's not that I'm overestimating it. It's just that I remember when the first season just ended, the total number of views across the internet exceeded 200 million. Compared to that, it feels low." Zheng Nan offered an excuse.

"You released the first season on all platforms, so the data is inflated, and the viewership is counted repeatedly. Once all eight episodes have aired, the first episode's viewership can reach tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions," Liu Chun explained to Zheng Nan, sharing some basic information.

Impressive data can directly translate into GG revenue and user growth, and can also boost the platform's popularity.

Therefore, the data displayed (for everyone to see), such as play counts, is often faked by various platforms.

Sohu also inflates the viewership data for "Hilarious Men" to facilitate its promotion.

Data fraud on film and television platforms is a systemic problem involving multiple parties, and no one can remain unaffected.

"I understand." Zheng Nan thought to himself that this is how the false prosperity of the film and television industry is created.

"I have a few meetings to attend, so I'll have to go now. You should get some rest." Liu Chun hummed a little tune as he hung up the phone.

…………

The premiere data of the second season of "Hilarious Men" is not only attracting attention from Sohu itself, but also from other platforms.

Especially top-tier platforms like Youku and iQiyi.

Youku's office building.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the lights were on.

"Mr. Gu, the first-day data for the second season of 'Hilarious Men' from Sohu is out."

"How's the data?" Mr. Gu asked.

"Very eye-catching."