In the first half of the year, the prosperity of the online live broadcast industry rose by 100 billion yuan. Live broadcasts broke the situation

on August 24, the Institute of Policy and Economics of the China Academy of Information and Communications jointly released the "China webcast Industry Prosperity Index and short Video report" in the first half of 2017. The report shows that the prosperity of China's webcast industry continued to rise in the first half of this year, with the climate index doubling in the first two quarters compared with the same period last year.

on August 24, the Institute of Policy and Economics of the China Academy of Information and Communications jointly released the "China webcast Industry Climate Index and short Video report" in the first half of 2017 (hereinafter referred to as "Live and short Video report"). According to the report, the prosperity of China's webcast industry continued to rise in the first half of this year, with the climate index doubling in the first two quarters compared with the same period last year.

after the ups and downs of 2016, profound changes are quietly taking place in the live broadcast industry in 2017. On the one hand, the live broadcast platform mode accelerates overseas output, on the other hand, live broadcasting is making great strides towards high-quality products. High-definition PUGC and PGC carefully crafted by talent anchors and professional teams have attracted attention, and the proportion of ultra-clear verification of LVB push data has jumped in the first half of the year.

strong > the webcast boom index doubled year on year in the first half of the year / strong >

according to the overall data of "Live and short Video report", in the first half of 2017, driven by many factors, such as the popularity of live shows, the high definition of game live streaming, and the gradual export of domestic live streaming mode to overseas, the prosperity index of the overall live broadcast industry continued: China's webcast industry climate index was 291 in the first quarter of 2017 and reached 333 in the second quarter. This indicator is based on the first quarter of 2016 and is set at 100 points.

specifically, the webcast bandwidth index continued to grow in the first half of this year: China's webcast bandwidth index reached 205 in the first quarter of 2017 and 234 in the second quarter of 2017, doubling from the first two quarters of 2016. This growth is mainly due to the steady and rapid growth of live games.

it is worth noting that the monetization index of webcast broke out again in the first half of this year: the monetization index of webcast in China was 266 in the second quarter of 2017, and profitability was gradually recognized. At the same time, the live broadcast mode is also frequently favored by capital in the process of overseas export.

according to incomplete statistics, there have been 17 financing mergers and acquisitions in the live broadcast industry since 2017, involving 16 live streaming platforms, of which 8 are in round A financing, with a total amount of more than 10 billion yuan.

compared with 2016, the financing of the live broadcast industry shows an obvious head-to-head trend: the financing quota of Huajiao TV and Panda TV is of the order of 1 billion yuan, and the maximum financing quota of Kuaishou is US $350 million, or more than 2.3 billion RMB.

at the same time, domestic live broadcast platforms have performed brilliantly at sea. According to the reporter's incomplete statistics, overseas live broadcast platforms launched by Chinese companies received frequent financing in the first half of this year, totaling more than 1 billion yuan.

Wei Liurong, director of the Development and Economic Research Department of the Institute of Policy and Economics of the China Institute of Information and Communications, told reporters that as one of the most active areas of the Internet, the live broadcast industry is entering a state of benign and healthy development under policy supervision.

the newly released China New Media Development report (2017) also optimistically predicts the market size of the webcast industry: the market size of webcast has increased from about 9 billion yuan in 2015 to about 15 billion yuan in 2016, an increase of 67%. It is expected to grow into a 100-billion-class industry in 2020.

strong > LVB Ultra clear + content quality LVB platform or beat the situation / strong >

"Live and short Video report" shows that driven by the improvement of network uplink conditions and the gradual development of live content towards ultra-clear quality, as of the second quarter of 2017, the proportion of ultra-definition of webcast push in China was more than half, which is earth-shaking compared with 2016.

specifically, in the distribution of push definition of webcast, the proportion of ultra-definition and over-definition was only 10.7% and 12.0% respectively in the third quarter of 2016, and by the second quarter of 2017, the proportion of ultra-definition and above-definition jumped to 22.1% and 33.1%, respectively. It should be pointed out that the UHD and above defined in this report means that the bitrate is greater than 1500kbps, the bitrate is between 1000kbps-1500kbps, HD is between 800kbps-1000kbps, SD is between 500kbps-800kbps, and fluency means that the bitrate is less than 500kbps. Among them, the trend of ultra-definition of game live streaming is even more rapid. 49.7% of the push data of game live streaming in the second quarter of 2017 are ultra-clear, and 22.4% of the push data are ultra-clear.

Live shows have the same trend: the push definition of live shows has significantly improved. 61.4% of the push data of live shows in the third quarter of 2016 is standard definition, and in the second quarter of 2017, the percentage of standard definition has dropped to 28.9%. Instead, HD and HD and above account for nearly half of the total.

this means that China's webcast has made great strides towards superdefinition, and the era of webcast hyper-definition has arrived earlier than expected.

Li Wei, chief analyst of the communications industry at Zhongtai Securities, said that the accelerated superclearing of live push data shows that the uplink conditions of the network are already in place. Next, with the improvement of users' demand for video and LVB definition quality, the realization of ultra-definition on the viewer side of the live broadcast platform may be accelerated; however, everything depends on the formation of domestic video and live streaming users' habit of paying for UHD video.

the situation of the American market has certain benchmarking significance to the Chinese market. In the United States, for example, the awareness of audiences to pay for content has become widespread, and the willingness to pay for high-definition video is spreading in an all-round way. Nearly 60% of Americans subscribe to the three major video streaming services, and 40% of American households subscribe to Netflix, according to Parks Associates's OTT video market tracker service. It is reported that Netflix provides users with three types of membership plans: BASIC, STANDARD, PREMIUM. The prices of the three categories of members are increasing in turn, and the main difference is that they can watch standard definition, HD quality, Ultra HD quality and watch movies on multiple screens at the same time.

the reporter learned from Netflix's financial report that among the above three charging models, STANDARD is the most popular choice for new members. This means that more and more online video users in the United States are willing to pay for high-definition video.

the report points out that live streaming platforms are increasingly turning to high-definition PUGC and PGC videos carefully produced by talented anchors and professional teams, which is also an important reason for the ultra-definition of live push data, which all point to the fact that webcasting is moving significantly towards quality in terms of content and quality.

Li Dong, executive director of Netcom Technology, believes that as the hosting platform for Internet applications, Netcom has observed that these leading Internet applications, especially in the field of large video, content quality is a long-term direction. The transition of the LVB platform to high-definition PUGC and PGC videos meticulously produced by talented anchors and professional teams is an important historical process in the direction of quality, which will help the LVB platform achieve more lasting vitality.

Industry analysts say that boutique will be the trend of the times, and the arrival of the ultra-clear trend under the background of boutique will bring new opportunities to the participants in the industrial chain.

the Live and short Video report predicts that the superclarity of live streaming will lead to changes in the upstream and downstream of the industry.

first of all, the hardware of live streaming content production is upgraded. The development of live streaming to ultra-definition has spawned a new wave of upgrading of camera hardware and transmission hardware in terms of definition and transmission speed, especially mobile phone cameras, portable shooting equipment and other related hardware industries will usher in the re-development.

secondly, live broadcasting is developing towards quality. Ultra-clear quality live broadcast content often has the value of repeating on demand after editing. Live broadcast platforms set up on-demand channels, and "+ on-demand" helps to enhance user stickiness. Around "on-demand" content, there will also be a re-evolved reward or advertising profit model.

once again, the anchor develops to a professional team. In the short term, ultra-clear PUGC and PGC products are often completed by more professional VJ teams. Individual VJs need to give full play to their high-level creative ability to compete with professional teams. In the short term, there may be a reshuffle among national VJs.

in addition, there are also short videos that are as eye-catching as live streaming. The total amount of online short video bandwidth in China in the first half of 2017 nearly quadrupled every month compared with the same period in 2016 (based on 100 points in 2016).

the report also points out that short videos are in line with mobile habits and become an important tuyere after live streaming. First of all, short videos are gradually becoming standard media, close to dynamic pictures and text, and easier to integrate with the news media. Second, short video social networking is in the ascendant, and it is recommended that social applications with a large number of users increase the layout of short videos. Thirdly, the volume of short video is growing day by day. With the popularity of Wi-Fi and the decline of traffic charges, the bitrate and definition of short videos are improving, and the bandwidth demand for distribution is also on the rise. It is recommended that the production and distribution platforms of short video content expand their distribution capacity and layout in advance.

Edit: mary