Cashing in

Posters of popular Chinese TV series Candle in the Tomb. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Sun Zhonghuai and his colleagues from China's Tencent Holdings Ltd were once curious about the economics of HBO's hit television series Westworld, a sci-fi thriller depicting rebellious androids.

Based on their experience of investing in TV shows, it would have been difficult for the big-budget series－with 10 episodes reportedly costing about $100 million to make－to earn back the money.

But HBO told them it was made for a reason: To produce a hit beyond expectations so that the broadcaster would be able to retain its paying viewers.

Westworld, which bagged five awards at the Emmy Awards last year and earned 8.8 points out of 10 on the popularity barometer IMDb, is such a hit.

"It (Westworld) was inspirational. But we too have invested in some good projects that might not be profitable. And although none of them is as good as Westworld, I hope our team or others in the entertainment industry will produce a world-class production in the future," says Sun, the vice-president of Tencent and chief executive officer of Tencent Penguin Pictures, the online content producing arm of the parent company.

To achieve the goal, Tencent has been making popular series and purchasing the copyright of expensive television dramas to be exclusively streamed on its video platform.

On Sunday, Tencent Video, the streaming subsidiary of Tencent, announced its paid subscriptions had reached 62.59 million as of Feb 28, enhancing its status as the largest video site in China.

According to industry researcher Vlinkage, Tencent Video broadcast 80 percent of the most popular 20 television series online in 2017, topping the charts in this field.

And the user number of video-streaming sites reached 565 million, or 75.2 percent of China's total netizen population by July, China Netcasting Services Association says in its latest report.

The numbers show that the Chinese have become used to paying for online series, music, novels and animation, says Sun.

He says the online market for paid content has become mature as Chinese netizens are now willing to pay for quality content and are comfortable paying online.

And, television series are the top choice for internet viewers, followed by movies and variety shows.

The fans' enthusiasm for popular series has made producers greenlight their sequels, generating successful franchises and raising subscription levels.

"For example, Rural Love Story now has 10 seasons. The length is rare for domestic television series," says Sun.

Created by comedian Zhao Benshan, the series centers on a group of farmers and their love stories in a fictional village located in northeastern China. The drama was first aired on China Central Television in 2010 and quickly became one of the highest-rated television series. Its lat-est two seasons, starting from the ninth season, have been produced by Penguin Pictures and Zhao's production firm, Benshan Media Group.

The popular online series Candle in the Tomb, adapted from author Zhang Muye's best-selling novel of the same title, is another example. The story about three explorers' adventure in a desert in northwestern China, the series' first and second seasons, respectively, gained 3.1 billion "clicks" in 2016 and 2.7 billion views in 2017. The third and fourth seasons are being produced.

While speaking about big data, which was once reckoned as a significant index to research what audiences want, Sun says he thinks it won't work if a production is built on just digital analysis.

"The process of making a series is long. You cannot guarantee a hot topic will still be attractive after two years," he says.

Besides television series, documentaries are also being welcomed by Chinese viewers.

And working with top producers, Tencent Video has joined the production of BBC's classic nature documentaries such as Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II－which have won acclaim in China after being streamed online. Separately, they have announced plans to team up with Chen Xiaoqing, the producer of the hit Chinese documentary A Bite of China, to produce Savoring China, a documentary franchise about gourmet food.

But the main challenge for video-streaming sites is still profit. And with the rapid rise of copyright fees and production budgets in recent years, Sun says most players in China's online market are still facing financial losses.