Variety shows are getting less and less watched. Was it "killed" by short videos? Have a number
Flowers and Teenagers Silk Road Season (Flowers and Teenagers 5) aired the last feature film today.
As a classic comprehensive N generation, this season still continues the model of sister-in-law group+travel+reality show, and the guest group opens a Silk Road tour across Saudi Arabia, Croatia and Iceland.
The audience may not have expected that "Flower Less 5" actually came out of the shadows of "Flower Learning" and "Boredom" in the previous season. It is even less likely that this season’s Douban score has reached 8.5, which has become the peak of the whole series of word of mouth.
Even if they haven’t seen the program, many people are impressed by all kinds of hot searches and short video slices. Wang Anyu’s sensitivity and internal friction, Xin Zhilei’s sense of contrast, and Dilraba’s video of Xinjiang dance in the program were forwarded by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Wang Wenbin, deputy director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ……
"Flower Less 5" became a clear stream in the variety show in 2023. On the other hand, the other N generations are always inferior to each other, which is somewhat embarrassing.
In the eighth season of "Ace to Ace", the surprise of the program group on Guan Xiaotong’s birthday (trick) made netizens angry across the screen; The seventh season of "The Life I yearn for" gave a parting signal; In the fourth season of "Sister Riding the Wind and Waves", "Riding the Wind 2023" was quietly closed. ……
Eating is tasteless, but it is a pity to abandon it. There are not enough surprises, and sometimes there are surprises. Why is n generation always better than before?
How many years have the same series of variety shows been filmed, and how many can be played?
After scoring the comprehensive N-generation douban that has been broadcast for at least three seasons, we found that most variety shows started well.Among the 102 N-generation series, the score in the first quarter was generally high, and only 9 of them were below 6. There are 49 that exceed the average of 7.5 points.
However, most of the N generations started at the peak. Compared with the first season, the score of the latest season has improved or remained unchanged, less than 10%.

Variety market, supported by making sequels.
Some programs have long been well received, why can they make sequels again and again?
To a large extent, the comprehensive N generation is playing a safety card, which has been successfully verified, and the brand effect and advertising revenue have been basically guaranteed, so there is a chance to keep doing it.
In the variety show in 2023,Among the top 10 movies with the highest effective broadcast volume, 8 movies are all N generations.Among them, "Running Bar" started in Running Man in 2014, and was renamed in 2017. In the seventh season, the ratings were staggered.
Although "Run" is not as good as before in terms of public opinion influence, star-making ability and the purest degree of humor, the ratings are still good. After all, besides it, there are not many national variety shows that can break through the circle hobby.

"Extreme Challenge", which is also positioned as an outdoor reality show and aired only one year later than Running Man, has even less than one third of the broadcast volume in the ninth quarter of 2023.
You know, Extreme Challenge, which was broadcast on Oriental TV in 2015, was once the "light of the national comprehensive", with high scores of 9.3 and 9.4 in the first and second seasons respectively. Many famous scenes created by the "Extreme Men’s Gang" in the program are still talked about. Searching for "extreme challenge" on station B, the top nine videos played the most exceeded 10 million.

Photo source "Extreme Challenge" Douban stills
However, since the fifth season, director Yan Min and some regular guests have withdrawn. After the lineup changed, the Douban score fell directly from 7.6 to 4.1. After that, although I can always make a little progress every quarter, even the passing line of 6 points is hard to reach.
Under the "middle-aged crisis", there are constantly old people leaving and new people joining. The flow and replacement of guests is not only the embodiment of the crisis, but also the program’s efforts to seek self-help.
But who is suitable to join has become an eternal problem for variety shows.

Why did the audience not love it?
What kind of variety show does the audience need?
Yan Min, the director of the first four seasons of Extreme Challenge, said in an exclusive interview with the media: "I know what I want to do, and I always want to do something that meets the needs of the people." In his view, variety shows are the cheapest and most accessible forms of entertainment for ordinary people.
In the variety show in 2022, "Happy Start Again" was a bright black horse. Nearly 300,000 people gave a comprehensive high score of 9.6 on Douban, and "0713 Men’s Team" became the new "traffic password".
Zhao Hao, the general director, said in an exclusive interview with the magazine: "Truth, people and show are consistent." "Which one needs to be put in front?" I feel that no matter who is before or after, they all set off this person together, and this talent is alive. "
Practitioners’ explanation of the value of variety shows is simple but powerful. In 1300 reviews of Douban, the audience also clearly expressed their preferences. If you are not satisfied, then vote with your feet.

The variety market is still weak, and short videos and live broadcasts have blocked the audience’s attention and commercial income occupied by variety.
According to the statistics of China Network Audiovisual Development Research Report (2023), the number of short video users in China reached 1.012 billion in December 2022, surpassing instant messaging to become the largest Internet application in China. 24.3% of new netizens "touched the net" for the first time and chose to watch short videos, while only 1.3% chose TV dramas and variety shows.
As a result, the number of variety shows has increased in the past few years, but the broadcast volume has decreased.
From 2019 to 2022, the average number of new seasonal variety shows increased by about 20 per year, but the effective broadcast of variety feature films decreased by about 4.4 billion per year.

Without watching, there would be no advertising and funds, let alone room for creativity.
According to Huaxi Securities Research Report, the user base and investment promotion market of iQiyi’s once-famous IP "Qipa Shuo" are rising steadily every quarter. The total investment in the third quarter is as high as 300 million yuan, nearly 400 million yuan in the fourth quarter and 1.5 billion yuan in the fifth quarter, which drives the company’s operation and cash flow to continue to improve.
But the fifth season of "Qi Yuan Shuo" is already in 2018. In the same year, "This! It is the first season of street dance, which has been cultivated in a vertical field so far. Word of mouth is still there, but according to the article in the street dance circle from the media "NeedAYeah", "But anyone who has read" This Street "in previous years can see that the most striking difference this year is high emotional intelligence: simplicity. Low emotional intelligence: poor. "
Under the difficult investment environment, it should have been the comprehensive N generation of safety cards, and its advantages have also weakened.
It has been reported that from the perspective of investment promotion in the first quarter of 2023, brands prefer the new variety IP that has just passed the market test and is extremely fresh. Not only that, the brand side is more willing to "take money to compete for price wars, launch low-cost micro-drama micro-synthesis, short videos, live e-commerce and other new channels".
It’s difficult to synthesize N generations. What are the best performers doing?
Luo Yingxi, the ace producer of Korean variety shows, has not stopped making new attempts even though his works are equal. Since 2022, Luo Yingxi has broadcast 9 new variety shows (not including the comprehensive N generation), and the average score of Douban is 8.8. After Yan Min quit Extreme Challenge, there were other masterpieces spanning different fields, such as Rap New Generation, Deyun Douxiao Club, Drama New Life and I Can 47.
Whether it’s a new attempt or a sequel, it’s not an ugly reason. If the audience is willing to put down short videos and spend a few hours on variety shows, will the N generation give them enough emotional value or knowledge gain?
[Reference]
GQ reports, Yan Min: In the name of reality show, everything can be expressed, https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Fio6TZ_a1XK07r9HW9YGrg.
Huaxi Securities, the king of long video, rejuvenation, reducing costs and increasing efficiency to achieve sustainable development (IQ.O) in-depth report, https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202208051576931221_1.pdf.
Character, a grass-roots team, shot the highest score variety this year, https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/E_CUxhGHDTa2es1iV-8TpA.
Entertainment unicorn, "head" bid farewell to naked broadcasting, and there is still a time difference in the "recovery" of variety investment in 2023 | Investigation, https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/woOzsUmvF-UfQXlyuXh0kA
Author Zhang Lingyuan
Editor Du Haiyan
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Feng Tu Tu Source: Douban Stills of Flowers and Teenagers Silk Road Season
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