Maoyan: China's Online Entertainment Market Booming with the COVID-19 Pandemic While China's movie industry was severely hit by the pandemic, the online entertainment market, including TV and streaming platforms, were booming as people were confined to their homes

By Priyadarshini Patwa

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Maoyan

Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or "the Company") (Hong Kong: 1896), a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China, released a report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on China's entertainment industry. While China's movie industry was severely hit by the pandemic, the online entertainment market, including TV and streaming platforms, were booming as people were confined to their homes, according to the report.

As of March 15, the China theatrical releases of 44 movies had been canceled or postponed, including 16 imported movies, according to the report that examines the pandemic's impact on China's entertainment industry. Maoyan Zhiduoxing, an entertainment data analysis platform, released the report.

The Chinese New Year holiday is traditionally the most important movie season for China's box office revenues. In 2019, the Chinese New Year holiday contributed 14% of the total annual box office. With movie theaters shut down nationwide this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual box office would suffer a significant decline over last year, according to the report.

While offline entertainment activities came to a halt with the pandemic, the online entertainment market, including TV and streaming platforms, were booming as people were confined to their homes, according to the report.

TV viewership experienced an enormous surge in China during the pandemic. For the extended ten-day Chinese New Year holiday (January 24 to February 2), the audience in China spent an average of 347 minutes watching TV per day, up 33% over the previous ten days (January 14 to 23), and 13% more than the same holiday period in 2019. People were more concerned about the pandemic development. From January 27 to February 9, the average time spent watching TV news programs per day increased by 153% year-over-year to 135 minutes, according to the report.

The pandemic also led to soaring traffic for online streaming platforms. Total users increased by 17.4% to reach 310 million during the Chinese New Year holiday compared to a regular week (January 2 to 8), while users spent an average of 98 minutes daily on such platforms during the holiday. The most-watched shows were medical dramas, comedy, family, romance, and classical movies/TV dramas.

Total users of online streaming
platforms (millions)

2019 Chinese New Year holiday
(February 4 to 10)

289

2020 regular week

(January 2 to 8)

264

2020 Chinese New Year holiday

(January 24 to February 2)

310

Average daily time spent on online streaming platforms per user (minutes)

iQiyi

Tencent Video

Mango TV

Bilibili

2019 Chinese New Year
holiday (February 4 to 10)

61

54

62

100

2020 Chinese New Year
holiday (January 24 to
February 2)

74

68

88

111

With the growing popularity of online streaming platforms, some movies gave up their theatrical releases to turn to streaming platforms. On January 24, the highly-anticipated comedy "Lost in Russia" became the first Chinese movie released online for free on ByteDance platforms, including TikTok, Xigua Video, and Toutiao. It achieved more than 600 million views within the first three days. Another Chinese comedy "Enter the Fat Dragon" also moved to iQiyi and Tencent Video on February 1, and viewers can pay for early-access. The movie generated 63 million paid views on Tencent Video platform within the first three days.

A total of 26 web movies were released online during Chinese New Year holiday this year, nearly half of which were on iQiyi platform. The average daily views of these web movies jumped by 100% compared with the same holiday period last year, according to the report.

As an entertainment data analysis platform, Maoyan Zhiduoxing (smarter.maoyan.com) provides users with data to cover the full breadth of entertainment categories, including movies, TV dramas, variety shows, novels, artist events, and online entertainment events. The platform's multi-dimensional data analysis capabilities encompass thousands of dimensions of data indicators.

The report is based on data from Maoyan Zhiduoxing and other sources, including Kuyun, CSM Media Research, QuestMobile, Enlightent, MobTech, and the National Radio and Television Administration.

Priyadarshini Patwa

Former Features Editor, Entrepreneur India

Priyadarshini Patwa is the Former Features Editors of Entrepreneur India and hosted an Instagram show every Friday named ‘Lighten Up’, about people from different walks of life and talk about their work and beyond. She handled the lifestyle, features, technology, entertainment segments and was also responsible for the Digital Covers. Previously she has worked with MensXP, a Times of India entity and Deccan Chronicle. 

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

Business News

'Nothing More Powerful': How to Transform Companies From Within as an 'Intrapreneur,' According to a Microsoft Office and Yahoo! Shopping Cofounder

Elizabeth Funk wrote the first code for Yahoo! Shopping on her own, based on skills she acquired from an "HTML for Dummies" book.

Business News

'I Want the Best People on Our Teams': Meta Is Laying Off More Than 3,000, CEO Mark Zuckerberg Calls for 'Extensive Performance-Based Cuts' — Read the Memo

In an internal memo shared on Tuesday, Zuckerberg said it's "going to be an intense year" at the company.

Growing a Business

How Meta Generated $32 Billion in Ad Revenue Last Quarter — and How You Can Create Million-Dollar Weekends Using the Same Strategies

Meta's staggering $32 billion quarterly ad revenue isn't just about size; it's about strategy, systems and execution as well.

Business News

The FTC Is Readying a Case Against the Largest U.S. Apartment Landlord. Here's Why.

The issue is with fees that allegedly weren't disclosed in advertisements for rental units.

Leadership

From Elite Athletes to Tech Titans — Discover the Surprising $100-Million Habit That Leads to Extraordinary Success

Success comes from mastering focus, eliminating distractions and prioritizing what truly matters.