Gone are the days when variety shows are only viewed through television programs. Chinese streaming companies are bringing the entertainment over online streaming sites for millions of people to see. iQiyi, SohuTV and Tencent Video are planning to invest in more online variety shows in 2016.
Streaming sites enjoy billions of views on their respective platforms, as many people find watching variety shows online convenient. They can access their accounts in streaming sites and enjoy watching their favorite variety show anywhere, anytime of the day.
While staying online, people can watch and share some laughs through China's most favorite social medial apps like WeChat and Weibo.
Online variety shows target young audiences. Ma Dong, a variety show producer, confirmed this statement by saying that 70 percent of their viewers are below 30 years old. Also, more women are watching variety shows via the Internet.
Internet streaming giant iQiyi held its China Online Variety Development Summit Forum on May 5, wherein its Vice President Chen Wei gave a strong prediction of 2016 being an important year to develop variety shows to be streamed online.
General manager Jiang Bin also stated that the company's Operation, Promotion, and R&D teams are preparing for network data integration and other activities with their partners.
The forum was also attended by entertainment industry analysts, who said that there is an ongoing increase in the demand for online variety shows. The company's CEO Gong Yu expressed that he is happy with the continuous rise of the industry.
Another Internet streaming company, Tencent Video, held its conference last week. General manager Ma Yankun shared the company's big plans to create a foundation supporting online variety shows. Yankun said that the planned cost for the foundation is 1 billion yuan ($153 million) every year. This investment intends to support top-rated producers and entertainment teams to create fresh content for their audiences.