Video apps cash in on rebroadcasting rights

Chinese video streaming platforms are scrambling to grab a new breed of subscribers willing to pay by acquiring rebroadcasting rights for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and inviting well-known Olympic champions and celebrities to deliver commentary, industry analysts said.

They added that the young generation, whose free time tends to be fragmented and sporadic, is exhibiting huge enthusiasm for the ongoing Games, and they prefer to watch the events through their mobile phones rather than on televisions.

The video app of Migu, a subsidiary of China Mobile that provides digital content and cultural services, is seeing growing popularity in China by inviting Wang Meng, a four-time short-track speedskating Olympic champion, to offer commentary on competitions.

As China won its first gold medal in the 2,000-meter short track speedskating mixed relay on Saturday, Wang's commentary, full of her signature straightforward wit delivered with a strong Northeast Chinese accent, wowed many netizens and created a major buzz on the internet. Wang's popularity motivated many people to download the Migu Video app to watch her and hear her thoughts.

As the exclusive all-media rights-holding broadcasting agency for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in the Chinese mainland and Macao, China Media Group has authorized Migu, Tencent, Kuaishou and three TV channels to broadcast the sports events.

Short video platform Kuaishou said users can view playbacks of Winter Olympic events and it will continue to launch Olympic-themed self-produced video content and provide users with interactive experiences via the invitation of celebrities, sports superstars and commentators.

"The passionate and humorous commentary of Wang Meng has helped Migu obtain a large number of users in a very short period of time, which will intensify competition in the video streaming industry to some extent," said Zhang Weilin, chief analyst of retail and entertainment industry at the LeadLeo Research Institute, a market research provider.

Zhang said major short video and livestreaming apps hope to increase new paying users, enhance user stickiness and speed up their monetization push with the help of the Winter Olympics, as the growth of users on internet platforms is slowing.

Chinese internet heavyweight Tencent said topics related to the Winter Olympics have been discussed more than 30 million times since Saturday.

The company has invited a batch of film and TV stars such as Gong Jun and Yang Zi to report the events.

Short videos have witnessed explosive growth in China. Data from consultancy iiMedia Research showed revenue from the country's short video industry reached 140.8 billion yuan ($22.1 billion) in 2020, up 70 percent on a yearly basis. And the figure is expected to have reached nearly 200 billion yuan in 2021.

Li Wenyu, a 25-year-old designer from a gaming company in Beijing, said she spent 6 yuan on a one-month membership for Migu to enjoy Wang's humorous and unique commentary.

Ma Shicong, an analyst with Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys, said the rebroadcasting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games will further promote the large-scale commercialization of 5G and enrich the application scenario of this superfast wireless technology.