Chinese online dramas are moving towards "no time difference" to reach overseas audiences

In recent years, the process of Chinese online dramas going overseas has accelerated, with diversified genres, high-quality content, and synchronized broadcasts, and it has become a new global cultural phenomenon.

On May 11, the drama "New Life" launched by Youku White Night Theater topped the daily chart of Netflix, a global streaming platform, surpassing the Korean drama "Queen of Tears" which has dominated the chart for many days. Once "New Life" was launched, it triggered a wave of viewership and discussion around the world. Some overseas Chinese exclaimed, "Chinese dramas have evolved to this point!"

From the popularity of reality-themed TV series such as "My Altay", "The Bad Kids" and "The Long Season", to the hits of costume dramas such as "Joy of Life", "The Moon Shines" and "The Phoenix" on international media websites, as well as the rise of various short micro-dramas, whether it is the quality of the series, the speed of "updates" and the types of themes, they have already shown the same trend as American dramas, Korean dramas and Japanese comics that were popular all over the world in the past.

Three years ago, in order to learn Chinese, Canadian Kevin developed a habit - watching Chinese online dramas. Chinese costume dramas are the type of dramas he often watches. "Costume dramas have a heavy sense of history, and I can learn a lot about Chinese culture from them, such as clothing and living habits. Its plots always bring me great surprises. In addition, I think Chinese online dramas have a sense of undercurrent, leaving a lot of room for imagination."

In addition to costume dramas that are loved by overseas audiences for their distinct cultural identity, reality-themed dramas focusing on contemporary Chinese life are gradually gaining a place in international communication. At the 18th Seoul International Drama Awards, "The Long Season" won the Best Mini-Series Award.

Qiu Yi, a Singaporean born in the 1990s, likes The Beginning best. "The plot is compact, the setting is novel, and it triggers thought. These are what attract me to this drama." She said that realistic dramas not only allow her to see the "corners" of society, but also resonate with people.

The 2023 China TV Series Development Report released by the Development Research Center of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television shows that in recent years, China's TV series exports have maintained rapid growth. In 2022, the annual export value reached 82.74 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 45.6%. In contrast, the number and duration of exports have also increased significantly. In 2022, China exported 803 TV series with 142,000 episodes and a total of 100,000 hours, an increase of 12.25% from 714 in 2021.

In 2017, Netflix purchased the global distribution rights for the Chinese web drama "Day and Night Chase", making it the first Chinese web drama to be officially broadcast on a large scale overseas, marking the beginning of Chinese web dramas gaining a foothold on international streaming platforms.

In recent years, Chinese TV dramas have paid more attention to the effectiveness of overseas dissemination. From "going global" to "broadcasting", the construction of multiple platforms has become a strong driving force for online dramas to go overseas.

On the one hand, the "China Joint Booth Online Platform" jointly established by the State Council Information Office and the State Administration of Radio and Television continues to promote the overseas appearance of excellent Chinese dramas. On the other hand, Chinese dramas are also constantly disseminated on international video platforms such as YouTube and Viki with the help of relevant channels. At the same time, based on the creation of channels on international video platforms, industry video platforms such as Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku, and Mango TV have also taken the initiative to deploy localized operations and launched their own overseas applications, building a richer broadcast channel for Chinese online dramas to go overseas.

Wang Qiao, vice president of New Classics Media Group Co., Ltd. under China Literature Group, said that it is important to find suitable broadcasting platforms for Chinese web series in different regions. "For example, in Thailand and Indonesia, we used WeTV, the overseas version of Tencent Video, to broadcast "A Journey with the Phoenix"; for places that are not accessible by international stations, in order to allow more local customers to see our series, we will work hard to leverage the influence of local platforms."

The construction of multiple platforms has improved the efficiency of the overseas dissemination of online dramas. Content is king and remains the "source of fresh water" and the first priority.

From the "first year of online drama" in 2014 to the current trend of high-quality works and "going overseas", the development of Chinese online dramas has successfully torn off negative labels such as "shoddy" and "vulgar and low-level", and gradually entered a virtuous industry with both industry self-discipline and multi-party supervision. The changes behind this are due to the shift and upgrade of the online drama creation system and the core concept of adhering to content is king.

With tens of millions of works under Yuewen, it has become an important source of IP for Chinese online dramas. At the same time, the participation of overseas creators has further enriched the "treasure house" of online drama creation. According to relevant persons in charge of Yuewen Group, by the end of 2023, Qidian International has trained about 410,000 overseas online writers and launched about 620,000 overseas original works.

Recently, the second season of "Joy of Life" came to an end and was broadcast simultaneously on Disney's streaming platform Disney. The drama has also become the most popular Chinese mainland drama in its history.

In addition, as a form of film and television communication that has become popular in recent years, short dramas have gradually extended their reach overseas. ReelShort, a software under Chinese Online that is specifically designed for the overseas short drama market, ranks at the top of the download rankings in app stores in many countries and regions such as North America and Europe.

With the expansion of overseas communication channels, the timeliness of Chinese online dramas going abroad is becoming stronger and stronger. Many dramas are broadcast simultaneously at home and abroad, and the "time difference" in going overseas is gradually shortening.

Wang Qiao told reporters that during the simultaneous broadcast, overseas and domestic audiences will have some positive interactions. From the effect point of view, the value created by simultaneous broadcast at home and abroad is the greatest. Many S-level dramas such as "Joy of Life" adopt this method. Correspondingly, simultaneous broadcast at home and abroad will also bring great pressure to the film company. "Whether the materials meet international standards, how to solve the language problem, and even how the actors cooperate with some overseas publicity, these problems we need to solve one by one very early."

In the process of going overseas, Chinese online dramas often face the challenges of cultural differences and language barriers. This problem is particularly prominent when entering the European and American markets.

"The language translation problem of online dramas is something we have been working on, such as asking local people to translate the works, but it is indeed difficult to solve it completely, especially some of the jokes in comedy works. How to express the meaning clearly and make everyone understand it, we are also constantly accumulating experience." Wang Qiao said.

In recent years, as the process of online dramas going overseas has accelerated, many companies are constantly exploring new ways to go overseas while "riding the wind and waves". In Wang Qiao's view, market segmentation is a fundamental method of operating overseas markets. "Even for the same work, we will have different packaging in different places. This process is not only a respect for local consumers, but also allows us to have a deeper understanding of each market."

It has become a consensus among many companies in the industry to make preparations early and pursue the internationalization of works with a long-term approach.

Industry insiders said that while online dramas are becoming more and more popular overseas, they are still in the "shallow sea" in terms of cultural "reach", and the main users are still overseas Chinese. When it comes to future development, industry insiders suggest that in terms of production forms, more extensive and deeper international cooperation can be carried out. In terms of content, attention should be paid to cultural adaptive adjustments, focusing on common human values ​​and common emotions, and constantly exploring innovative narrative methods to better express the spirit of the times.