A New Way of Being Together: iQIYI Reports Spring Festival 2022 Viewing Trends

BEIJING, Feb. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- iQIYI, an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, unveils the viewing trends during the 2022 Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday period, where users leveraged streaming platforms to be with their loved ones. iQIYI Research Center reveals that iQIYI has become the preferred streaming platform on which hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers find entertainment, with users from across generations all enjoying the diverse range of content iQIYI offers.

iQIYI as the Preferred Platform for Accessing Online Entertainment

In recent decades, New Year celebratory programs have emerged as a New Year tradition for many Chinese people. The data indicates that streaming the programs on platforms like iQIYI are becoming an increasingly popular way for Chinese people to perform the time-honored tradition that marks the CNY. According to iQIYI's content popularity index, the Spring Festival Gala Evening by the China Central Television and five other New Year celebratory programs by China's local TV channels are among the top 10 most popular content in the variety show category. 

The data also shows that more and more viewers are choosing to stream content on their smart TV. iQIYI's smart TV application, QIYIGUO TV, saw users' average daily viewing time reaching nearly three hours and extending to six hours during peak hours, which were morning to noon (9:00-12:00) and the late afternoon to evening (18:00-21:00). On smart TVs, dramas, films, and children's content were the most popular content.

The Broad Appeal of iQIYI's Rich Library of Content

iQIYI data reveals that history, comedy, action, fantasy, and martial arts films were among the most popular genres during the CNY period. The data further shows that while viewers enjoyed classics, newly released online films were also popular as four new films, released through the revenue-sharing model, hit RMB 10 million yuan each in box office on the platform alone.

iQIYI's rich content library also meant that the platform successfully serves a large viewer base with a diverse range of preferences. iQIYI contents were also seen to bridge the perceived gap in tastes between generations. For instance, realistic drama series A Lifelong Journey topped the ranking in the drama category. The show's popularity stands in contrast to the conventional sentiment that young people are disinterested in realistic dramas, as data shows that 46.8% of A Lifelong Journey's audience are under 30. One user shared via bullet comment that "the show reflects the dynamics between my parents and myself."

In addition to content of cross-generational appeals, iQIYI also offers a wide selection of content that caters to specific interests and tastes.  Among young viewers who were seen to select titles based on the content's perceived innovation and relevance to their lives, the fantasy drama Shining for One Thing was especially popular, with over 55% of the show's total viewership under the age of 24. Data also shows many female viewers enjoyed the show.

According to the data, the audiences also enjoy "Xiaopin," a form of traditional Chinese skit, from the Gala and other New Year celebratory programs. iQIYI's original variety show The Super Sketch Show was also especially welcomed during the CNY, with many viewers sharing real-time reactions and comments using bullet comments. Of note, some comedian participants of the show also appeared at the different Spring Festival Celebratory programs hosted by various TV networks.

Audience also used Qiguan—an original feature iQIYI rolled out to allow viewers to identify the information on screen with just one click—to enjoy an immersive viewing experience.

iQIYI Helps Grow Variety in China's Entertainment Industry

Dedicated to becoming the preferred destination for audiences across the globe looking for Chinese-language content, iQIYI spared no effort to ensuring an exciting and fun holiday for the viewers. Just before the CNY, the company announced that it had curated a special list of content for the holiday period to cater to users' different interests. The special content library features a selection of over 200 titles from iQIYI's rich library, including content from a wide array of genres, ranging from variety shows, dramas, films, children's content, animation, documentaries to sports, and covering comedy, suspense, romance and more.

CONTACT: iQIYI Press, [email protected]

SOURCE iQIYI