mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 94: Two episodes updated daily.
Chapter 94: Two episodes updated daily.
At noon, the fourth episode of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was released online.
In this episode, Guo Jing arrives in the Central Plains and encounters Huang Rong, a young beggar disguised as a man.
When Huang Rong ordered a table full of expensive dishes, and Guo Jing honestly took out his money, the scene of Huang Rong shoveling rice with her head down and her eyes slightly moving sent a shiver down the spines of countless viewers.
"This detail moved Huang Rong!"
"Guo Jing is truly good, purely good."
"The scene capturing their first encounter was so well done; it's far more sophisticated than those 'love at first sight' shots!"
Just two hours after the broadcast, #GuoJingHuangRongFirstEncounter# became the number one trending topic.
Consequently, #TheLegendoftheCondorHeroes# also surged to third place on the trending topics list.
The number of views skyrocketed: it broke five million in four hours, thirty million in eight hours, and fifty million in twenty-four hours.
In contrast, "The Sword's Roar" and "Above the Court" still maintain two episodes per day, but the number of views per episode has been declining, and the level of discussion is significantly lower than that of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".
It can be said that after the fourth episode aired, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" made a complete turnaround and became the most popular drama.
The fact that the fourth episode of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" surpassed 50 million views was like a bombshell, causing a sensation in the entertainment industry.
Major media outlets urgently adjusted their headlines:
"The Legend of the Condor Heroes makes a comeback! The scarcity marketing strategy is a huge success!"
"By releasing one episode every two days, surpassing two episodes a day, has Lu Ran won his bet?"
"With positive word-of-mouth, 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' has become the biggest dark horse of the summer!"
Industry forums and analysts are also beginning to re-examine this unconventional drama series:
"We all underestimated the power of 'scarcity marketing' in the long-form video field. When the content is of high quality, appropriate scarcity can actually generate greater dissemination potential."
"The success of 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' proves one thing: what audiences want is quality, not quantity. Six episodes a day? Most people simply can't digest that much."
"Lu Ran understands the market and human nature too well. From writing songs to producing dramas, and now to his operational strategies, every step he takes is frighteningly precise."
Anyway, that's the result. As for whether it's because the drama was well-made or Lu Ran's strategy was good, nobody cares.
If you succeed, great scholars will naturally come to debate with you.
The executives of Starlight Entertainment and Star China Entertainment are currently in a state of utter chaos.
During the emergency meeting, the production directors of both companies were also arguing fiercely within their own companies.
"We must adjust our strategy! 'Sword's Cry Across the Horizon' will also be changed to one episode every two days!"
"According to the official Weibo account, 'Above the Court' will now be updating one episode every two days!"
Seeing the immense popularity of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," both companies had no choice but to decide to try updating every two days as well.
Although they knew that doing so might bring them criticism, how could they not be tempted by the impressive performance of Xingyao Data?
However, after the two Weibo posts were published, there was no noticeable improvement.
The reputation and popularity of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" have created a snowball effect.
Even before the fifth episode aired, related topics on Weibo had already garnered over 500 million views.
Countless viewers lamented under the official Weibo post:
"Two days have been so long! Every day feels like an eternity!"
"I've watched the first four episodes three times already, I almost know all the lines by heart, please release the fifth episode soon!"
"I'm voting with my real name for 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' which updates two episodes a day. After watching 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' watching any other show feels like eating a delicious meal and then seeing dog poop."
At the same time, what shocked the industry even more was the audience composition of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".
According to data, this drama not only attracted traditional martial arts drama audiences, but also a large number of young viewers, especially female viewers.
They were attracted by Guo Jing's honesty and sincerity and Huang Rong's cleverness and cunning, and were even more moved by the simple yet touching emotions in the drama.
In past dramas, whether modern or period, women were mostly relegated to the background, primarily serving to highlight the male lead's chauvinism.
The portrayal of Huang Rong in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" greatly enhanced the female viewers' impression of the series.
"This is true romance between heroes and heroines! A million times better than those artificially sweetened ones!"
"Guo Jing and Huang Rong are locked up! I'll swallow the key!"
"The bond between the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan and Guo Jing as master and disciple is also so touching; seven eccentrics raised a simpleton like their own son..."
"My favorite quote is still Master Ke's: 'Act according to my word!'"
...
Starry Entertainment, CEO's Office.
Looking at the latest data report, Li Mo finally smiled.
He picked up the phone and called Lu Ran: "Lu Ran, come to my office."
A few minutes later, Lu Ran pushed the door open and came in.
"Sit down." Li Mo personally poured him a cup of tea. "Did you see the data?"
"I saw it." Lu Ran took the tea.
"You won," Li Mo said with emotion. "Not only did you win, you won beautifully. Now, all those voices in the company that questioned you have fallen silent."
Lu Ran smiled but didn't say anything.
This situation was entirely within his expectations.
It was only a matter of time before "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" surpassed the two dramas, but he didn't expect the data to rise so quickly.
Perhaps it was because the audience was eating fine bran for the first time that this process was greatly accelerated.
"However, I heard that Xinghua Entertainment and Xingguang Entertainment are also going to follow your example and switch to updating once every two days."
Lu Ran smiled dismissively and retorted, "President Li, do you think my success this time was solely due to scarcity marketing?"
When Lu Ran suddenly asked him this question, Li Mo pondered for a moment and replied, "The scarcity marketing strategy played a significant role, but I think the most crucial factor is still the quality of your own work."
"That's right. In fact, the most fundamental reason is that my script is good, Director Chen Ke's filming is good, and our actors' performances are good." Lu Ran continued, "The scarcity marketing method can only be considered a catalyst at best, but if the quality of the work is not good enough, this catalyst may have the opposite effect."
Li Mo nodded, indicating his agreement with Lu Ran's opinion.
"Moreover," Lu Ran hadn't finished speaking, "since they plan to air one episode every two days, I'll do the opposite and we'll change it too."
"Change it to two episodes a day."
...
Following the official announcements from Starlight Entertainment and Star China Entertainment, the internet was indeed filled with criticism.
Many viewers also understand that this is because the two companies saw the success of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and quickly tried to imitate it.
But my personal opinion of both companies has indeed dropped considerably.
With only one episode every two days, the amount of time viewers have to watch has been greatly reduced, which can be considered a relief for them.
Just as the audience was thinking this, Xingyao Entertainment's official Weibo account also posted a message:
Starting tomorrow, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" will be updated daily, with two episodes per day.
The audience was completely bewildered, but their attitude was completely different from before.
Two episodes of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" released daily? Is that even possible?
...