On September 25, the 2024 iQIYI iJOY Autumn Enjoyment Conference was held in Shanghai, themed "Inward Focus and Upward Motivation." iQIYI's founder and CEO Gong Yu, Chief Content Officer Wang Xiaohui, and Senior Vice President Wu Gang delivered keynote speeches, sharing insights on current industry trends and the company's latest strategies across content creation, technological innovation, and brand marketing. Additionally, iQIYI unveiled over 300 titles for 2024-2025, showcasing its rich content library and mature creative methodology.
Embrace Change
With the theme "Everything Flows; Nothing Stays the Same; The Only Constant in the World is Change," Gong Yu analyzed three significant shifts facing the content industry: the “Shift between Long and Short,” the "AI Shift," and the "Mainland Drama Shift," while announcing iQIYI's three main countermeasures.
Since 2016, the average number of episodes in dramas has been gradually decreasing, delivering tighter plots and faster pacing to meet viewer demands. In 2020, iQIYI led the way by launching the "Mystery Theater," which focuses on short dramas characterized by high-quality production and concise storytelling, garnering significant market attention and imitation. Simultaneously, short video platforms, which have risen rapidly by offering fragmented content, began exploring structured narrative approaches for dramatic content, resulting in rapid growth for paid micro-dramas, with the market size increasing to 37.4 billion yuan in the past year, a year-on-year growth of 268%. The evolution of long and short video formats has introduced competitive opportunities and new avenues for growth in the market.
In response to this shift, iQIYI officially launched the "Short Theater" and "Micro Theater." Micro-dramas in these theaters are exclusive to iQIYI VIP members without any additional pay-per-view fees. Gong Yu emphasized that iQIYI's short dramas are not simply truncated low-cost web series, and that the micro-dramas are not of lower quality compared to smaller programmatic offerings; he hopes to work with industry partners to explore innovation together. He stated, “Unlike the micro-drama business model that allocates over 90% of its revenue to traffic spending, iQIYI's model distributes over 70% of revenue to content creators.”
With the ongoing advancements in technologies such as AI, content distribution methods that once relied on manual editing and algorithmic recommendations have also evolved. Gong Yu predicts that the current trend of AI "Large Models" is geared toward deep insights into content and user needs, facilitating strong interactions between users and machines, and providing emotional companionship to users. He revealed that iQIYI's intelligent assistant "Peach Bean 2.0" is currently in development, which will integrate large language model technology and offer functionalities across recommendation, search, and customer service, aiming to provide users with an entertainment experience where they get exactly what they want. Currently, users can chat and interact with virtual characters through "Peach Bean 1.0" on the iQIYI app.
Simultaneously, the popularity of mainland dramas in overseas markets continues to rise. Google search data shows that the search interest in mainland dramas has been steadily climbing and has recently surpassed that of Korean dramas. According to AMP data from the first quarter of 2024, in Southeast Asia, the popularity and market share of mainland dramas has also exceeded that of Korean dramas, becoming the preferred entertainment choice for local users. Gong Yu noted, "The value of mainland content in overseas marketing has evidently increased, and content creators should start dedicating efforts to develop content for international markets." Currently, half of iQIYI's overseas content consists of mainland productions, followed by Thai dramas and content from Japan and South Korea, comprising a cross-regional popular content mix, as well as purely overseas local productions, primarily serving local users.
Content Focus
This year, iQIYI has successfully launched a series of acclaimed works, including “My Altay” and “King of Comedy: Stand-up Season,” with the enthusiastic response to these titles confirming the company's keen insights into market trends. Wang Xiaohui, iQIYI's Chief Content Officer, pointed out that in the future, iQIYI will continue to adhere to the principle of “Empathizing Downwards, Creating Upwards,” with the majority of its diverse and plentiful creative content being focused on "positive deconstruction." They will also persist in "reverse construction," advocating for an audacious disruption of conventions and innovation in content forms, as challenging as it may be, to heal hearts, inspire determination, and give birth to the biggest hits.
Wang Xiaohui stated that iQIYI will complete the deconstruction and reconstruction of creative content through various types of dramas. At this conference, iQIYI announced a diverse and rich lineup of upcoming dramas, featuring heavyweight productions across multiple genres including realism, historical fantasy, and suspense. Multiple theatrical brands will continue to launch new content; the Micro Dust Theater and the Everyone Theater will explore "reverse construction," leading in high aesthetic and literary quality, with Micro Dust Theater presenting “In the Realm” and Everyone Theater showcasing “Going North,” “Creating Life,” and “Being Happy.” The Little Dou Theater, Love Theater, and Mystery Theater will focus on "positive deconstruction," analyzing current social relationships, with Little Dou Theater launching the second season of “Don’t Panic, King” and “King of Comedy,” and Love Theater featuring works such as “Seven Nights of Snow,” “The Great Dream Returns,” and “Endless Love," along with the upcoming “Borrowing Life” and “Justifiable Defense” from Mystery Theater. Furthermore, iQIYI will continue to advance the serialized development of drama IPs, with titles like “The Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty: Chang'an,” “Police Honor 2,” “Fearless 2,” and “Crime Artefact 2” set to meet audiences successively, extending the vitality of quality content IPs.
In the realm of micro-dramas, iQIYI plans to promote the integration of long and short videos in creative production, with the “Micro Theater” introducing two new works each week, focusing on 1-5 minute vertical screen content targeting male and female demographics and senior audiences; “Short Theater” aims to release one new work weekly, spanning various topics like ancient romance, contemporary romance, and suspense, with episodes lasting 5-20 minutes in horizontal format.
During the event, the strongest lineup for iQIYI’s 2025 original variety shows was showcased, featuring top industry directors and producers such as Yan Min, Che Che, Jin Lei, Lu Wei, Wang Zhengyu, and Sun Li presenting a series of new original variety shows including “Asian Voices,” “Sister Who Manages the Home,” “Come Home for Dinner,” “A Journey Through Blossoms,” and “You Decide.” Popular offerings like “Let’s Farm 3,” “The New Rap 2025,” and “HaHaHaHaHa 5” will also make their appearances, and iQIYI will launch series of cultural and tourism variety shows such as “Just Right to Go Far” and “Mountain and Sea Tales 2” to showcase the charm of cities through content.
iQIYI's annual grand event, “Scream Night,” will make a strong return on December 7 at the Galaxy Macau, reflecting on the significant events in the film and television entertainment industry from 2024 and recognizing outstanding works and creators of the year. Numerous stars and industry icons will be present to witness this glorious moment.
Additionally, iQIYI has made new breakthroughs across various sectors, including documentaries, films, animation, children's content, sports events, and multiple entertainment industries. In the documentary realm, iQIYI will launch over 20 original documentaries on various subjects, including crime, general history, and cultural tourism. Among them, “Chronicles of Chinese History” is a large-scale historical documentary co-produced with China Education Television, set for a grand release in the second half of 2025.
Regarding platform film development, iQIYI, as the largest film production and broadcasting platform in the country, will continue to strengthen its diversified distribution strategy and operation models across cinemas and online platforms, bringing works like “The Love that Doesn’t Speak,” “Mars Mission,” “The Ghostwriter,” and “Shark Beach.”
The animation sector will roll out titles such as “Super Power Cube” and “Cang Lan Jue: Three Realms,” as well as seasons for “The Great Ruler” and “The Heavenly Demon.”
Children's content will continue to focus on long-term IP incubation with increased investment in self-produced content, with major projects like “The Invincible Deer Squad” and “Music Princess Amelia” welcoming their fourth seasons, and new projects like “Rainbow Guard” and “Little Chef Meow Food Truck” set to launch, further diversifying the children's content portfolio.
Moreover, in the sports domain, iQIYI Sports boasts several top-tier international event resources, including the UEFA Champions League, the Premier League, and the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers, providing sports users with a one-stop audiovisual feast.
iQIYI will continue to deepen its IP ecosystem, partnering with numerous collaborators to expand the length, depth, and breadth of the IP ecosystem while extending its lifecycle and creating richer commercial value. Wang Xiaohui highlighted that the largest IP in China currently is the city itself, and that content and urban cultural tourism are closely intertwined, presenting broad market opportunities. Since 2021, iQIYI has employed the marketing methodology “One Drama Ignites One City,” collaborating with over 20 provinces and cities to create film and television cultural tourism IPs. Concurrently, iQIYI has enriched its IP landscape through seasonal IPs, interactions between drama and variety shows, and cross-sector collaborations like VR immersive theaters, stage performances, and official IP peripheral experience stores, to cater to the increasingly diverse entertainment needs of audiences.
With the launch of the micro-drama theater, iQIYI's content marketing “All-Venue Ecosystem” will continue to upgrade. Senior Vice President Wu Gang stated that iQIYI will further unlock the commercial potential of the new ecology of “Long + Short” dramas. For long drama marketing, brands can precisely define target audiences through a reservation feature prior to release and invest in marketing products throughout the entire lifecycle of the IP; short drama marketing will focus on theatrical operations, accurately reaching target groups through specialized theaters while providing customized short drama content to ensure the efficient distribution of brand messages. In variety show marketing, iQIYI has innovatively introduced the "Long-Short Direct" model, which has been validated in the second season of “Let’s Farm.” This model will also be implemented in upcoming projects like “Burning Moon” and “My Arena,” providing brands with a comprehensive marketing closure solution.
Looking ahead, iQIYI will focus on the new content ecosystem that integrates “Long + Short,” continually producing high-quality content that resonates with viewers and supports brand partners in achieving marketing growth.