iQiyi has put a large number of dramas on hold to make profits, and many executives have recently resigned

Updated reports:

In response to Sina Technology's report that iQiyi has shelved many dramas due to investment cuts, iQiyi told Sina Technology that iQiyi had previously planned to launch more than 150 dramas in 2022, and many dramas have already started filming.

Previous reports:

According to a recent report by Sina Technology, iQiyi has been reducing its content investment since the end of 2021, and the filming of many dramas and variety shows has been put on hold. Several content business executives have also resigned recently, many of whom are capable people.

An iQiyi middle-level manager revealed that in addition to Che Che, the former vice president of iQiyi and head of YOH Studio who had resigned earlier, Yang Yang, head of iQiyi's variety planning and variety promotion department, and Chen Qiyi, content marketing director in charge of drama and animation marketing, have also recently resigned from iQiyi.

Many projects have also been shelved or suspended. "Now iQiyi is cutting its investment in content across the board, whether it's dramas or variety shows, so the departure of these executives is expected. In fact, iQiyi has already begun to cut its content investment since the end of 2021."

The insider revealed that since the end of last year, many custom drama projects have been suspended, including "The Grace of the Sword Master" which was rated A internally. The suspension of the drama resulted in a loss of nearly 20 million. "In addition to this drama, many other projects have been shelved or suspended by iQiyi. Many of the projects that could be carried out have been forced to downgrade, which means that investment has to be reduced."

In addition to cost reduction, iQiyi is still working hard to open up new sources of revenue, among which the most anticipated is iQiyi's membership business. At the end of last year, iQiyi announced an update to the subscription price of VIP members, with the price of monthly and quarterly cards increasing by 9% to 20%.

Shortly after iQiyi raised its membership fees, Tencent Video and Youku also raised their membership fees. If iQiyi can achieve profit and loss balance at the operational level by continuously reducing costs, it will not be a bad thing for the other two companies. Only by returning to competition at the content value level can it benefit users and ensure its own healthy development.