Mapping China: Film - Current Situation, Trend and Development: New Internet Trends

The internet has become a new impetus for the development of the Chinese film industry. As representatives of the internet economy and as entities that arrange the movie business, three dominant tech companies, collectively known as BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent), aim to improve the industrial chain, seek diversified developments, take advantage of the internet platform to explore the stock market of the film industry chain and expand the incremental part of the films’ post-industry chain. Traditional films and television companies are actively utilizing the internet to extend the industrial chain.

Online ticket purchases have become the mainstream channel for sales. Taking the box office report from Chinese city cinemas in November, 2015 as an example, in the top ten provinces the proportion of tickets sold online is about 70% of total sales.

Cinemas compete for screening times on the first day and the first weekend of a new film by actively cooperating with all kinds of electric ticket supplying platforms. They also provide discount fares of 19.9 yuan or even 9.9 yuan for a limited time. The lower prices of online tickets play an important role in cultivating the audience and giving them a better and more convenient viewing experience, but they also profoundly impact the traditional business model of the cinemas.

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