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szdaily -> In depth -> 
Network broadcasting:A booming and controversial industry
    2016-07-26  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    An emerging industry is sweeping across the Internet with young people putting on live shows on broadcast platforms.

    However bright its future, the industry remains shady and controversial due to moral issues as well as legal problems.

    Zhang Qian, Wang Piaoyi

    zhqcindy@163.com

    THE Internet has gradually blurred the boundaries between personal life and the public space. An emerging industry is sweeping across the Internet with young people putting on live shows on broadcast platforms.

    While doing the live broadcast, they talk, play online games, dance, draw, eat or even just sit in front of their monitors. Through the audience’s “likes” and virtual gifts, the platforms, brokerages and the anchors themselves rake in considerable amounts of money.

    Yet the underlying huge profit is also generated to feed and nurture other related industries including online games, e-commerce shops, the cosmetic industry and so forth. All stakeholders behind the screens thrive on the support of their audiences.

    A well-paid job

    Tang Yixuan, 24, started working as a contract anchor at a company owned by her friend last year. She started playing popular online games to attract fans. To make her shows more appealing, she invited another anchor to narrate the games for her on a separate window inside the virtual “broadcast room.”

    Now Tang has given up broadcasting games because of her poor gaming skills, and mainly talks with her audience while doing the live shows. Her exquisite looks and mild temper helped her keep more than 3,000 fans, mostly male, following her broadcast account.

    “Most of the audience is men who are seeking a sense of being in my broadcast room, because I would say nice things to them and always praise them. In return, they buy me virtual gifts, which I can cash into real money,” said Tang.

    The anchor said one time a fan of hers gave her a virtual airplane that was worth 500 yuan (US$74.9) in real life, but in Tang’s eyes, the underlying profit is way more than just the gifts.

    “People talk about myriad topics, ranging from entertainments, such as singing and dancing, to personal interests; for instance, cooking and outdoor activities. Network anchors can always get a large audience which shares the same interests,” said Tang.

    Entering the field does require an anchor to either be good-looking or have some talent. Tang said that many young women had cosmetic surgeries, or put on heavy make-up, to make them look good on the screen.

    Unlike many anchors who choose to do live broadcasts because they can stay at home instead of going out for jobs, Tang has a bigger plan for her career. Accumulating fans is just step one for her.

    “I have observed many cyber celebrities who became famous by originally doing online broadcasts. Once they have accumulated enough fans, they can sell products and put advertisements on their platform,” said Tang. She is serious about her job.

    Tang’s parents are opposed to what their daughter is doing. “My parents don’t think I am doing a decent job, but I am building my career path,” said Tang. To satisfy her parents and financially support herself better, Tang found a sales job during the day, and does the live shows at night.

    According to her, the peak hours of online broadcasting start at around 6 or 7 p.m. and last until late at night. For the last month, Tang just casually broadcasted a few times at night, and she earned 3,600 yuan, nearly half of what a white-collar employee can earn by working full time for a month.

    Apart from the income made through various kinds of online gifts, there are many other ways live shows can be valuable.

    The platform can help anchors attract fans to support their other business, such as their online stores.

    Yang Hao, head of a Chengdu-based brokerage company’s Shenzhen branch, said that their company’s contract anchors sometimes also need to attend commercial activities like product launches.

    “The anchors will inform their fans that they will attend the launches in advance so that their loyal fans will follow them to the launches to see them in person, or watch the live broadcast on their computers or phones,” said Yang. The company pays the anchors to join these product launches and other commercial activities.

    Advertisement is another way of raking in money. According to a report from Xinhua News Agency, China’s State media, a famous and influential online celebrity can earn over 100,000 yuan for posting one advertisement on their social media account.

    According to Yang, the anchors share the largest profit as they get 70 percentof the money from the virtual gifts. The online platforms receive around 20 percent as commission while the brokerages take the remaining 10 percent.

    It is estimated that overall the online celebrity industry’s revenue will get close to 58 billion yuan this year, surpassing last year’s total box office of 44 billion yuan, read the report.

    Compared to cities in inland or northern China, Shenzhen’s network broadcasting industry still lags behind.

    “There are too many ways to earn money in Shenzhen, and people mostly have a negative impression of this industry,” said Yang, who thinks Chengdu, Beijing and Hangzhou are better cities for the industry.

    A controversial industry

    However bright its future, the industry remains shady and controversial due to moral issues as well as legal problems.

    Another young woman in her early 20s, Xiaomin (alias), became an entertainment network anchor a few months ago.

    Unlike Tang, who regards broadcasting as a way to earn money and do further business, Xiaoming has experienced a huge personal change after suffering significant emotional setbacks since starting the job.

    At first, harsh comments from the audience were unacceptable to the 22-year-old, and she would even burst into tears during the live shows. Later, she learned to get used to them and tame her feelings. Now, even the harshest comments suddenly thrown on the screen won’t change her facial expression.

    “I just kick him out of the Web casting room, and continue my chats with the rest of the audience,” said Xiaomin.

    Besides, she thinks that live Web casting makes her daily schedule irregular, because she always continues the broadcasts until late at night. Many young anchors do not leave their homes to interact with others face-to-face.

    To attract more fans, it is easy for anchors to overstep the boundary between live shows and pornography, and even commit crimes without realizing their transgression.

    In January 2016, a couple broadcasted themselves, also on Douyu TV, having sexual intercourse. Senior officials of the platform were ordered to shut down the casting room, and to block the network anchor’s account. Also this year, two men live web-casted themselves violently beating an elderly person.

    In 2015, a tomb raider, hidden behind a mask, broadcasted on Douyu TV (one of the biggest broadcasting platforms), while robbing a tomb.

    There are other controversia issues. In 2014, a network anchor with the alias Kaka, attempted to commit suicide by cutting her wrist during a live show because some audience members insulted her with harsh words.

    Vicious incidents have continued to emerge over the last few years, which has caused the authorities’ to tighten regulations on live broadcasting. An array of measures have been taken to restrict live shows since the beginning of this year.

    The Cyberspace Administration of China has required that anchors go through identity authentication, by providing their cellphone numbers, real names and ID card numbers.

    The Ministry of Culture has recently conducted an operation that shut down 4,313 online broadcast rooms, regulated 15,795 rooms, punished 16,881 online performers and ordered 1,502 online performers to terminate their contracts. Platforms that had allowed illegal and immoral shows were fined, or otherwise punished.

    Though regulations are getting stricter for these practitioners, it is an inevitable trend of Internet development. Tang is considering a shift to using her smartphone for live shows in the following weeks. “Broadcasting by phone is much more convenient, since I can talk with my audience wherever I go, it helps me maintain communication with them,” said Tang.

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