14 Live Streaming Service in China
Xiang Zheng
Live streaming service is a fast-growing industry in China. Unlike traditional social media, live streaming service emphasizes on instantaneity and real-time interaction. But why does it attract Chinese audiences so much? How do people make money from it? Is the live streaming service sustainable?
What is Live Streaming Service?
Live streaming service is a social networking service that allows people to communicate with their audience instantly. Usually, during a live stream, there is a host and audience. The hosts use the camera on their mobile devices or laptops to broadcast, and people enter virtual rooms of the hosts through different live streaming apps to watch or even interact with the host, such as leaving comments and sending virtual gifts. While traditional TV live streaming is a one-way communication, the live streaming service now allows audiences to take more active and involving roles.
Among all the countries, the live streaming service in China develops the fastest. This is supported by some strong numbers. For example, “at the end of 2016, the China Internet Network Information Center estimated that approximately 344 million people in the country were consuming live-streamed content” (McMillin, 2017). Furthermore, “markedly, China’s live-streaming market grew 180% in 2016, which was estimated to be around 3 USD billion (Xiang, 2017)” (Long and Tefertiller, 2020, p. 1314). The most popular live-streaming apps in China include YY live, Huya, and Douyu. However, some other popular social media platforms, such as Douyin (the Chinese version of Tik Tok) and WeChat, also add the live-streaming feature to attract users and enhance user experiences.
The living streaming service in China is a lot different from the western counties. According to Long and Tefertiller (2020), “Unlike North American or European streamers, China has more professional/full-time streamers and content they stream is more diverse (Lu et al., 2018). In China, besides streaming live events or sharing among friends (Tang et al., 2016), SLSSs such as Douyu and YY live are enabling people to live stream almost anything they do to the masses – sharing thoughts and experiences with other people, chatting with audiences, showing off professional skills, playing online video games, or even just simply eating in front of the camera” (p. 1314). Clealy, the live streaming content in China varied significantly and can capture different interests of the audiences. In this essay, I am going to explore how people make money from live streaming services, how and why are the audiences being attracted and maintained, and the sustainability of the industry.
How do people make money?
To discuss the question of how people make money from the service, we must first recognize the people who are involved in and can potentially be profited from it. The most obvious group of people here is the hosts. The hosts can make money in various ways, in