Tencent sees video subscriber number drop sharply

Chinese video streaming outfit Tencent Video saw its subscription base drop by 9% year-on-year to 113 million at the end of March, with revenue from the unit declining by 6%, with Tencent blaming the decline primarily on delayed content releases.

Internet and e-commerce giant Tencent said it was enhancing content on the platform to cater to changing demand. In April it released new original drama series The Long Season

Tencent said it was also extending its collaboration with short-form video services to expand long-form content popularity and capture more monetisation.

Music subscription revenue meanwhile grew 30% year-on-year as Tencent upgraded the listening experience and strengthened cooperation with labels and artists, enhancing user engagement and paying propensity, according to the company.

While the streaming platform lost subscribers, Tencent’s social network Weixin – better known as WeChat – saw video accounts consumption grow.

Tencent said it had upgraded onboarding support for video content creators with greater traffic incentives, wider creator coverage and more effective content creation tools. It has also enhanced its eCommerce infrastructure, enabling creators to benefit from sales commissions associated with eCommerce transactions.

Tencent said the number of daily active creators and daily video uploads more than doubled year-on-year while the number of creators with over 10,000 followers more than tripled year-on-year.

Overall, Tencent saw revenues rise by 11% to RMB150 billion (US$1.8 billion) in the first quarter. Operating profit was RMB40.4 billion, up 9%.