Welcome to iQIYI’s bi-weekly news round-up! Here you’ll find the latest news and stories from the company, from entertainment, tech to business and from local to regional. If you are interested in learning more about iQIYI, please do not hesitate to reach out to press@qiyi.com .
(May. 16, 2022-May. 27, 2022)
CONTENT
iQIYI Releases 213 New Titles, Providing Users with Inspirational Content
iQIYI announced the upcoming release of 213 new pieces of content including TV series, films, and variety shows on May 20, a day celebrated due to closeness in pronunciations between the date and ‘I love you’ in Chinese.
Capturing the zeitgeist, the new slate of content features mainstream titles that illustrate the happiness and hardships encountered by individuals to society as a whole. In addition, the wide range of genres that the new content delivers will enable iQIYI to meet the increasingly diverse preferences of audiences. iQIYI will be launching 20 variety shows, reflecting the latest interests and lifestyle trends amongst young people.
In terms of iQIYI’s popular theater modes, iQIYI will continue to improve the offering for existing theaters, such as the suspense-themed Light On Theater, the romance-themed Sweet On Theater and the comedy-themed Laugh On Theater, and release new theater categories. To celebrate the “day of 520”, iQIYI’s Sweet On Theater launches five Chinese dramas, putting the spotlight on romance series, including Love The Way You Are, Love in Time, See You Again, Mr. Bad and Love Between Fairy and Devil.
iQIYI Airs Original Variety Show The Detectives' Adventures Season 2, Providing Users with an Immersive and Relaxing Watching Experience
On May 27, iQIYI debuts the second season of its self-produced variety show, The Detectives' Adventures, an immersive reality show based on detective stories adapted from classic IPs. The detective group includes eight MCs, who will engage with the audience and participate in games to solve the mysteries. The first season of The Detectives' Adventures became a hit variety show especially amongst families, and the new season aims to provide viewers with an even more immersive and relaxing watching experience.
In addition, the second season features new ways of production that restore scenes from classic movies and television series, building an immersive environment for detectives to explore. The plots in The Detectives' Adventures Season 2 will be based on a wider variety of dramas, including fantasy, sitcom, mystery crime, spy thriller, and other genres to meet the diverse preferences of viewers. As the plot gradually unfolds, MCs will participate in the games and keep the audience engaged by acting out the well-known scenes from classic IPs.
iQIYI Lands Italian Serie A Broadcast Rights, Providing Users with One-stop Football Content Services
On May 19, iQIYI Sports announced that it has obtained the broadcast rights for the Italian Serie A and will begin to broadcast matches starting the upcoming season. The 2022/23 Serie A season begins on Aug. 14, at that time, fans can watch the exciting Serie A matches on all iQIYI Sports and QIYIGUO TV platforms. With Premier League, La Liga and UEFA Champions League in its offering, iQIYI Sports already features many exciting contents. With the addition of the Italian Serie A, iQIYI Sports creates a truly one-stop football content services platform for its fans.
In addition to live broadcast of the matches, iQIYI Sports will launch a series of related content such as latest updates, match predictions, on-the-spot reporting and match highlights of Serie A. Meanwhile, through in-depth cooperation with Serie A clubs, iQIYI aims to provide viewers with more fresh and interesting content in the future.
iQIYI PICTURES’ Almost Love to be Released across China on Chinese Valentine's Day, Exploring Modern Romance
On May 21, iQIYI announced that the movie Almost Love, which is presented by iQIYI PICTURES and Hengye Pictures, is slated to premiere in theaters across the country on Aug. 4, the Chinese Valentine's Day. The movie is directed by LUO Luo and stars young actors LI Wenhan and XU Ruohan.
Almost Love traces the love story of ZHOU Can (played by LI Wenhan) and YU Jiaoyang (played by XU Ruohan) from school to work life, showing how their relationship, both sweet and bitter, gradually transforms. The film is realistic in its depiction of the love lives of young people today, creating strong resonance with the audience.
BUSINESS
iQIYI Reports 2021 Q1 Earnings, Records Quarterly Non-GAAP Operating Profit for the Very First Time
On May 26, iQIYI reported its 2022 Q1 earnings results. In the first quarter of 2022, iQIYI records quarterly non-GAAP operating profit for the very first time, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the company’s new strategy and execution. In Q1 2022, total revenues were RMB7.3 billion (US$1.1 billion). Operating income was RMB93.4 million (US$14.7 million), compared to operating loss of RMB1.0 billion in the same period in 2021. Operating income margin was 1%, compared to operating loss margin of 13% in the same period in 2021. Non-GAAP operating income was RMB326.6 million (US$51.5 million) and non-GAAP operating income margin was 4%, compared to non-GAAP operating loss of RMB658.2 million and non-GAAP operating loss margin of 8% in the same period in 2021.
"During the first quarter of 2022, we delivered a select portfolio of premium shows, bringing membership services growth; we improved our operating efficiency, leading to margin expansion and profits. Our new strategy cemented our market leadership while yielding healthy financial performance." commented Mr. Yu Gong, Founder, Director, and Chief Executive Officer of iQIYI. "Going forward, we will adhere to the same strategy, which will create value for all stakeholders within our ecosystem, including our users and our shareholders."
iQIYI Launches New Digital Collectibles Set for the Virtual Idol Band RiCH BOOM, Another Step in Its Continued Metaverse Exploration
During May. 16 to May.25, iQIYI announced its plan to release another set of digital collectibles for characters from RiCH BOOM, iQIYI's first virtual idol band. The launch shows the company’s strong commitment in its exploration of IP monetization and metaverse-based business model. Developed based on RiCH BOOM’s characters including bassist PAPA, leading vocalist K-ONE and drummer Rainbow, the set was created by iQIYI's in-house team who completed the full production cycle from character design to modeling. All the characters are presented to the audience through 3D animation of premium quality on par with that of animated movies.
iQIYI embraces both online and offline channels to maximize consumers' access to the digital collectibles. Purchasing different sets, consumers would have the opportunity to receive benefits including official posters and iQIYI membership annual passes.
iQIYI launched an array of digital collectibles early this year, including the set released in April to celebrate the company's 12th anniversary. The set sold 3,000 copies within its first three minutes of release. On Jan. 21, iQIYI also launched its first set of digital collectibles based on the company’s popular original show Luoyang.
TECHNOLOGY
iQIYI Paper Accepted by World Leading AI Conference CVPR, Further Improving the Accuracy and Efficiency of "Virtual Try-on"
iQIYI announced on May. 16 that its paper "ClothFormer: Taming Video Virtual Try-on in All Module” was accepted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), which is among the world's top three academic conferences in the field of computer vision. Drafted by iQIYI’s technical teams, the paper explores using an image-generated model to fit clothes from digital images to a person in a video.
Virtual try-on technology confronts three major technical challenges: to accurately change the shape of a piece of clothing so that it fits a virtual model in motion; to “put” the clothes on the model; and to generate high-quality try-on videos. To address these technical challenges, iQIYI's AI team came up with the ClothFormer algorithm, presenting a novel video virtual try-on framework that efficiently addresses the occlusion and stabilization issues, thereby delivering high-quality video outputs despite complicated motions and environments.
In the future, when making short videos on iQIYI, users can “pick outfits” from any images featuring clothes and “change” into those clothes in just one click. Virtual try-on technology can also be applied in virtual production. For example, it allows actors to change their costumes automatically after a scene is shot, saving cost and reducing the time spent on shooting and resetting.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
iQIYI's Launches A "Caring for the Hearing Impaired" Campaign to Raise Awareness for Hearing Health
On May. 15, China's 32nd National Day for Helping the Disabled, iQIYI's social responsibility team launched a "Caring for the Hearing Impaired" campaign to call for attention on hearing health.
On the same day, iQIYI premiered Unspoken Love, a short film from director SHA Mo that tells the story of a couple with hearing impairment trying to help their daughter to speak. Introducing his inspiration for the film, Sha calls for more care for people with hearing impairment.
In addition to Unspoken Love, iQIYI's social responsibility team worked with the Audiology Development Foundation of China and IHEARU Charity Fund to produce and distribute other contents—including short films, documentaries, public service advertising, and other high-quality content—to raise public awareness for hearing care. 17 celebrity volunteers also jointly launched an initiative, calling for support and care for people with impaired hearing.
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