According to information published by the National Radio and Television Administration, a total of 724 domestic online drama series with 12,103 episodes were approved for release in the first half of 2025, compared to 830 series with 13,686 episodes in the same period of 2024, representing year-over-year decreases of 12.77% and 11.57% respectively. According to Yunhe Data, long-video platforms launched a total of 271 drama series in the first half of 2025, a decrease of 33 series year-over-year; among these, 137 new domestic dramas were launched, an increase of 7 series year-over-year; domestic library content and overseas dramas launched 71 and 63 series respectively, decreasing by 36 and 4 series year-over-year respectively.
The four major platforms - iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku Video, and Mango TV - launched 56, 84, 33, and 17 domestic drama series respectively. Except for Mango TV which increased by 5 series, the other three platforms all experienced varying degrees of decline in quantity. The concentration of top drama series in the market decreased year-over-year, with more drama series but fewer blockbusters, as the market shifted from a "one standout" pattern to a "dispersed" format. In the first half of 2025, only 3 drama series exceeded 50 million views per episode, 2 fewer than the same period last year.
In recent years, micro-short dramas have rapidly become a hotspot in the audiovisual industry due to their flexible and diverse formats and rapid distribution advantages. According to the "2024 China Micro-Short Drama Industry Research Report," China's micro-short drama market reached 50.5 billion yuan in 2024, surpassing the movie box office scale for the first time. The market scale is expected to reach 63.43 billion yuan in 2025 and 85.65 billion yuan in 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.2%.
As of August 31, 2025, all A-share drama companies had disclosed their 2025 interim reports. The combined operating revenue of Huanrui Century, Ciwen Media, Baina Qiancheng, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd., and Zhejiang Huace Film & TV totaled 1.358 billion yuan, up 62.75% year-over-year; combined net profit attributable to parent company was -17.822 million yuan, down 106.72% year-over-year, turning from profit to loss.
**Baina Qiancheng's Drama Business Plummets 90%, May Completely Pivot to Marketing Track**
Based on comprehensive interim report data, among the 5 drama companies, some are celebrating while others are struggling. Zhejiang Huace Film & TV is the only company achieving both revenue and net profit growth while maintaining profitability, with year-over-year increases of 114.94% and 65.05% respectively. Meanwhile, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV had the highest revenue scale at 790 million yuan, exceeding the combined revenue of the other 4 drama companies and representing 4 times the revenue of second-place Ciwen Media in the same period.
Baina Qiancheng experienced the largest revenue decline year-over-year, decreasing 46.43% to 136 million yuan compared to the previous year; net loss was 20 million yuan, representing a 33.34% reduction in losses year-over-year. Both Huanrui Century and Ciwen Media fell into situations of revenue growth without profit growth, achieving significant revenue increases but experiencing net profit declines of 139.86% and 262.10% respectively year-over-year, turning from profit to loss. Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. was the only company with both revenue and net profit declines, with year-over-year decreases of 19.68% and 54.39% respectively.
For drama companies, TV drama sales represent the core revenue source. In the first half, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV's TV drama production and copyright distribution business generated 524 million yuan in revenue, up 153.38% year-over-year, accounting for 66.29% of total revenue in the period, an increase of 10.06 percentage points year-over-year. Ciwen Media and Huanrui Century's film/TV drama and derivative product revenues surged 284.55% and 446.61% year-over-year respectively, accounting for 99.81% and 67.90% of their total revenues respectively.
Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd.'s TV drama business revenue was 29.5089 million yuan, down 38% year-over-year, accounting for 66.44% of total revenue, a significant decline of 19.63 percentage points year-over-year. With weak core business performance, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. employed various measures to attempt self-rescue, adding script creation and sales business in this period, generating 7.5472 million yuan in revenue, accounting for 16.99% of total revenue.
Baina Qiancheng undoubtedly represents the most successful transformation, with drama business contributing 32.01% of revenue in the first half of 2024, but this period's drama business revenue was only 8.0024 million yuan, a sharp 90.17% decline year-over-year, accounting for 5.87% of total revenue, falling below 10% for the first time. Meanwhile, Baina Qiancheng's marketing and planning operation service revenue totaled 111 million yuan, accounting for a high 81.60% of total revenue.
**Zhejiang Huace Film & TV's "Guo Se Fang Hua" Becomes Phenomenal Hit, Huanrui Century Comes Up Empty**
In the first half, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV had 2 works premiere, with "Guo Se Fang Hua" achieving a Douban rating of 7.8, breaking Mango TV's historical viewership records, winning the "Best Art Direction Award" at the Shanghai Television Festival Magnolia Awards, and becoming a phenomenal IP. Additionally, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV started production on 6 projects ("You Are the Belated Joy," "Flower Good," "Accompany to the End," "Heavy Weapon," "A Day in July," "Miracle"), completed filming on 5 projects ("Peaceful Years," "Extreme Criminal Procedure," "Family Business," "You Are the Belated Joy," "What Propriety"), and obtained certificates for 3 projects ("Above the Lost Path," "Splendid Glory," "Four Happiness").
In comparison, the quantity and quality of long-form dramas from Ciwen Media, Baina Qiancheng, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd., and Huanrui Century both declined.
In the first half, Ciwen Media's "Burning Crime" premiered on iQiyi with a Douban rating of 6.6, delivering a mediocre performance; "Purple River: The Bright King" premiered on iQiyi and Tencent Video, but due to low viewership could not generate ratings, with peak effective viewership market share reaching only 2.80%.
Baina Qiancheng's "Criminal Investigation Scene" premiered on Tencent Video, but due to low viewership could not generate ratings, with peak effective viewership market share also failing to reach 2% and highest ranking of only 12; Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. and Huanrui Century came up completely empty, pinning hopes on their reserved content being able to air smoothly in the second half.
Regarding short drama business, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV launched premium short dramas including "In the Name of Love," "The Next One Is Happiness," and "Dear Nemesis," all exceeding 200 million views, with "In the Name of Love" achieving total viewership exceeding 540 million and "Dear Nemesis" breaking 320 million views within one month of launch; Ciwen Media has aired 3 online micro-short dramas: "Northeast Past Events: The Great Era 1 & 2" and "Legend of Kuang Qingtian"; Huanrui Century primarily conducts short drama business through its Douyin accounts "Star Love Theater" and "Phoenix Lin Theater," achieving cumulative viewership exceeding 2 billion as of August 25, with total followers growing from 100,000 to 2 million, and multiple short dramas achieving over 100 million views on Douyin.
Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. cooperated with partners including Shanghai Nishang Feiying Technology Co., Ltd. to jointly build the Shanghai Yangpu International Short Drama Overseas Platform (Lanmei Short Drama Dramabyte), launching a short drama channel on DANA, Indonesia's largest third-party payment platform; Baina Qiancheng did not disclose short drama business progress.
**Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Raises 400 Million Yuan Through Private Placement Still Unable to Fill Capital Gap**
As a capital-intensive industry, the film and television sector has extremely high dependence on working capital. Due to long production cycles and difficulty predicting distribution and broadcast performance, film and television companies commonly face issues of long collection cycles and accumulated accounts receivable, with average capital turnover cycles exceeding one year.
As of June 30, 2025, Ciwen Media's accounts receivable book balance reached 564 million yuan, with 397 million yuan aged over 2 years, a significant 58.39% year-over-year increase, accounting for 70.37% of total accounts receivable, up 11.54 percentage points year-over-year.
Notably, Ciwen Media's bad debt provision ratio for accounts receivable is significantly lower than industry peers. According to interim report disclosures, Zhejiang Huace Film & TV, Baina Qiancheng, Huanrui Century, and Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. maintain bad debt provision ratios for 2-3 year aged accounts receivable in the 27.94%-50% range, with an average of approximately 37.33%.
However, Ciwen Media's provision ratio is only 15.78%, less than half the industry average. Does this suggest Ciwen Media may be under-provisioning or failing to provision for bad debts in accounts receivable to inflate profits?
Nevertheless, comprehensively speaking, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. undoubtedly has the worst liquidity, ranking last in both inventory and accounts receivable turnover efficiency. In the first half, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd.'s inventory turnover days reached 4,615.38 days (approximately 41 years), shortened by 68.72% year-over-year; accounts receivable turnover days were 966.18 days, extended by 5.15% year-over-year. As of June 30, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd.'s inventory and accounts receivable totaled 230 million yuan and 908 million yuan respectively, combining for 1.138 billion yuan, accounting for 55.65% of total current assets.
According to interim report disclosures, the top five inventory items are film and television works: "Raging Sandstorm" (film), "Jiang Chun Ji" (TV series), "Anaya Romance" (TV series), "Accompany to the End" (TV series), and "Nothing That Can't Be Solved by a Hot Pot" (film). Among these, "Accompany to the End" began filming in April 2025 and is currently in production; "Jiang Chun Ji" was suspended after project approval in 2015 due to script revisions and lead actor changes, restarted in 2021 with completed filing, but remains in restart preparation as of now; both "Raging Sandstorm" and "Anaya Romance" have been shelved for years, with formal domestic release remaining distant.
Although Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. completed a private placement in the first half, raising 405 million yuan for debt repayment and working capital supplement, its asset-liability ratio remains far higher than industry peers. As of June 30, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd.'s asset-liability ratio reached 81.22%, 32.48 percentage points higher than second-place Huanrui Century; current ratio and quick ratio were 1.22 and 0.68 respectively, both ranking last in the industry.
After repaying partial debts, as of June 30, Zhejiang Huazhi Digital Media Co., Ltd. still had 250 million yuan in short-term borrowings, essentially equivalent to its monetary fund balance. Additionally, borrowings and interest in other payables reached 1.044 billion yuan, including 946 million yuan payable to controlling shareholder Zhejiang Yitong; even excluding related party payables, borrowings and interest still approach 100 million yuan.
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