Friday, July 29, 2016

Chinese live-streaming their lives!



Pole dancing, bungee jumping, eating maggots: at any given hour, millions of Chinese
are live-streaming all this and much more on their smartphones. China's live-streaming phenomenon is already a significant business.Tiny startups and internet giants alike are making money selling virtual gifts -flowers, cars, toys - to people keen to reward their favorite live-streamers. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is mulling selling ads on popular streams. “This isn't a fad that will disappear, as the business model has proven to be viable,“ said Zhu Xiaohu, managing partner at GSR Ventures Management Co, who invested in Inke, one of about 200 live-streaming startups that have attracted an estimated $750 million in venture capital.
Twitter Inc. last year acquired app Periscope and has integrated live video into its main product. Facebook allows users to stream live and has boosted the prominence of such broadcasts in its feed.
“China's wide adoption of mobile phones and the loneliness brought on by a fast-paced migrating society means people are more willing to connect this way ,“ says Jia Wei of Momo Inc. Many streams--known as showrooms--feature ordinary people doing remarkably ordinary things. “It is a substitute for TV shows and games,“ says Zhou, a 30-year-old safety foreman, who has spent about $105 gifting people he follows and earned about 200 yuan in return. A tour of Tokyo's redlight district is his most popular stream so far.
Streams often feature famous people. Wang Jianlin, founder of real estate colossus Dalian Wanda Group, streamed video of himself playing poker with associates on a private jet. More than 3,00,000 people watched, and many sent virtual gifts to China's richest man. Top streamers get as much as 50% of the revenue generated from admirers' virtual gifts; the hosting companies keep the rest.  China's regulators are cracking down on anything deemed pornographic or a potential danger to the state.

Source:  Internet

1 comment:

  1. Looks like some found a way to make some serious money. Awesome.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

    ReplyDelete