Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (如懿传), a romantic story which landed on Tencent Video yesterday (August 20), received massive complaints from viewers. The viewers reported that advertisements could not be dismissed removed even for Tencent Video membership holders.
Tencent Video apologized for the situation officially last night on its Weibo account and explained that the reason for the mess was a bug its advertising distribution system encountered
By 22:32 yesterday, Tencent said the company had fixed the problems, and all operation became normal again. By 15:30 today, Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace received 240 million viewers, but an average viewers’ rating of 7.7/10 is not as good as expected.
New Classic Media, producer of Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, allocated premium resources including national film stars. Additionally, the theme of love and struggle in the palace (宫斗), is one of the most popular trends in China’s culture and entertainment industry.
Prior to the launch, rumors were circulating on WeChat that Tencent had spent RMB 810 million to purchase the 87-episode soap opera.
Interestingly, a few days ago, China Literature, an online literature business established by Tencent, agreed to purchase New Classics Media for RMB 15.5 billion ($2.3 billion). The finance and content industry suspects the move is due to China Literature’s shrinking capability to grow paying users, and a strong desire to get growth by buying a production business. In the nine months since its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China Literature’s market cap plunged by around 50%.
Then Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace’s role is clear. It is the first work China Literature will have to report to shareholders after having agreed to complete the acquisition. This will also be a way for Tencent practice to diversify its earnings portfolio.
Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace has now only released full access to two episodes so far.