王思聪旗下熊猫直播濒临破产？知情人士：已凉有平台挖人 – The Beijing News
What happened: Livestreaming platform Panda TV will reportedly shut down its server on Mar. 18 and file for bankruptcy within the month, The Beijing News reported, quoting a celebrity livestreamer’s Weibo post. Another widely circulated screenshot shows that a Panda TV human resource staff member was helping employees find positions at other companies such as Jinri Toutiao and Kuaishou. Livestreamers on Panda TV lamented the alleged impending shutdown with a number of them renaming their streams to “accompany Panda TV for its last days.”
Why it’s important: Panda TV’s potential bankruptcy filing highlights the intense competition in the Chinese livestreaming market. Co-founded in 2015 by Wang Sicong, the son of Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin, Panda TV ranked third among game livestreaming platforms in China by number of daily active users in December 2018, trailing Huya and Douyu, according to Jiguang, a data analytics company. The platform was reportedly in talks with Huya, Douyu, and NetEase in mid-2018 about a potential acquisition, which never materialized because of Panda TV’s debt of more than RMB 700 million, according to media outlet Jiemian.