Photo courtesy of China Weitong

　　On June 9, 2008, Zhongxing-9 was lifted by the Long March-3 B rocket and became the first real dedicated TV direct broadcast satellite in China. It has been more than 11 years since this flight. In the past 11 years, China’s first generation direct broadcast satellite space segment system has grown from scratch, serving 140 million users, effectively bridging the digital divide and enabling sustainable development.

　　Constructing the Space Segment System of the First Generation Direct Broadcasting Satellite in China

　　In the 1980s and 1990s, the demand for radio and television services increased sharply in all walks of life, and the demonstration of direct broadcast satellite system was accelerated in China. In 2000, the project of direct broadcast of radio and television satellite was included in the high-tech project in the tenth five-year plan of the country. In January, 2005, with the support of the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the scheme of the same orbit, the same frequency band, the same capacity and the same coverage for Xinnuo-2 and Zhongxing-9 satellites was adopted. At the same time, the space segment system of China’s first-generation satellite live broadcast was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and started to be implemented, and China Weitong was responsible for the specific management and operation.

　　Looking back 11 years ago, Jiang Longcheng, who was then in charge of the payload of China Satcom Zhongxing No.9, was filled with emotion: "I have been with it from preliminary design, key design to supervision." Zhongxing 9 is like a daughter in her own boudoir.

　　According to Jiang Longcheng, the live broadcast satellite system has the advantages of wide coverage, high transmission quality, low receiving cost and convenient maintenance. China has a vast territory, complex terrain and a large population. Direct broadcast satellite is the most effective means to realize the listening and watching of radio and television in the old, young, marginal, poor and vast rural areas.

　　Different from other satellites, the direct broadcast satellite needs repeated coverage optimization design to effectively cover the whole territory of China. However, for the first time, a high-power amplifier was used in Zhongxing No.9, and its effective radiation power met the requirements of China direct broadcast satellite system, which enabled more than 97% of the residents in China to directly receive satellite radio and television programs from China using a 0.45-meter small-aperture antenna.

　　As the confident Jiang Longcheng expected, less than one month after the launch, on July 5, Zhongxing 9 opened four transponders to transmit 45 sets of TVs and 43 broadcasts, and entered the trial operation stage; On August 6th, nearly 7,000 satellite TV receivers in Xizang were transferred from Asia-Pacific IIR to Zhongxing 9, marking the official opening of the direct broadcast satellite service in China. In the same month, the coverage of Zhongxing 9 was tested on the spot, and 27 test sites including Altay, Xisha, Mohe and Pulan were selected. The results showed that Zhongxing 9 had good performance.

　　In 2013, in order to ensure the safe broadcast of the live satellite service, avoid the systematic risk of the operation of Zhongxing 9 Lone Star and ensure the safe broadcast of radio and television programs watched by hundreds of millions of people, China Satellite Communication restarted the construction of Zhongxing 9A (Xinnuo 2 replacement star). Zhongxing 9A also added the South China Sea beam, which solved the problem that it is difficult for military and civilians in the South China Sea to watch TV. On June 19, 2017, the domestic broadcast live star Zhongxing 9A was launched, and then it undertook the task of safe backup of Zhongxing 9 live star.

　　Serving 140 million users to bridge the digital divide

　　A few hundred meters away from xichang satellite launch center, in the depths of Daliangshan Mountain, is Mayelin Village where Yi people live together. Although it is only a few hundred meters away, the members of the Zhongxing No.9 test team stationed at the launch site and the villagers in Mayelin Village have very different information acquisition. The experimental team members from big cities know radio, television and internet like the back of their hands, but many villagers who have lived in the deep mountains for generations have only been to Mianning County as far as possible, and there are almost no channels to understand the outside world.

　　In this way, an invisible digital divide lies in the Great Liangshan Mountain, and the broadcast satellite Zhongxing 9/Zhongxing 9A launched from here provides an effective technical means for narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, eliminating the digital divide and building information fairness and justice.

　　Through the live satellite of Zhongxing-9 and Zhongxing-9A, a "pot" for receiving satellite signals to the outside world was set up on the roofs of remote villages in Daliangshan. The people in rural Xizang witnessed the grand occasion of the Beijing Olympic Games that year, and more compatriots in remote areas were able to hear and see the care and voice of the CPC Central Committee for the first time.

　　The direct broadcast satellite "every village is connected" and "every household is connected" projects have effectively covered 595,000 administrative villages, meeting the needs of 140 million users to listen to and watch radio and television programs, exceeding one third of the total number of radio and television users in China. The problem of "difficult, expensive and poor" coverage of rural radio and television in China has been fundamentally solved, and the quality, level and viewing effect of rural radio and television coverage have been greatly improved.

　　Up to now, rural users in China can listen to and watch 17 sets of central radio programs, 17 sets of central TV programs, 27 sets of provincial radio programs and 41 sets of provincial TV programs through Zhongxing 9 satellite, and Xinjiang, Xizang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou and Hainan have achieved satellite transmission and directional coverage of programs in their own provinces (regions) or cities.

　　Beginning in 2018, the dual-star backup of central radio and television programs and minority language programs will be gradually realized through China Satellite 9A. At the same time, the South China Sea beam on the satellite will be used to provide radio and television programs of the central and some coastal provinces to the people in the South China Sea.

　　Promote model innovation and empower sustainable development.

　　In recent years, the direct broadcast satellite system has explored new focal points and ways to achieve radio and television services to the overall national work and meet the people’s beautiful spiritual and cultural needs, focusing on the positive actions of building a well-off society in an all-round way, accurately helping the poor, revitalizing the countryside and enriching the people, and has also played a very good role in helping the poor and helping the wisdom and improving the level of rural civilization.

　　Facing the first generation live broadcast satellite system that has been in operation for 11 years, starting the replacement satellite project is the next task of China Satcom. In addition, the innovative exploration of direct broadcast satellite business model is also a topic.

　　Although the direct broadcast satellite has greatly improved the radio and television public service in remote rural areas, under the situation that the number of users of direct broadcast satellite service has increased rapidly year by year, the transponder rental rate has improved, but the high-quality transponder resources have not been fully utilized.

　　Jiang Longcheng, who is now the technical director of China Satcom Business Operation Center, has taken a longer-term view of the direct broadcast satellite business that he has devoted half his life to. He hopes to increase the use of direct broadcast satellites, especially promote the business application in key areas, accelerate the implementation of the value-added business plan, and tap the value of many users in various directions.

　　"For live broadcast satellites, only by giving full play to their excellent performance and benefits can we meet the needs of the people for radio and television services more widely, which is also the direction that live broadcast satellites should work hard in the future." Jiang Longcheng said. (Hu Wei Wu Lin)

Special feature of 1905 film network On December 31, 2018, the single-day box office was 261 million.

On January 1, 2019, the single-day box office of the film was 11.4131 million.

On January 2nd, the single-day box office fell off a cliff again, earning only 1.96 million yuan, and plunged by 99.3% in two days, setting a record for the highest decline in China film history.

At the same time, the score of Douban movies dropped from the initial 7.5 points to 6.8 points; Taobao Film’s score dropped from 5.4 to 3.4; The cat’s eye score dropped from 3.7 points to 2.8 points.

Perhaps "The Last Night of the Earth" is one of the films with the lowest score in 2018 of the two ticketing platforms.

　

Whether it’s a resumption or before evaluating the above data, let’s turn the time and go back to December 6, 2018.

　

It seems that from that day on, a content was frequently brushed on the vibrato short video software. This content was just a simple switch between two pictures: one was the page details page of "The Last Night of the Earth" on a certain platform, and the other was from other social platforms. A user’s broadcast reads: "Make a small wish: I want to watch" The Last Night of the Earth "with my favorite people on the last night of 2018."

Of course, there is a sentence attached to some content, "Hug and kiss at the end of the movie until the next year."

　

On December 7th, the film propagandist issued a new media poster in the official Weibo. At the same time, the slogan of the film changed to "One Kiss for the New Year".

In terms of distribution, it even issued a statement on the relevant New Year’s Eve activities, emphasizing that "the cinema can choose this film as a New Year’s Eve activity, and it can choose to start at 21:50 on December 31, and the film will end at exactly 0: 00 on the New Year’s Eve. The audience can spend the most ceremonial night with the most important people and kiss the New Year!"

At the same time, the number of people who want to see "Earth" has increased rapidly in the order of 10,000. By the time it was released, Taobao Film wanted to see 370,000 people and Cat’s Eye wanted to see 280,000 people.

In addition, this director, who seems to be completely incompatible with variety entertainment, took part in the "Thirteen Invitations" for the film to start; I also went to "Tucao Conference" and "Tucao" Jing Wong’s bad films; I even participated in Durex’s Q&A activity.

The director is very calm, and the caliber is the same. "Publicity arrangements, I’m here to work."

Bi Gan participated in Durex related activities.

At this time, more and more fan groups began to speak out, and the propaganda party was falsely marketing and even began to "swear" the propaganda party.

　

On December 16th, Bi Gan publicly responded to the marketing at an activity, saying, "My colleagues in Xuanfa don’t steal, rob or kneel down, but do one thing by their own ability and knowledge. I don’t think they are at fault." "Then there is an art film that has suddenly become empathetic with the public, and everyone should enjoy it at this moment. Of course I know the result. Maybe people don’t understand it, maybe they don’t like it, but what kind of movies do they like? We haven’t chosen yet, and we can have one more chance when we have no choice. "

　

During the period, on the ticketing platforms such as Taobao Film and Cat’s Eye, many theaters specifically noted, "The film The Last Night of the Earth does not support refunding tickets. Please contact the cinema for consultation if you need to refund tickets."

On December 25th, the pre-sale box office was 100 million. Before the final release, the pre-sale achievement exceeded 150 million. Only the Spring Festival files and the summer files.

However, the higher the pre-sale results, the louder the doubts seem to be.

　

On December 27th, Tian Qi, the producer of the film, made some "restless venting" in the circle of friends.

　

In a long article, he repeatedly asked, "Who is the’ audience’ and who is the’ ordinary audience’ for the last night of the earth?"

　

On December 31, the film was officially released. After the first screening, there was a wave of abuse on the Internet, and the topic "I can’t understand the last night of the earth" was on the hot search list. It is in complete contrast with the evaluation of the film after it was shown at Cannes International Film Festival.

Today, on the third day of release, the box office of "Earth" has not exceeded 2 million in a single day, and the ratings of all platforms are almost locked. Only the voice of public opinion remains constant.

　

Whether it is "fraudulent marketing" or "marketing that goes down in history", everyone from different angles has their own answers, but as far as box office performance is concerned, it may make the early investment too high and get the guarantee of capital recovery.

　

Starting from "one kiss for the New Year", it is destined to "rotate"

　

There is a line in "The Earth", "Read the spell on the cover page of the green book and the room will rotate". At the end of the movie, the protagonist Huang Jue read the sentence — — After "you counted the stars in the sky/they are like birds/always parachuting on my chest", the room did spin, and the protagonist did kiss.

　

However, beyond movies, word-of-mouth and box office have also begun to spin earth-shaking.

Is the film quality really that bad? Xiao Dianjun, frankly speaking, no, it is actually a more refined upgrade of the director’s previous work. Of course, there is not much analysis on the evaluation of the quality of too many films here.

　

The Roadside Picnic won a total of 6.46 million box office, with Douban scoring 7.8, Cat’s Eye and Taobao Film scoring 8.1. The film itself is not high at the box office, but it has received high enough recognition. However, in terms of box office results, it does seem that the threshold is slightly higher for ordinary audiences who pursue fast pace.

　

In "Earth", although famous actors such as Tang Wei, Zhang Aijia, Huang Jue and Hong Chi Lee were invited, the film still maintained the style of the previous work, even more extreme in terms of sense of form than the previous work.

In the face of such a film with strong authorship, the marketing side has grasped the concept of kissing at the end of the film and made every effort to make a marketing model for commercial films.

　

It can be found from Cat’s Eye and Taobao Film’s desire to watch movies that it was December 6th, the day when the marketing event of "One Kiss for New Year" started, and the desire to watch movies surged wildly, which became the peak in the growing list.

It is true that this has naturally become the key point of the audience’s word of mouth.

　

Since the beginning of 2018, "Former 3" successfully carried out a wave of emotional marketing on the short video of vibrato, the platform has been paid more and more attention by various propaganda teams. However, there is no other emotional marketing that can really arouse strong and drive purchasing power again after "Former 3".

Until the appearance of "Earth".

　

In general, users can easily compare things conceptually after seeing relevant information. Many viewers were moved by the romantic concept of "one kiss for New Year’s Eve" and watched a movie similar to "Former 3" directly, but watched a so-called "literary boring film".

　

This is the turning point of the whole marketing event — — "One kiss for the New Year" strongly captures the audience’s mood and logic of paying the bill.

In fact, it is very simple. Most viewers are willing to spend 10-30 seconds watching a short video without thinking, and at the same time attract the short video content simply and rudely. Only a few of them will spend another 5-10 minutes.Carry out its contentInspection.

　

This has directly become the most basic and shallow authentication of the audience to the film itself, thus completing all the ticket purchasing behaviors in a specific time situation. This situation is also the smartest place for the marketing side of Earth.

　

But, was it successful?

　

Judging from the box office revenue, yes, and it was very successful. But we forget that word-of-mouth maintenance is also included in publicity and marketing. But obviously, "The Earth" has not been maintained, or the maintenance is not as strong as the audience’s "self-attack".

　

Will the publicity and marketing party have no expectations? Xiao Dianjun believes that the propagandists who have successfully publicized films such as "Roadside Picnic" and "Suddenly Cracked and Silent" will not have no forecast.

　

So, why?

　

"One kiss for the New Year" is actually "coincidental"

　

When interviewed by a certain media, the propagandist of the Earth team said that the team’s plan before December 6th was completely different.

　

The schedule is set on the last day of 2019 (1-2 days later than the film of the same period), which is very suitable for the title of "The Last Night of the Earth". Especially after the synchronization of the schedule, many fans on the Internet have called for similar New Year’s Eve viewing activities on the 31st.

This appeal has also successfully stimulated the film’s propaganda ideas.

　

The "Earth" team once said in an interview, "Our initial planning was based on the consideration of the content of the film. We planned to arrange 10: 50 at night, so that the film would enter the zero point when it was played to the 70-minute node, which was also in line with the expression appeal created by director Bi Gan himself."

　

Of course, with the coverage of Tik Tok’s publicity, then the publicity team slowly adjusted the plan, and the concept of "one kiss for the New Year" came into being.

　

Compared with the previous content propaganda of the film, it focuses on film festival awards and overseas word of mouth, which is a typical propaganda route of literary films. In the later stage of publicity, the love element in the film was grasped, and through a series of UGC communication, the publicity sank successfully. In particular, it attracted a large number of audiences in third-and fourth-tier cities.

　

Judging from the pre-sale of the film, a large number of audiences concentrated in the 21: 40 session on December 31st, and even some cinemas opened three or more cinemas during this period.

Facts have proved that the pre-sale results have already affirmed this publicity plan. Of course, some other voices will inevitably appear in the network. When Tian Qi, the film producer, sent out a series of long rhetorical questions in the circle of friends, in his view, as a film propagandist, he could not screen the audience with films.

　

But in fact, in today’s movie market,Film box officeWhen it is more and more linked to movie word of mouth, there are nearly 100 million box office experiences before. However, when achieving a pre-sale goal, the producer asked such a question of "stealing the concept", which was somewhat lacking in atmosphere.

In the past experience, people often think about how to win more effective games for art cinema. With the concept of "New Year’s Eve with a kiss", the "Earth" team successfully won the support of the cinema, and even got the support of the audience to buy tickets. At first glance, this time is a success.

　

However, if you look closely at the events on December 31st, it is mainly around 21: 40. There are few events at other times, and the attendance rate is relatively unremarkable. The audience is choosing a movie, and the movie is also choosing an audience. Perhaps, the box office outside the New Year’s Eve of "The Earth" can prove the attitude of domestic audiences to literary films to some extent.

　

Let the audience who don’t usually watch literary films try literary films, okay? There is no denying that this is good. However, this kind of attempt and acceptance requires a gradual process, not the current "recommendation".

　

For investors, can this box office achievement really enhance their confidence in investing in literary films and make the creation of directors more possible? Maybe we should draw a question mark. The marketing of Earth is destined to be a phenomenal special case, and it is difficult to form a real project case for promotion.

　

As for the quality of the film, Xiao Dianjun believes that time will tell. Just like at the beginning, it was controversial, and now the Douban score has gradually returned to 7.2 points from below 7 points during the screening period.

As for this marketing campaign, is it a success or a simple "one-stick sale"? I can’t stamp it now. In 2019, China’s films will gradually step into a "movie power", and all the literary films that were originally impossible to be released will have more and more opportunities to meet the audience.

　

Then, at that time, the market will verify the rationality of all this.

What is the purpose of "one kiss for the New Year"?

However, let’s go back to the essence of "one kiss for the New Year". Why do you want to do this?

The answer is simple, even those who make bad reviews can understand that in order to make money, in order to get the movie back.

It has been rumored on the Internet that the production cost of "The Earth" is nearly 100 million yuan, and some people have come out to clarify that it is around 70 million yuan. Counting the publicity expenses, you really have to face nearly 300 million box office to return to the book. However, Bi Gan’s previous work "Roadside Picnic" cost only 200,000 yuan in the early stage, and the total cost was about 1 million yuan with the expensive music copyright fees and publicity fees in the later stage.

Nowadays, the cost has increased by nearly 70 times, which is really lucky for a director who just made his second work. Even for many directors who have been making literary films, almost no one has ever traded such a large fund.

On the eve of the release, Shan Zuolong, the producer of "The Earth", published an article in his company’s WeChat official account, "The Dark Hour of" The Earth ". I recalled that I met Bi Gan from a roadside picnic, and then started to write the behind-the-scenes story of The Earth together. Many readers are moved by the plain words, and it is not easy to see a filmmaker behind the words. At the same time, we can also see that a new producer and a new director are unprofessional when trading tens of millions of funds.

In fact, when directors and producers "willfully" spend these tens of millions, they are already ready to face this problem. How can this problem be solved? They seem to have no choice but to give the answer, "Give it to the propaganda team".

Now, the result is coming. "One kiss for New Year’s Eve" solves the problem of "returning to the original". At the same time, however, the so-called overdraft of publicity trust has also followed, and the audience has criticized the marketers for using "one kiss for the New Year" fraud.

Not only that, there will be some audiences who are afraid of literary films. It is often said in the propaganda and marketing industry that the audience has a weak memory of movies. But in fact, the audience just has a poor memory for mediocre movies.

The audience can remember the good movies they saw at the beginning of the year and even pay for the director’s next work; In the bad movies watched in the past, the audience remembers a little fresh meat with facial paralysis in it, and maybe his works will become cautious.

Did "Earth" hit them hard? Big, maybe not. Just like the film propaganda, it is greeted with a sense of ritual. It is this simple word "sense of ceremony" that probably captures the memory of the audience, so in the future, this kind of film, this director’s work … … Will the audience still believe it?

The most important thing is, will this "gifted scholar" in the eyes of film critics be overdrawn by consumption this time?

This answer is difficult to give, but there must be doubts.

Therefore, if the current situation of word-of-mouth bite back from the film marketing problem, it may have existed from the beginning of the filming period.