Article by Wen Tsai
A simple ladder has produced countless laughter and touching moments.
At the beginning of this year, Hunan Satellite TV's lunchtime slot became fresh and lively again. The national fun and competitive variety show "Better Up" appeared in the public eye and was broadcast on time at 12:30 noon every day. The audience provides the entertainment. This program is designed with the concept of "slip", "bump" and "rush", and a newly added wish list link to provide a voice window for challengers, covering the expressions of family affection, love and beliefs of the people. "Going to the Next Level" condenses high-quality content into a small volume, and has an extraordinary performance among ordinary national competitive variety shows.
Starting in 2018, the noon time period, which used to be dominated by people’s livelihood news and life information, has gradually been recognized by major major TV platforms. As the second peak of the day in addition to the evening time slot, the midday time slot not only has a large number of has a fixed audience, and at the same time, the audience also has very clear needs for variety shows: simplicity, innovation, and happiness.
What is the main audience for the lunch slot? According to research and surveys, more than 40% of adults in China are accustomed to watching TV while eating, and TV has become an essential "companion" between meals. Therefore, the main audience of the noon slot, which runs throughout the lunch time, is families, and TV variety shows that families watch together must have family-friendly content.
Hunan Satellite TV has closely grasped the mid-day variety show market after launching "Shake, Laugh, Bridge", which was loved by the public. It is well aware of the huge lethality of the mid-day slot, so on January 28, it launched the national fun and competitive variety show " "Go to the Next Level" to seize the top lineup of the midday slot and relay the banner of Hunan Satellite TV's midday ratings.
"Going to the Next Level" is the first variety show to be aired in the noon time period, and is the first among the five networks according to the data of Sofurui National Network, Sofree City Group, Huan.com, Kuyun and Nielsen. Interesting innovations inject fresh vitality into the lunch stall. The multiple first-place results are enough to show the ratings boom caused by its breakthrough in the noon variety show market. It can be said that "Going to the Next Level" continued Hunan Satellite TV's reputation as a fun and competitive variety show in early 2019 and won many awards. Audience favor.
Judging from the overall broadcast layout of the midday slot, Jiangsu TV's "If You Are the One", Zhejiang TV's "Everything Is Good", Dragon TV's "Sesame Alley" and Shandong TV's "Obstetrician", the difference between TV series and variety shows Replays are the main arrangement of major satellite TV platforms. In this environment, Hunan Satellite TV is unique. The premiere variety show "Better Up" breaks the shackles of replays everywhere at noon, provides viewers with fresh program content in the noon market, and increases the audience. attraction. Judging from the data analysis of Kuyun's real-time star rating comprehensive group, the broadcast of "The Next Level" on March 7 made Hunan Satellite TV rank first in the provincial satellite TV data rankings at noon time. "Floor" has opened up a new landmark of its own variety show at noon.
Compared with other time periods, the midday slot is indeed smaller, but this short duration provides a perfect package for competitive variety shows, streamlining and condensing repetitive and complex competitive live content. The series shows the fun and achieves a "small but refined" program effect. The story independence of the players in the competitive mode of "Go to the Next Level" also makes it easy for them to independently produce short videos with highlight content to fill the fragmented time of the audience. A single short video of his on Douyin App has reached 2.04 million views. , expand brand influence with the "early adopter" of short videos.
The reason why "Level Up" can occupy the family lunch time is because of its relaxed and enjoyable competitive mode. There was no lengthy foreshadowing, and the show successfully kicked off the topic of the competition through simple interviews with amateur guests at the beginning. Even though the schedule was short and the competition system was simple, under the influence of the "slipperest staircase in history", the show naturally produced a variety of physical comedy.
Compared with verbal comedy, physical comedy is more intuitive to convey. In order to achieve the goal, amateur players use their unique skills and tricks, and cooperate with each other under the pursuit of the "Special Attack Team" to achieve the final goal. .
During the lunch break of the day, this kind of simple and intensive laughter provides the audience with a "supplement meal". After all, pure happiness is the best "feeder".
Furthermore, the participatory nature of "Going to the Next Level" allows the audience to be more involved. Among the amateur guests, there are housewives, business elites, doctors and teachers, as well as voice actors, self-employed people and other various professions. However, no matter what his background is, in "The Next Level" he has transformed into a challenger wearing various tights and actively climbing the ladder.
It can be said that "The Next Level" has gained popularity with the audience due to its time arrangement and mode. What really fixes the audience is its interesting and warm content. The competitive mode of the show contains minute details of striving for success, mutual support, and unity and cooperation. The various amateur characters also show everyone what it means to be "masters among the people."
In addition to being able to dance, dub, and have skills such as iron shoe kung fu, the comedy skills in "The Next Level" are also fully utilized, especially when being chased by the "Special Attack Team", amateurs How the contestants cleverly escape danger and achieve their goals has attracted the attention of the audience. "Better Up" is always on the Weibo variety show topic rankings, and the Weibo topic of "Better Up" has a reading volume of 51.313 million, and the number of discussions reached 39,000. This fun carnival for all people spread from the lively discussion during the dinner to the entire Internet.
Every participating player needs to pass a "luck test" before entering the ladder track. Choose the correct door to open from the three options of "luck", "career" and "love". Guests who are unlucky will have to choose again after being rejected. But a temporary lead does not mean success. After all, when encountering a giant staircase that is 12.5 meters long and 6.88 meters high, even if you use your hands and feet carefully, you will inevitably encounter the dilemma of "sliding" back to the starting point.
The most exciting scene is the battle of wits and courage between the amateur contestants and the three "special attack teams". Many players among them sacrificed themselves in exchange for the safety of their teammates in order to prevent the team from being wiped out. In the program on March 5, contestant Xiao Fen used a "honey trap" to contain the Sharks' "Special Attack Team" and secured a sprint opportunity for fellow team member Xiao Zi and finally succeeded in scoring a touchdown. Of course, there are collaborative teams, and there are teams that pit each other against each other. In "The Next Level", there are also scenes of teammates falling in love and killing each other. These wonderful reversals are always accompanied by the players' fuss and make people laugh. .
In the program on March 1, because most of the audience's attention was focused on the "financial actor" Xiao Huang who was being interviewed, Xiao Zi, who was silent on the side, was like an arrow. After rushing into the track and reaching the finish line, all members of the special attack team who had not yet touched the ladder stayed where they were, causing a lot of laughter. The funny drama of "Has it started? It's over" was staged for the first time on the show.
Not only that, "Going to the Next Level" also unexpectedly developed the side business of "emotional friendship". In the program, there were many young men who completed the touchdown and shouted "I want to have a girlfriend!"; there were also young couples whose boyfriends protected their girlfriends all the way to the top, and finally proposed successfully, which made the audience deeply moved; there were also contestants The couple's heartwarming confession after the game showed the mutual support between the couple.
"Shake, Laugh, Bridge" created a "swinging bridge" for internet celebrities, while "Get to the Next Level" provides everyone with a "ladder of wishes". Through the struggle of falling, getting up, falling and reaching the finish line, we seek the opportunity to express our annual wishes and convey simple and true emotions. "Going to the Next Level" gives voice to ordinary people through the window of national fun competition.
"Going to the Next Level" also unexpectedly witnessed the continuation of a marriage. During the return interview of the contestants, the program team learned from Mr. Li, who once expressed his feelings to his ex-wife on the show, that his sincere intention to remarry The wish will be seen by the ex-wife and her whole family through the broadcast of the program, and the wish of remarriage will be fulfilled one day. In his reply to the program crew, Mr. Li expressed his gratitude to the program platform. The wish of "Going to the Next Level" is not only an inspiration to himself, but also allows everyone to witness the goals and determination of ordinary people.
Hunan Satellite TV’s innovation in national fun and competitive variety shows has always been ongoing. From the early "Wisdom and Courage" to last year's "Shake, Laugh, Bridge", and now to the current "Level Up", its competitive modes and interesting themes have changed with the changes in popular trends in variety shows. In order to meet the audience's needs for stress-relieving entertainment and mobilize the enthusiasm of the whole people for sports.
Multiple levels and high difficulty are the characteristics of "Wisdom and Courage Dash". From the first level to the final climb to the top of the track, it requires not only intelligence but also strong physical strength, which also limits the number of participants. . Looking back at that time, most of the players who successfully reached the top were fitness coaches, martial arts players, or characters with strong physical strength. The hardware requirements for "wisdom" and "bravery" were actually slightly higher for ordinary people.
During the period of "Shaking the Bridge", Hunan Satellite TV began to completely simplify the competition system, using "Shaking the Bridge" as the only challenge event, and adding "Special Attack Team" composed of professionals such as the Shark Team. Team" to compete with amateur players. Hunan Satellite TV's competitive variety shows are constantly being streamlined, and the theme of "Going to the Next Level" has become more and more distinct. It uses the design of climbing the ladder to convey the positive energy of striving upward. It has won the approval of People's Daily Online, Guangming Daily, and Xinhuanet Wait for mainstream media to publish reports.
"Don't be afraid of failure in life, stand up when you fall" is the core theme of "Going to the Next Level", which is intended to convey the fighting spirit of constantly improving to achieve goals. The competition as a whole revolves around a seemingly simple but actually difficult ladder. However, the difficulty of this ladder is suitable for everyone. No matter men, women, old or young, they can have the opportunity to challenge and succeed. As long as they don’t give up, they can always gain something from others when they get up and fight hard. of applause and accomplishing inner goals.
"Getting to the Next Level" subtracts from the difficulty level, but also adds to the universal appeal. "If it were me..." "This should be..." Audiences often have such thoughts while watching the program. This is because the simplified model increases the audience's desire to participate. Similarly, with "climbing the ladder" running through the whole, "Going to the Next Level" strengthens the program brand culture in repeated competitions, forming a national competition matrix unique to Hunan Satellite TV.
With continuous inheritance and innovation, Hunan Satellite TV has put a lot of thought into creating national competitive variety shows every year. "Better Up" has increasingly occupied the audience's lunch time slot and become a source of happiness during leisure time. . In this relay of national fun and competitive variety shows, Hunan Satellite TV has been "reaching a higher level".