Mango Excellent Media Co. saw its shares jump over 64% in three trading days, adding more than $5 billion to its market capitalization, following the debut of "The Sequel to Journey to the West." This AI-generated television series, which features no human actors, began airing on Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV on August 31. The surge reflects investor enthusiasm for the potential of AI to significantly reduce production costs in the film and television industry.
The drama, produced by Mango's AIGC Innovation Content Center and Beijing-based Bojing Culture, is notable for being China's first long-form AI-generated drama broadcast on a satellite television channel. Industry insiders suggest that AI-generated dramas can cut production costs by more than half compared to live-action dramas, with some projects requiring teams of fewer than 20 people. This efficiency is a key driver behind the market's positive reaction, especially as traditional production costs, particularly for trial and error and inter-departmental communication, are substantial.
While the stock market has reacted strongly, with other related stocks like Rongxin Education and Culture, Decai Group, and Bona Film Group also experiencing daily limit surges, analysts note that the business model for AI dramas remains similar to traditional content, relying on advertising and membership fees for revenue. This raises questions about the long-term profitability despite the significant cost reductions. However, the initial success has sparked considerable excitement among industry practitioners, who see it as a breakthrough in addressing cost pressures within the traditional film and television sector.
The production of "The Sequel to Journey to the West" utilized Mango TV's proprietary AIGC platform, "Mango Lingchuang," accumulating 109 digital character assets and 143 scene assets. The series, planned for 30 episodes, significantly compressed its production timeline, reducing it by 70% compared to traditional 3D animation, further demonstrating AI's efficiency gains. Computing power and token consumption now represent a major portion, potentially over 70%, of the total investment in these AI-driven productions.
