Tencent Video 2027 Slate Released: Sun Zhonghuai Says AI Makes It Easy to Produce, But Not Easy to Produce Well

As AI technology continues to advance, content production is becoming faster, cheaper, and more abundant. On the one hand, Hongguo short dramas are capturing more of netizens' time and attention; on the other hand, a fully AI-produced long-form drama has quietly gone officially online, and the industry's first "live-action + AI-generated" hybrid long-form drama, "Xingbiao," has also completed its premiere. Recently, the 2027 Tencent Video V Vision Conference was held in Shanghai, where not only was Tencent Video's 2027 annual slate released, showcasing a diverse range of resources including dramas and variety shows, but the platform also shared its proactive stance as a leading long-form video platform on the long-term value of premium content and the industry transformation brought by AI: "Good content is still the future." Adhering to a premium strategy Over the past year, the industry has undergone accelerated transformation, with users' time and attention being reallocated. Sun Zhonghuai, Vice President of Tencent and Chairman of Tencent Online Video, believes that the more such a period, the more obvious the gap between content becomes, and the value of premium content will be further highlighted. "The comprehensive effect of premium content is irreplaceable," Sun Zhonghuai said, noting that only premium content can become phenomenal works and settle into the shared memory of hundreds of millions of users. Based on this judgment, Tencent Video will continue to adhere to its premium strategy, continuously investing in high-quality projects in areas such as dramas, variety shows, animation, and documentaries to enrich content supply and IP layout. On the one hand, through continuous development of and investment in premium long-form content, it will meet users' diverse needs; on the other hand, it will continue to honor its commitments to creators, sharing content revenue with them through on-time payments, incentive policies, and revenue-sharing mechanisms. The development of AI technology has made content production faster, cheaper, and more abundant. Sun Zhonghuai stated that AI has made "getting it made" easier, but has not made "getting it made well" easier. In his view, as content supply becomes increasingly abundant, the value of top-tier premium content and major IPs will become more prominent. The value of good IPs will extend beyond broadcast through continuous development and cross-media cooperation. At the same time, the combination of premium content IPs and AI will open up new imaginative possibilities, and IP cooperation formats will become more diverse. Staying committed to super stories In the face of new changes and new variables in the industry under the wave of AI technology, Wang Juan, Co-President and Chief Content Officer of Tencent Online Video, stated that the content industry is undergoing a full-dimensional revaluation of imaginative value, presence value, sources, subjects, and boundaries, while Tencent Video's commitment to and investment in super stories continues. In her view, a super story must possess four qualities: a super top-tier position, super-high standards, exceptional aesthetics, and powerful expression. At the technical level, the platform is currently focusing on exploring a "live-action + AI" hybrid model. According to Wang Juan, multiple projects have already adopted heavy AI hybridization in the early stages and achieved good results. At the same time, it has built WorkRally, a film and television industry-grade AI workbench for professional production teams, which starts from creators' actual needs to lower the creative threshold and improve core efficiency. Assets such as character digital avatars, virtual scenes, props, and special effects templates accumulated through the model can be reused throughout the entire cycle of development, broadcast, and long-tail operations, and can be licensed and opened to brand clients and partners for scenarios such as brand customization and offline events, extending the long-tail commercial value of dramas. At the level of long-term IP operations, Tencent Video has also proposed two core paths to promote the long-term growth of content value. First, continuous development by season, providing tiered supply for works with complete worldviews and solid audience bases, transforming viewers' watching into long-term companionship; second, all-scenario "one fish, many dishes," connecting diverse links such as novels, animation, dramas, and cultural tourism to achieve multi-scenario IP activation, traffic cross-promotion, and value reuse, continuously amplifying the long-term value of content. At this conference, Tencent Video released more than 100 upcoming premium titles across six major sections—long-form premium content, realistic premium content, romance premium content, fantasy premium content, costume premium content, and online feature films—demonstrating the platform's continued investment and diverse layout in premium content creation.