LayarHijau – The Chinese drama Pursuit of Jade (逐玉) reached a significant milestone on its sixth day of broadcast. The series surpassed a heat index of 10,000 on iQiyi and 30,000 on Tencent Video, two benchmarks that are generally regarded as indicators that a drama has achieved strong popularity on their respective platforms.
At the same time, discussions about possible data manipulation, often referred to as “data injection,” have been spreading widely across Chinese social media. The debate reflects growing public scrutiny over the authenticity of various metrics used to measure a drama’s popularity.
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In the past two years, several popular dramas have faced similar accusations. Industry observers note that public discussions surrounding the authenticity of drama data have grown louder with each new controversy.
Amid the debate, practitioners within China’s entertainment industry have begun speaking openly about how data manipulation might occur, how likely it is in today’s environment, and what standards are now used to determine whether a drama is genuinely popular.
Does Data Manipulation Still Happen?
A producer interviewed by Sohu Entertainment said that while data manipulation cannot be said to be completely nonexistent in the industry, he believes it is unlikely to be widespread.
According to him, the cost of manipulating data today is relatively high, and the difficulty continues to increase. As a result, such practices, if they occur at all, are usually limited to large projects that stakeholders believe have the potential to become major hits.
He explained that these changes are largely due to streaming platforms tightening their data management systems. At the same time, market awareness and audience understanding of how to evaluate a drama’s popularity have also improved significantly.
In the past, when platforms openly displayed total view counts, the industry often saw dramas boasting hundreds of billions of views. At the time, such figures were considered normal because manipulation was relatively easy to carry out, for instance by using large numbers of accounts to artificially increase viewing numbers.
Today, however, the situation has changed. With stricter regulatory oversight and more sophisticated data management systems on streaming platforms, such manipulation has become increasingly difficult.
New Standards for Measuring a Drama’s Success
A drama promotion staff member explained that evaluating a drama’s performance today no longer relies solely on view counts.
Streaming platforms now consider a wide range of metrics when assessing the popularity of a series. These include completion rates, total viewing time, the number of new users drawn to the platform by the drama, as well as audience engagement through comments and interactive features.
With so many indicators involved, manipulating data has become far more complicated and expensive than in the past.
“Simply inflating the view count alone is meaningless,” the producer said. “Even if someone tries to manipulate views, abnormal data distribution or growth curves can now be easily noticed by audiences.”
Audiences Are Becoming More Data-Savvy
Beyond changes on the platform side, increased data literacy among viewers has also become an important factor.
In recent years, Chinese drama fans have become increasingly accustomed to analyzing multiple indicators when determining whether a show is genuinely popular. They no longer rely solely on data provided by streaming platforms but also compare it with figures from third-party sources.
Some of the commonly referenced indicators include the number of new users attracted by a drama, advertising and sponsorship revenue, and the growth curve of its popularity during its broadcast run.
Audiences also frequently cite data from various popularity indexes, such as search trends on Douyin, Baidu, and WeChat. In addition, the number of trending topics on social media, comment volume, view counts, and rankings within fan communities are often used as reference points.
Because of the growing number of metrics involved, industry practitioners believe that data manipulation is unlikely to become a standard practice in the industry. If it does occur, it is typically used as a temporary boost to help generate early momentum for a drama.
Business Pressure Behind Popularity Numbers
The producer also noted that business pressure can be one of the factors driving such practices.
He explained that if a drama’s popularity fails to meet expectations, the various parties involved in its production may face significant performance pressure. In such cases, some stakeholders may attempt to push up the data during the early stages of the broadcast.
However, such measures rarely continue for long. If the drama’s performance still falls short of expectations, these efforts are usually halted.
Meanwhile, a data analyst in the entertainment industry who goes by the nickname “Sandeko” suggested that methods of data manipulation may continue to evolve in the future.
He said that when looking at past cases chronologically, projects that faced accusations of data manipulation often tried to address the specific indicators that had drawn public scrutiny in subsequent projects.
According to him, this phenomenon is quite different from the manipulation of view counts that occurred more than a decade ago. At that time, manipulation was relatively simple because audiences had limited ways to independently gauge a drama’s popularity.
In today’s mobile internet era, however, the standards used to evaluate drama popularity have become far more complex. As a result, even when suspicions arise, the public often cannot go beyond speculation because no single metric definitively proves manipulation.
China’s Drama Industry Is in Need of Major Hits
At the same time, China’s drama industry is facing significant pressure due to declining market performance.
According to data from Yunhe, the total daily viewing volume for Chinese dramas last year hovered around roughly 200 million views per day, a relatively low level compared to previous years.
Looking at the performance of hit dramas, only one series last year managed to reach an average of more than 60 million views per episode during its peak broadcast period. In contrast, four dramas achieved that benchmark in 2024.
Throughout last year, there was also no drama that surpassed the milestone of averaging more than 100 million views per episode, a level once considered the standard for a major breakout hit.
Market pressure has become even more apparent this year. During the Lunar New Year period, daily viewing totals at one point dropped to around 130 million.
Under these conditions, streaming platforms, production companies, and even actors with large fan bases are all facing increasing performance pressure.
The producer explained that in recent years, platforms have shifted more performance pressure onto production companies through various measures such as reducing the number of projects, implementing post-broadcast performance evaluations, and introducing new promotional models.
As a result, if a project fails to achieve the expected results, production companies now face greater financial risks.
The Rise of “Pre-Manufactured Hits”
In this environment, some industry players have adopted a strategy often described as creating a “pre-manufactured hit” before a drama even premieres.
This approach typically begins long before the broadcast, starting with official project announcements, behind-the-scenes photos from filming locations, and gradually released trailers. Elements such as popular cast members and well-known production teams are used to build the perception that the drama will become a major hit.
Once the drama begins airing, various data indicators are then cited to reinforce the narrative that the show has already become a success.
However, as more and more dramas are promoted as “hits” from the outset, some viewers have begun to find it difficult to distinguish between shows that are genuinely popular and those driven mainly by promotional strategies.
If controversies surrounding data authenticity continue to grow, some observers fear it could deepen the trust gap between the industry and audiences.
If viewers begin to lose confidence in the popularity metrics being circulated, they may become increasingly reluctant to try new dramas. In the long run, this could further shrink the core audience base and make it even more difficult for the industry to produce genuine breakout hits.
For many observers, the biggest challenge facing the industry today is not only establishing more transparent data standards but also rebuilding trust between the entertainment industry and its audiences.
