Since The Untamed premiered exclusively on Tencent Video, the show has become a hit with both the viewers and fans of the novel for its handsome leads and faithful adaptation of the book. Cast members Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo, Liu Haikuan and Zheng Fanxing recently attended an event where Tencent made the big announcement that seems to have displeased its audience.
Tencent is rolling out a new service to its VIP users that they have dubbed as a special privilege. With this new service, VIP users have the option to pay in order to watch episodes that have not yet aired. Essentially, this means that starting August 7, The Untamed finale will be released early for some viewers who choose to avail the option. Tencent has explained that in this way, they can satisfy viewers who are begging for episodes to be released faster while the rest can still watch the series at their preferred pace.
I’m guessing some opportunistic capitalist over at Tencent thought that it would be a great revenue strategy to let premium subscribers pay to watch the finale first.
People took to the internet to express their distaste for the preemptive broadcast of The Untamed’s final episode, with some saying that they would rather take their time to watch the series than rush to the ending.
Others have said that they have a right to voice out things like this as the consumers and that Tencent was treating The Untamed like a money-making machine. One netizen simply said that The Untamed is one of the hottest dramas this year and that Tencent shouldn’t ruin it by pouring the ice cold water of capitalism on it. Moreover, things have been going great for the drama and popularity is steadily on the rise. To give some users the option to watch the ending in advance could open up the risk of the ending being spoiled and also the possibility that the episodes will be pirated, which will then have a negative effect on views.
Only time will tell if Tencent will continue with its advanced screening of The Untamed’s finale. What are your thoughts on this, guys?
Anonymous
I would pay for that service cause I am quite an impatient viewer. I just wish they would make the service available internationally.
Lou
But it is available internationally! (for what I saw) Download wetv app and you'll found all the episodes that have been aired with the 4 lastest being available for VIP users ~
Lou
But it is available internationally! (for what I saw) Download wetv app and you'll found all the episodes that have been aired with the 4 lastest being available for VIP users ~
Usi
People should stop complain. Why does it hurt when they make a bit extra money? It isn't like Tencent would change the airing schedule for Non-VIP. It is quite normal with popular novels, but with shows it isn't okay?
Anonymous
@Lou does the WeTV include the VIP episofes from the Chinese schedule? Up to episodes 34?
Lou
Yep !
Full Moon
It's not ok for fans simply because it will affect popularity of the film and the actors! The staffs spent 3 years preparing and actors & actresses spent 4 months days and nights for this drama. Airing 6 eps per week is already very fast. Now Tencent cuts off another week for money and as I can see it is also because Tencent wants viewers to focus on another drama airing at the same time instead of The Untamed.
Overall the drama is now aired for only one month…
You must see the face of all the actors at the mentioned live fan meeting, they are not happy at all but still have to force a smile on their face ? The meeting is shabby, unprepared and by the end (above picture) everybody knows why do we even have such meeting in the first place!!!
Not to mention fans already have plan to boost popularity of this drama by the time it ends and now everything is ruined.
Kris Young
What's the big fuzz, it is exclusive to VIP members and everyone is still free to choose. It is normal for companies to think of ways to generate revenues so that they can make other great series like The Untamed. I am a big fan of the series and if given an option will definitely take this opportunity.
Natha Calista
I don't pretty much care actually. LoL Because i'm still waiting for all episode and then watch everything at once. You just have to avoid spoilers imo.
Nadine
I think I can understand the audience protesting against this idea. After all, this is a piece of work that had quite some time invested in it and having everything available two weeks prior to the intended time, revealing everything so fast, is bound to mess with the popularity of the drama – especially if the price is cheap, or at the very least affordable for the majority of the VIP users. I'm actually also not so fond of the whole VIPs being a few episodes ahead, but at least there it's, as far as I know, for The Untamed, just around 4 episodes. But I guess they just had to give some benefit for those paying to use the site. But making all those episodes available so early is messing around too much.
I also wanted to point out, that while for The Untamed, the final may be made available 2 weeks prior, I'm afraid that if this proves to be a successful strategy – and I mean, as long as it is affordable, such a feature will certainly tempt a lot of people – it won't just be 2 weeks prior to the intended schedule, but maybe from beginning to end, every episode will be available from day 1. This may sound awesome for waiting fans, but for those involved in the drama, it's probably not going to be so well appreciated. After all, if such a feature exists, a drama and the workers behind it may experience popularity for maybe even just a short time of 1-2 weeks. While I may not be well versed in matters of the film industry, this won't help actors, who – if they want a successful carrier – have to make an impact of sorts, which while binge watching a drama is hardly likely. Investors who put their products inside may also not experience the intended impact during such a short period of time.
Anyway, those are just general thoughts. I'm just really skeptical about developing in that direction.
Full Moon
Guys, did I not mention Tencent might cut short some episodes just to meet that deadline of 7th Aug?