Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the iQIYI Q3 2024 earnings conference call. All participants are in a listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Chang You, IR Director of the company. Please go ahead.
Thank you, Operator. Hello everyone, and thank you for joining iQIYI's Q3 2024 earnings conference call. The company's results were released earlier today and are available on the company's investor relations website at ir.iqiyi.com. On the call today are Mr. Yu Gong, our Founder, Director, and CEO; Mr. Jun Wang, our CFO; Mr. Xiaohui Wang, CCO, Chief Content Officer; Mr. Youqiao Duan, Senior Vice President of our Membership Business; Mr. Xianghua Yang, Senior Vice President of Movies and Overseas Business; and Mr. Wu Gang, Senior Vice President of Brand Advertising Business. Mr. Gong will give a brief overview of the company's business operations and highlights, followed by Jun, who will go through the financials. After the prepared remarks, the management team will participate in the Q&A session. Before we proceed, please note that the discussion today will contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those outlined in our public filings with the SEC. iQIYI does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement except as required under applicable law. I will now pass on to Mr. Gong. Please go ahead.
Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Throughout our 14-year company history, our ability to reinvent ourselves and innovate has been our core advantage against our competitors, and this strategy has remained unchanged for navigating all kinds of challenges. At this moment, we have identified two key trends. First, consumers become more prudent because of macro headwinds. Secondly, consumers now are facing more entertainment options, including the free mini and short dramas, which is growing rapidly. As always, we hold strong beliefs that streaming long-form videos remain one of the most fundamental and irreplaceable forms of entertainment. Their unique ability to influence a wide audience and provide emotional value is unmatched by any other form of entertainment. Meanwhile, facing evolving industry and market dynamics, we should proactively reach out to these new opportunities to ensure a long-term, healthy, and sustainable growth.
That's why we have been making a series of strategic upgrades. Key initiatives include: First, we have optimized the production of dramas by refining the storytelling, pacing, plot structure, and character development so as to better match the audience's view preferences. This will further improve popularity and bring better returns. Second, we have been upgrading, and we will continue to upgrade our apps to include mini and short dramas as part of our content offerings. The main iQIYI app will maintain its focus on long-form video content and subscription-based model, complemented by free mini and short dramas and advertising model. In contrast, the upgraded iQIYI Lite app will focus on free mini and short dramas and advertising model, complemented by long-form videos and subscription model. Third, we will increase investments in the acquisition and distribution of mini and short dramas.
Fourth, we have optimized our membership products and services system by combining an authorized password sharing and introducing an attractively priced family account option. The goal is to enhance member conversions and expand the scale of membership. Beyond these initiatives, we would apply AI more widely across our ecosystem, expand our presence in overseas markets, and explore possibilities in IP derivatives and offline experiences. We believe these efforts will enhance our revenue and profitability over the long term. Now, let's move on to the details of our core business segments. Starting with mini and short dramas, we are adapting our content strategy and business model to align with evolving market trends and consumer preferences by introducing mini and short dramas into our offering.
Distinct from long-form video, in terms of mass, storytelling style, and audience reach, mini and short dramas serve as a great complement for our existing lineup of traditional long-form dramas: movies and variety shows. Mini dramas feature episodes lasting one to five minutes in vertical formats, and short dramas span five to 20 minutes in horizontal formats. These shorter formats offer a quicker storytelling pace, cater well to users seeking quick entertainment breaks, and have gained considerable popularity among audiences. From a business model perspective, in the future, mini dramas will be available to all members at no actual cost. Non-members will enjoy the free-to-watch mini dramas, or choose to pay per view to access those exclusive to members. Short dramas will mirror the approach taken with our long-form content. They are free for members. Non-members will have access to a great free-to-watch second window.
This new offering caters to deliver viewer demands well supporting the growth of our subscriber base and expanding our monetization opportunities. Moving on to long-form videos, which are fundamental to our content ecosystem. Starting with the core drama category, we regained the number 1 position in viewership market share during the quarter, according to Enlightent. This was driven by the launch of multiple titles that garnered high acclaim from users. Notably, the second season of Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty becomes the 14th drama to break the iQIYI popularity index score of 10,000. Not only the serial's third season is already in production, this IP has been expanding its influence from online to offline domains, showcasing our success in IP development. Also, the new release for The Young Ones received the highest iQIYI popularity index score among dramas with less than 20 episodes.
Other titles such as Interlaced Scenes, Tobei, Born to be the One, Fangs of Fortune, and Stand By Me, Ying Feng De Qing Chun will all release to widespread praise. While we are proud of our performance in crime and reality drama genres, we recognize certain areas where we could improve. For example, the limited supply of key female-oriented costume dramas in the third-quarter impacted hit title-driven members. To this end, we aim to enhance the steady supply in this genre. We are also better aligned content genres with optimal broadcasting window going forward. For variety shows, our innovative new title, The King of Stand-Up Comedy, [Foreign language] , will enforce our strong presence in the comedy genre. According to Enlightent, it dominated the viewership charts for 10 consecutive weeks and largely outperformed other shows in the same genre.
It also achieved the second-highest peak popularity ever recorded for iQIYI exclusive variety shows. What's more impressive is that the show has not only propelled some stand-up comedians to widespread fame but also played a key role in boosting the industry and capturing the attention of audiences. For movies, we have maintained our leading position in viewership for 11 consecutive quarters, according to Enlightent. The performance was underscored by the theatrical releases like The Successor, [Foreign language] , and No More Bets [Foreign language], which ranked first and second respectively on our popularity index rankings. For animations, our production capabilities for Chinese animations continue to improve, as evidenced by an increasing share of revenue generated from our original titles. Along with the ongoing release of the highly popular How Dare You [Foreign language], we also launched The Legend of Sky Lord [Foreign language] and A Moment But Forever [Foreign language], receiving positive feedback.
Leveraging the exceptional quality of our premium content, we have earned broad recognition from reputable Chinese industry awards. At the 34th Flying Apsaras Awards, we topped the list among online video platforms with 11 honors. We also secured seven honors at the 32nd China TV Golden Eagle Awards. Turning to our content pipeline, we remained committed to providing our users with top-notch long-form video. This was highlighted during the iQIYI Conference, our flagship marketing event, where we disclosed an exciting lineup of over 300 titles that are set to premiere in the year 2024 and 2025. For costume dramas, Fangs of Fortune was released, and will be followed by the much-anticipated female-oriented drama Winter Solstice, Dong Zhi, Moonlight Mystique, Bai Yue Fan Xing.
In reality and suspense genres, audiences can look forward to We Are Criminal Police [Foreign language], Under the Skin Season 2, [Foreign language] 2, The Fearless Season 2, [Foreign language] 2, Light Wind Go By [Foreign language]. Beyond dramas, our movie offerings include the already released hits Upstream, [Foreign language, Go for Broke, [Foreign language], and Tiger Wolf Rabbit [Foreign language, with upcoming titles such as The Volunteer: The Battle of Life and Death [Foreign language] . Additionally, new online films and iQIYI original films are on the horizon. In terms of variety shows, we are introducing fresh IPs like My Zone [Foreign language] and The Blooming Journey 一[Foreign language]. For animations, the Q4 pipeline features major titles like the exclusive Dragon Ball Daima [Foreign language] and the original martial arts IP Wind Driver in Tang Dynasty [Foreign language]. Moving on to membership services, membership revenues in the third quarter was CNY 4.4 billion year-over-year.
There are three areas that influenced the membership revenue performance. First, as I previously mentioned, although we launched good-quality titles in the quarter, there is room for improvement in the supply of premium female-oriented and Asian costume dramas, which are especially appealing to members driven by hit titles. Second, amid the current macro headwinds, users drawn to hit titles have grown more cautious in spending, and a broader selection of entertainment options is also seeking to capture their budget and attention. Lastly, the high base effect from last year continued to play a part in our current figures. Our innovative value-added services continue to gain traction among users. Notably, we launched an express package for 13 dramas in the quarter, leading to more than 40% sequential growth in cash purchases, reaching a historical high. Additionally, we further enhanced member benefits to encourage upgrades to high-tier plans and boost member engagement.
This includes more than 20 offline events such as fan meetings, early screening events, and family fun days. As always, our primary goal for membership services is to maximize revenue performance, to fulfill this goal, and to proactively adapt to the current consumer sentiments. We are making modifications to our membership offering. Key initiatives include: First, we are combatting unauthorized membership account password sharing to enhance account security. Meanwhile, on November 12, we introduced the family account option as a better solution for account sharing. Through this program, monthly old renewing Golden VIP members have the option to add a separate family account for just CNY 8 per month. Each account, both the primary and the family add-on, will maintain separate user profiles and ensure an interactive and personalized viewing experience.
Secondly, the ad-supported basic membership plan, which was previously exclusive to iQIYI Lite, has now been expanded to major iQIYI products. This membership performance is in line with our expectations. Last but not least, content search, as one of the key drivers of our membership business. Integrating mini and short dramas with our top-quality long-form video titles introduces a unique mix that caters to diverse viewer preferences. Moving on to the advertising business, advertising revenue during the third quarter was RMB 1.3 billion, down year over year. Performance has remained the highlight during the quarter, gaining steady growth annually, driven by the solid performance in e-commerce, internet, and mini-drama sectors. The growth was also fueled by our advancements in AI applications, with CPM for AI-powered ads improving by over 20% compared to traditional ads.
For brand ads, revenue declined annually due to weak advertiser sentiments amid the macro headwinds, especially, we proactively reduced investments in variety shows in response to the macro headwinds to avoid financial setbacks, which led to a major decrease in brand ad revenue. Nevertheless, content-related ads remained popular among brand advertisers. Titles such as The King of Stand-Up Comedy, The Moon is Shining, and The Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Season 2 attracted the largest share of ad budgets on our platform. Going forward, we will focus on expanding our advertiser base, especially among local brands, and capturing a greater share of budgets from top-tier clients. Moving on to technology and products, we are making solid progress in driving technology innovations to improve user experience and operational efficiency.
For example, we've made upgrades to our products across all devices, which include enhanced interactive bullet chat capabilities, improved audio quality, better video sharing and download options, and refined recommendation features. We have also made further progress in advancing the industrialization of the entertainment business, as our virtual production technology has now reached the mass production stage. iQIYI is one of the first streaming platforms in China with the ability to handle the entire virtual production process for dramas, including production cost evaluation, technical design, and supervision. This capability allows us to manage multiple projects simultaneously. In addition, the drama Shadow Love [Foreign language] is the first in China to apply the latest version of Unreal Engine into virtual production. We have also upgraded the iQIYI virtual production studio with technical indicators meeting the highest standards both in China and internationally.
This tech upgrade is expected to effectively enhance our mass production capability. Moving forward, our recent advancement showcases the broad utilization of AI to improve business efficiency. AI plays a central role in advancing our operations, especially in content translation and the gathering for our overseas business. Our AI-driven approach has enabled efficient and highly accurate multilingual translation and multi-tongue dubbing service, dramatically reducing the time it takes to release Chinese content overseas and cutting down on translation costs. Moreover, we have developed an AI system capable of rapidly generating plot texts for our content library. This innovative tool has shortened what used to be a month-long manual task into a matter of days. In fact, we have produced plot texts for over 12,000 movies, achieving an impressive accuracy rate of over 92%.
The cutting process has seen similar improvements with AI, deliberately analyzing and matching actors to the right roles, which largely speeds up producers' decision-making workflow. Finally, for our business performance in regions outside of mainland China, we recorded solid performance in our overseas business in the third quarter, with both total revenue and membership service revenue gaining annual and sequential growth. Notably, membership revenue from Hong Kong, U.K., Brazil, and Australia grew over 40% annually. The average daily number of subscribing members overseas also increased annually and sequentially, with Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Thailand seeing annual growth exceeding 45%. The influence of C-dramas continues to strengthen overseas. In the third quarter, play views of Love's Rebellion topped the viewership ranking across multiple markets, including the U.S., Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
Additionally, we successfully expanded the influence of original production and Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty Season 2 beyond Mainland China. The series made international debut with a premiere in Singapore at the end of July, marked the first-ever overseas premiere screening for our premium C-dramas. For local content, we launched a number of dramas that received positive feedback, amongst The Lady and Her Lovers, recording the highest daily revenue among all Thai dramas released on our platform in 2024. The show also ranked first on Google in Thailand, greatly outperforming other shows in the same time slot. As we head into the first quarter, we will continue to expand our local partnerships and explore additional monetization opportunities. This includes deepening the bundle package cooperation with telecom providers in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
In addition, we aim to amplify the influence of our content and increase membership benefits through diversified offline events. On November 1, we host our first iQIYI conference outside of mainland China as we proceed through the remaining months of Q4. We are set to launch a series of appreciation events and promotions for members. Additionally, we are excited about the forthcoming international rollout of more high-quality content. Notably, our talent show, Starlight Boys, was introduced on October 26 and has already received a positive reception from our audience. In summary, looking ahead, we remain committed to driving innovation and advancements across our business, catering to the dynamic entertainment needs. Our targeted initiatives, such as launching mini and short dramas, will bring enriched entertainment experiences and further strengthen our commercial capabilities. These efforts are supported by our deep knowledge of both content and users, coupled with our vast industry resources.
In parallel, we will deepen our adoption of AI technology along with our overseas expansion and fully leverage the potential of our IP. These strategic efforts are aimed at driving our company towards greater sustainability and success. Now, let me pass it on to Jun Wang to go through our financial performance.
Thanks, Mr. Gong. And hello, everyone. Let me walk you through the key numbers. In the third quarter, the total revenue were RMB 7.2 billion, down 10% annually. The membership services revenue reached RMB 4.4 billion, down 13% annually for three reasons, as previously discussed by Mr. Gong. For online advertising, revenue decreased by 20% year over year to RMB 1.3 billion. This was primarily due to the decrease in brand ad business, partially offset by the growth in performance ad business. Content distribution revenue reached RMB 814 million and grew 52% annually.
And other revenues decreased by 8% annually to RMB 729 million. Moving on to costs and expenses, the content cost was RMB 4 billion, down 5% annually, primarily due to lighter movie offerings in the quarter. The total operating expenses were RMB 1.4 billion, down 5% annually, primarily driven by the more disciplined management of the marketing spendings. Turning to profits and cash flows, the non-GAAP operating income was RMB 369 million, and its corresponding margin was 5%. The operating cash flow totaled RMB 243 million, positive for 10 consecutive quarters. At the end of the third quarter, we had cash equivalents, short-term investments, and long-term restricted cash included in the prepayments and other assets, a total of RMB 4.7 billion. For the detailed financial data, please refer to our press release on our iQIYI website. Now, I will open the floor for Q&A.
Thank you.
If you wish to ask a question, please press Star 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press Star 2. If you're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Please ask questions in Chinese first and then translate your questions into English. Please also limit yourself to one question at a time. If you wish to ask further questions, please rejoin the queue. Your first question comes from Xueqing Zhang with CICC. Please go ahead.
[Foreign language] Thanks management for taking my question. My question is about mini and short dramas. As Yu Gong mentioned in the prepared remarks, the company has enhanced the integration of mini and short dramas. Could management elaborate a little more on it, and what's our strategy for mini and short dramas? Thank you.
[Foreign language] The CEO, Mr.
Gong is answering this question. Starting from the end of September this year, we added mini dramas and short dramas into our content ecosystem. These two types of content are very much differentiated from traditional long-form video content, so they are a very good complement to our content offerings.
[Foreign language] Especially for this year, the free mini dramas model has been rising significantly, and then the user scale is at a pretty sizable scale and has been growing, so now is a good time to enter.
[Foreign language] Okay. So for mini dramas, we classify them as they are one to five minutes long in vertical format, and then for short dramas, they are five to 20 minutes long in horizontal format. For now, we're focusing on the mini drama sector.
[Foreign language] In the past two years, we've participated in mini dramas by participating in the performance app model.
[Foreign language] We have been actually innovating in this mini drama sector by innovating different models and formats. For users, it used to be participating or watching the content for free or pay-per-view. And we now introduce the subscription model to this business model. And for current subscribers, they can watch the vast majority of the mini dramas for free, and then pretty soon in the future, they will watch everything for mini dramas for free.
[Foreign language] For the current business model, there are free advertising models or they can do pay-per-view. And we actually introduced a subscription model to this business model, and we believe this will be positive and constructive for the membership retention and also to get new users。
[Foreign language] In terms of content strategy, we will develop mini dramas through various methods, including copyright licensing, full rights buyout, and profit sharing.
[Foreign language] Going forward, we'll focus on the premium high content of the mini dramas, and then eventually we will develop our unique style that's generated by iQIYI, belongs to iQIYI.
[Foreign language] And we hope in the future that for iQIYI's mini dramas, in terms of the content production quality and also the value provided to users, it will be a further improvement from the current level.
[Foreign language] Thank you.
Your next question comes from Lei Zhang with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yu Gong management good evening, thank you for taking my question. My question mainly wants to continue follow up on our layout in short dramas. Can you please share with us, as a long video leader, what competitive advantages we have in short dramas, and if investing in short dramas, whether it will have any impact on our future content costs. Thank you, I will translate myself. Thanks, management, for taking my question. Want to follow up on the short drama side. Can you share with us the competitive edge in investing in short drama and any impact to our content cost in the future? Thank you.
[Foreign language] The CEO, Mr. Yu Gong, is answering this question.
So in terms of our advantage in mini dramas, first of all, we have advantage in product and technology. For mini dramas, currently a material amount of the traffic is happening on the mobile side. So on the mobile side, we have two major applications, the iQIYI app and also iQIYI Lite. So for these two apps, we have very mature technology and infrastructure and also a good user base. And actually, a good size and actually a good portion of the users are subscribers. So basically, based on that, when we add new content dramas to this and then combine with a good upgrade to the application, it will be a good adaptation to the current strategy.
[Foreign language] For the first upgraded version of the iQIYI app actually has been released already.
We're doing the A/B test right now, so most of the users, when you download or upgrade the application, you will see the changes.
[Foreign language] For iQIYI app, it will continue to focus on the long-form video content. From the business model perspective, it will be majority focused on the subscription model. And for iQIYI Lite application, it will focus on mini dramas and short dramas, mainly driven by the advertising model.
[Foreign language] The vast majority of the content providers for mini dramas are iQIYI's existing partners. So collaborations in these new categories have further extended and are deepened our partnership scope, allowing us to rapidly scale up in these areas and then at a relatively low cost.
[Foreign language] So basically, the operational rules or the principles in terms of managing these two types of content, the long-form video content versus mini drama, are relatively similar or don't have major changes. So it will be pretty fast for our teams to pick up and then master in this.
[Foreign language] In terms of the funding for the content for mini dramas, it will come from two aspects. First of all, we'll lower the investment in terms of the low ROI of long-form video content. And then secondly, then we will scientifically and also rationally increase the budget for mini series.
[Foreign language] And that's it. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Maggie Ye with CLSA. Please go ahead.
[Foreign language] Good evening. Thank you for this opportunity to ask questions. My question is about membership.
In October, we announced the launch of Family Account Option, wondering if management can share more insights into the strategic consideration around this initiative, especially given the current macro environment and consumer trends. What are our expectations on this strategy over near-term and longer-term? How's the initial feedback we received from consumers and users so far since the introduction? Thank you.
Thank you, Maggie. And we'll invite Mr. Duan, who's in charge of this business segment, to answer this question.
[Foreign language] iQIYI's Family Account is a high-cost-effective shared membership service plan we introduced to enhance the user experience for family members. It better serves users' independent and diverse viewing needs and user scenarios.
[Foreign language] The Family Account and the Primary Account are actually standalone membership accounts with individual passwords and also playback history. So this not only effectively improves the user experience but also protects the account security.
[Foreign language] And as you know, the video consumption needs of the elderly and the young demographics are steadily increasing. And the Family Account is actually designed to effectively address their challenges in account management and accessing content.
[Foreign language] The membership account is an innovative attempt in the membership product model, which has a positive impact on improving membership conversion and revenue. So going forward in the future, we'll continue to combat password sharing, offer users more cost-effective choices, and aim for the long-term healthy development of the membership business.
[Foreign language] The Family Account was actually officially launched on November 12th, and we will observe the performance for some time before sharing the user feedback and data outcomes with everyone. Thank you.
Your next question comes from Zhi Zhou with Guangfa Securities. Please go ahead.
[Foreign language] I will translate myself as Dr.
Yu Gong has mentioned the long-form video are fundamentals to iQIYI's content ecosystem. My question is about your strategy for production of dramas. Could you share with us about the lens, scene, and innovative direction of your future drama series? Thank you.
Thank you. And we'll invite Mr. Xiaohui Wang, our Chief Content Officer, to take this question.
[Foreign language] We believe although there have been some cyclical fluctuations in the industry, we believe that the recovery of the market confidence and user demand for long-form videos will still be one of the strongest demands among users in the mid to long term. We believe it will remain at the core of iQIYI's content ecosystem as well. So going forward, we will enhance the sustainability of a diverse, high-quality content supply through powerful reform measures, continue to achieve a win-win situation for both content quality and commercial revenue.
[Foreign language] Based on the insights into societal sentiment and also the changes in user viewing preferences, we believe we will comprehensively upgrade the production and operational mechanisms for dramas, films, animations, and variety shows. We will improve the production and content launch efficiency, focus resources on creating high-quality works, and strengthen the commercial aspect of the content.
[Foreign language] For content planning, we will structurally optimize the process by improving the coordination of the number of new dramas, episodes, and genres, and will reasonably reduce the number of key new drama releases each year. We will strictly curate project selections to prioritize excellence and concentrate resource allocations on premium content with high commercial value. So from inception, all projects will embody commercial appeal, mass market resonance, and contemporary relevance.
[Foreign language] For content evaluation, we will establish stricter assessment standards that focus more on revenue capability and innovation ability within the framework of the content-related cost ratio.
[Foreign language] For content creation, we will optimize scripts and filming techniques to align with users' evolving viewing preferences. Simultaneously, we will aim to deepen our understanding of social trends and create works that resonate more profoundly with contemporary societal emotions and tastes.
[Foreign language] For content production, we'll strengthen project management and quality control, closely monitor project progress, and work with partners to reduce costs and improve production efficiency.
[Foreign language] From a team-building perspective, we are committed to the continuous improvement in our in-house studio mechanisms. Our studios, which are structured around producers, focus on consistently attracting high-quality talent from the market. We aim to cultivate healthy internal competition by establishing mechanisms that reward innovation and promote distinct content styles. Thank you.
The strategy ensures ongoing evolution through a process of natural selection where only the excellence thrives. And that concludes the answer to this question.
There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to management for closing remarks.
Thank you, everyone, for participating in the call today. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you again. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Thank you.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.