36: Chapter 36: Single-event revenue exceeds ten million, shocking Tencent!

Tencent Group Headquarters.

The atmosphere in the conference room was as relaxed as ever.

Douyu's person-in-charge, Old Xu, was giving the daily data report, with a graph showing the recent half-month's broadcasting data for Douyin live streaming projected on the screen.

That line slid all the way down from a peak of over ten thousand people to a position of one or two thousand.

"The number of people starting broadcasts on Douyin every day has now dropped to just over a thousand. At this time last year, our Douyu platform alone had nearly seven thousand stable active streamers every day."

"From the data, the popularity of Douyin's live streaming is indeed continuing to decline."

"I'm afraid it won't be long before Douyin's live streaming becomes completely irrelevant."

An executive nearby laughed and interrupted Old Xu.

"Who was it that said Douyin was going to compete with Douyu and Huya for the market? The number of active streamers is probably going to drop below a thousand. Without professional streamers, 'streaming for everyone' is just a joke."

Another executive chimed in.

"And besides."

"Even if they have a few streamers who occasionally receive big gifts, their overall revenue can't sustain itself at all."

"After all, that big Douyin streamer called Meizi only had seventy thousand in revenue for her birthday, which doesn't even compare to one of our mid-tier streamers."

"You have to realize."

"We have quite a few mid-tier streamers with that kind of income, but for Douyin, she seems to be the only one currently with seventy thousand in revenue, right?"

The room erupted in laughter again, and even Sun Qiang, sitting at the head of the table, couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.

After setting aside Weikan.

All of Douyin's efforts in the direction of live streaming did indeed look like a joke.

"By the way."

At that moment, an executive suddenly thought of something.

"There seemed to be some news this afternoon saying Douyin launched a new feature called PK, where two streamers compete on the same screen to receive gifts, and the loser performs a penalty. Old Xu, have you heard about it?"

Old Xu nodded.

"I've heard of it; it should have been updated today."

Old Xu then used a few sentences to explain this new Douyin feature to the others.

Laughter rang out in the conference room again.

"Competing for gifts on the same screen? Isn't that just putting two rooms where no one sends gifts together? Do they think they can boost revenue that way?"

"This Qin Mo probably knows Douyin's live streaming is dying, so he's treating a dead horse as if it were alive by coming up with something like this."

"Qin Mo is indeed skilled at Short Video, but he really doesn't understand the live streaming industry."

"The core of live streaming is the streamer, not the features. Without capable streamers, no matter how fancy the features are, it's useless."

"This PK feature or whatever is completely useless."

Sun Qiang hadn't said much since the meeting began, merely leaning back in his chair listening to his subordinates' discussion while occasionally mocking Douyin's live streaming.

His attitude toward Douyin's live streaming had always been clear: it wasn't worth spending too much energy on.

He conceded defeat in the Short Video track.

But live streaming was Tencent's foundation; no one could touch it in the short term.

"However, you were wrong about one thing."

At that moment, Sun Qiang spoke up as if he had suddenly thought of something, his tone somewhat serious.

"Douyin's PK feature isn't entirely useless."

Everyone was taken aback and instantly became serious.

They thought Sun Qiang was about to say something profound.

"At least it can increase the revenue of these Douyin streamers by a few hundred yuan."

"No."

Sun Qiang paused.

"It should be a few thousand yuan!"

Suddenly.

The entire conference room erupted in laughter again, filled with a joyful atmosphere.

But just then.

With a loud bang, the conference room door was slammed open from the outside.

Old Xu's secretary stood at the door, her face pale, clutching a phone so tightly that her knuckles were white.

Sun Qiang frowned, his voice carrying clear displeasure.

"Old Xu, what's wrong with your subordinate? Doesn't she know to knock?"

Old Xu's expression was also somewhat unsightly.

His secretary was usually quite composed; why was she so frantic today?

Just as he was about to scold her, she spoke, her voice incredibly dry.

"President Sun, Manager Xu, something has happened."

She paused and turned the phone screen toward everyone in the conference room.

"Douyin's live streaming revenue, just now, exceeded ten million!"

As soon as those words were spoken.

Everyone present was stunned for a moment.

"How is that possible? Douyin's live streaming has only been out for over a month, not even two, and the total revenue has already surpassed ten million?"

"It's not the total revenue."

The secretary's face grew even paler, and her voice trembled slightly.

"It's for a single session."

"Just now, in a Douyin live PK session."

"The total gift revenue has already broken ten million!"

...

In the Tencent Group headquarters, the conference room was silent for a full ten seconds.

Everyone's expressions and movements were frozen; there was no movement for a long time.

"Impossible!"

Sun Qiang was the first to react, his voice sounding as if something were stuck in his throat.

"Breaking ten million in a single session? Douyu has been doing live streaming for so many years, and the highest record for a single session is only a bit over a million."

"How long has Douyin live streaming been online? Over a month! Breaking ten million in a single session in over a month? Are you sure there's no problem with the data?"

The secretary handed the phone forward.

On the screen was a screenshot of a Douyin live room PK.

At the end of the PK, the number in the total revenue column had stopped at eleven million.

"I've already verified it three times."

"It's not a system error, not a data delay, and not because someone found a gift bug in Douyin's live streaming."

"Every single gift has a corresponding record; it's all real money."

"The ones who sent the most gifts on both sides are two second-generation rich heirs. They also have accounts on Douyu and Huya, but they've never sent this many gifts before."

Sun Qiang grabbed the phone and stared at the number on the screen for a long time.

Other executives in the conference room stood up one after another; some leaned in to see the phone screen, while others hastily took out their own phones to search for keywords.

But regardless of their actions, everyone's smiles were frozen on their faces at this moment, their backs already drenched in cold sweat.

"Breaking ten million in a single session."

"How... how is this possible?"

Old Xu's voice trembled as he looked at the screen recording his secretary had sent him; he could barely hold his phone steady.

The conference room fell into a deathly silence once again.

"How many years has it been since Douyu was founded?"

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Sun Qiang spoke slowly.

Old Xu swallowed hard.

"Seven years."

"Seven years, and the highest for a single session is over a million."

"Douyin, one month, over ten million."

Sun Qiang repeated these two numbers, his voice equally hoarse.

"Is this the 'completely useless' live PK you were talking about?"

The others opened their mouths to say something, as Sun Qiang had also looked down on the live PK just moments ago.

But no one spoke.

Having navigated the ups and downs of Tencent for so many years, they all knew that whoever spoke now would be walking right into Sun Qiang's line of fire.

With a long sigh, Sun Qiang felt his body go somewhat weak.

He slowly sat back in his chair.

"Go and investigate. See if it's just this specific live PK that's an exception, or if all Douyin live PK sessions are seeing an increase in revenue."

"And then."

"Add this feature to Douyu and Huya for me!"

Following Sun Qiang's order, everyone scattered and left the conference room.

Only Sun Qiang remained, feeling completely drained of strength.

Meanwhile.

Not long after the news broke within Tencent.

That evening.

A hashtag exploded across the entire internet, completely crushing the trending search from noon.

"Douyin Live PK, Single Session Revenue Exceeds Ten Million!"