Recently, the China Television Drama Production Industry Conference and the Shanghai Television Drama Production and Broadcasting Annual Conference have been held successively. As the industry's annual "barometer" and "set tone drum", the two events have gathered policy regulatory departments, top platforms, production companies, creators, and actor representatives to face the most core anxieties of the current industry - high costs, declining traffic, diversion of short dramas, weak innovation, and gambling on explosive products becoming the norm. From policy adjustments to market data, from popular product logic to actor value, from AI empowerment to revenue sharing innovation, a series of discussions have gradually gathered industry consensus: long dramas will not be replaced, but will only be upgraded to high-quality and advanced cultural ballast stones; Explosive products cannot rely on "gambling", but on a systematic, refined, and industrialized creative logic. The anxiety of the industry's explosive sales caused by long dramas falling into a "gambling style" dilemma is essentially the transformation pains of the old growth logic failing and the new development model not being established. In the past five years, long dramas have fallen into a vicious cycle of "high investment, high risk, and low success rate": the cost of a single episode for top projects has exceeded 10 million yuan, and core resources have been concentrated on traffic stars, big IPs, and strong marketing. As a result, the explosive rate is less than 10%, and most projects are facing the dilemma of losses or lower than expected returns. At the same time, micro dramas seize user time with low cost, fast pace, and strong stimulation. More than a thousand short dramas will be launched during the Spring Festival in 2026, doubling the number year-on-year, further diverting audience attention and putting greater pressure on the "slow paced" creation of long dramas. Waiting for a hit "has become a common mentality in the industry, and the creation has fallen into the dilemma of crowded themes, repetitive routines, floating without landing, and continuously increasing abandonment rates. Even more severe is the imbalance in cost structure: the proportion of actor salaries is too high, the production process is inefficient, and marketing investment is skyrocketing, resulting in a serious inversion of input-output ratio. Small and medium-sized production companies are facing a triple dilemma of financing difficulties, broadcasting difficulties, and payment difficulties, and the industry is showing a differentiation of "head gambling, waist bleeding, and tail elimination". Behind the anxiety of "explosive products" is not only the disappointment of the audience, but also the urgent desire of the entire industry for sustainable creation, healthy ecology, and deterministic returns. To clarify industry boundaries through complementary strengths and weaknesses, anxiety needs to be eliminated. The first step of the biennial conference is to set the tone, focus, and direction for the industry, thoroughly clarify the "struggle between strengths and weaknesses", and dispel the extreme argument that "long dramas will perish". Feng Shengyong, Director of the Television Drama Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television, made a clear core judgment at the Production Industry Conference: micro dramas are a new form of literature and art, while long dramas are the cornerstone of quality. The two complement and promote each other, each with its own beauty, and there is no such thing as "who replaces whom". This statement represents the expectation of industry stability and also re anchors the core values of long dramas - they are irreplaceable in terms of cultural depth, narrative thickness, and value bearing, and are the core carrier of mainstream dissemination, cultural internationalization, and historical memory. China Audio Visual Big Data (CVB) further consolidates the basic base of long dramas: by 2025, 1023 TV dramas with 284000 episodes will be broadcasted on satellite channels nationwide, and the total cumulative viewing scale of TV screens will exceed 302 billion, with a monthly average year-on-year growth of 7.5%; The average daily viewing time per household is 81.8 minutes, an increase of 1.6% year-on-year. The historical drama "Taiping Nian" ended on CCTV-1, with an average viewership of 2.490% per episode and a single episode reaching a high of 3.200%, setting a record for historical costume drama viewership in CVB's history. The cumulative viewership on the big screen reached 1.14 billion people; The real-life theme "Tree of Life" was a hit on CCTV-8, with an average viewership of 1.580% and a cumulative viewership of 540 million people. Authoritative data and top works jointly prove that high-quality long dramas still have a national level influence and are not a 'sunset industry'. The supervisory department also pointed directly at the core of anxiety and drew a clear development bottom line: insisting on reducing traffic, suspending, and injecting water, and treating the audience as the "last main creator"; Resolutely resist the chaos of sky high salaries, competition for seats, and live performances, and promote actors to return to the essence of acting; The platform should strengthen the concept of "expanding the market", promote data openness and transparency, and achieve revenue sharing and risk sharing. Abandoning gambling on popular products and returning to content has become the core guideline for the industry at the policy level. Focusing on individual rejection of "suspension" and "instrumentalization", the content of long dramas presents a new scene of "mainstream consolidation of chassis, innovation opening up increment" at the beginning of 2026. The logic of popular products has shifted from "competing for traffic" to "competing for stories, characters, and resonance", and the three major new trends are clearly presented. The core code of realism is still rooted in the "sense of reality" of life, focusing on individuals, and presenting grand themes as narratives of the fate of ordinary people, rejecting "suspension" and "instrumentalization". The grand drama "Tree of Life" at the beginning of the year connects the life journey of ordinary people with the changes of the times. It has a rating of 8.3 on Douban, with a weekly view count of 274 million and a cumulative view count of over 1 billion. The drama has become a benchmark for realistic themes that emphasize preaching, resonance, and attention to detail, once again proving that 'truth is the most powerful'. Good Times "and" Love in the Age of Innocence "are popular, focusing on family, growth, and the imprint of the times, with" real content bringing traffic ". The return of historical dramas, "Taiping Nian" breaks the stereotype of "high and low historical drama" with rigorous textual research, excellent production, and group narrative, achieving the unity of mainstream values and public aesthetics. From the excellent ratings and reputation of 'Taiping Nian', it can be seen that a rigorous historical narrative can also gain high popularity and become an important carrier for cultural globalization and value dissemination. The ancient costume track has also recently achieved breakthroughs in the homogenization of ancient puppets. Chasing Jade "made Tian Xiwei a popular actress on both platforms, with roles ranging from ordinary girls to female generals, achieving a breakthrough in genre. Industry expert Leng Song proposed the "New Five" creative directions: regional characteristics, biographies, new cases, psychological emotions, and professional ecology, providing a clear path for type innovation. Long dramas may form several new strategies combined with the consensus of the two major industry events. In 2026, long dramas may form several new strategies to alleviate the anxiety of explosive products from the root and promote the long-term development of the industry. One is the refinement strategy, which strictly controls production, increases individual investment, abandons the "casting a wide net" model, and pursues quality premium and long tail value. The proportion of old drama traffic is nearly 50%, proving that high-quality content has time compounded interest. In 2026, the focus will be on four types of works: epic IP series, strong author works, social issue depth dramas, and technology pioneer dramas, to create sustainable bestsellers with "less but more"; The second is the combination of mainstream cultivation and innovative breakthroughs. The so-called mainstream tracks such as reality, history, and era are deeply explored, while innovative tracks with high concepts, new types, and vertical themes are boldly broken through to attract young audiences, avoid dependence on a single track, and reduce risks; Thirdly, eating more fish and building a long-term value "IP ecosystem" is also expected to become a reality. More and more practitioners realize that only by developing the entire industry chain around the core IP, including derivative short dramas, movies, variety shows, games, e-commerce, and cultural tourism, can we create an IP universe and achieve "one drama, multiple profits", ultimately getting rid of the influence of the success or failure of a single work and building a long-term creative ecosystem. 2026 is a year of continued transformation for Chinese long dramas. Short drama impact, AI reconstruction, policy guidance, and market reshuffle are driving the industry from scale expansion to deep value cultivation. From the rich history of 'Taiping Nian' to the warmth of reality in 'Tree of Life', from actors returning to acting to AI empowered creation, from account sharing activating waist to network collaborative win-win, Chinese long dramas need to break free from the anxiety of 'gambling on explosive products' and resolutely move towards a new development path of refinement, differentiation, industrialization, and ecologicalization. Perhaps the essence of anxiety at this moment is the end of old patterns and the birth of new patterns; When the industry returns to the essence of content, embraces technological changes, innovates business models, and adheres to cultural aspirations, the frequently changing "gambling hot items" will gradually become history, and occasional "hot items" will be transformed into sustainable high-quality content output. Long dramas will not disappear, they will only be upgraded to cultural benchmarks. In 2026, we look forward to a healthier, more prosperous, and more vibrant new era of long dramas. (New Society)