[C-Drama]: Tencent Gives Option To Watch "The Untamed" Finale in Advance and Audiences Don't Approve

Jul 30, 2019

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.