Tencent Video
Tencent's streaming app for series, shows, films, Chinese animation and sports
First principle
People want stories, and a family never wants the same ones. Tencent Video stocks series, variety shows, films, Chinese animation and kids' shows, much of it exclusive, so one membership covers everyone.
The needs it meets
- EntertainmentCore
- Passing time and unwinding, carried off by stories, music and video.
Why it wins
- Much of its animation is adapted from popular web novels and updates on a fixed day each week, so fans don't cancel when a drama ends.
- Log in with WeChat or QQ and share a show straight to a group chat; Tencent's social apps bring the viewers.
- Sport such as the NBA has its own membership in the same app, so fans stay put.
What keeps it ahead
- Endless supply
- Something new every day: uploads, a licensed library or AI.
- Ecosystem
- Preinstalled, or tied to an account or a bigger platform.
- Brand and IP
- People knew it already: the brand, the characters, the stars.
How it makes money
SubscriptionsAds
Some of it is free with ads; the grossing chart money is mostly Tencent Video VIP, Super VIP and sports memberships bought on iPhone.
What a small team can take from it
No small team has the money for rights and productions. What it can borrow is the instalment: release on a fixed schedule rather than all at once and subscribers keep renewing. A newsletter, a course or a template pack can work this way.
This week
- China: top grossing apps, number 4
updated 29 October 2026
- Developer
- Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited
- Category
- App · Entertainment
- Stores
- App Store
- First in a list
- 29 October 2026
This is our analysis and judgement, drafted by an AI agent from the store pages and public sources and read by a person before it went up. Every figure has a source; where there is none, we give no figure. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].