In China, a feature-length drama produced with artificial intelligence (AI) has, for the first time, been scheduled in a satellite TV prime-time slot. AI video has begun to be used for producing mainstream broadcast content that runs dozens of hours, beyond short-form and online content. As market interest shifts from "how much AI can be used in drama production" to "how cheaply and quickly it can be made," some say the industrial success of AI dramas is now being tested.
On the 3rd, according to China's state-run Global Times and Jiemian News, "Hou Journey to the West" (后西游记), composed of 30 episodes of 40 minutes each, began airing on Hunan Satellite TV after being released on the video platform Mango TV on the 31st. "Hou Journey to the West" continues the story of the classic novel "Journey to the West," and it is considered well-suited to showcase the strengths of AI production because it is set in a mythic world where visual imagination—such as Mount Huaguo, clouds, monsters, and magic—is crucial.
ByteDance Ltd.'s video generation model, "Seedance," was used in production. The production team reportedly built 109 character digital assets and 143 scene digital assets during the process. The premiere surpassed a real-time peak viewership rating of 1.5%, ranking No. 1 among province-level satellite TV programs in the same time slot, and Mango TV, the production company, hit the daily limit after its share price rose 20% for two straight days on the 31st and on the 1st.
◇ Limits remain… cost-cutting effects also limited
Actual viewer reactions are mixed. Some praised the high level of visual polish, while others said the story development and character depiction were lacking. Zhang Feng, a cultural studies scholar at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times that "AI has strengths in realizing grand mythic scenes and the aesthetics of digital Chinese style, but subtle expressions are stiff and emotional arcs can easily become formulaic."
The producers also acknowledged AI's limits. Director Li Dongxian, who led the production of "Hou Journey to the West," said human writers designed and refined the core story, character growth, and emotional expression, while AI supported video production and some story optimization. The director also emphasized that even if AI produces illogical results in the video-making process, it is ultimately human aesthetic judgment that detects and corrects them.
It is still unclear how much AI can lower production costs. According to Jiemian News, at the start of the year the computing expense needed to produce AI feature-length content was 1,500–2,000 yuan per minute of video (about 300,000–400,000 won), but recently even 300 yuan (about 60,000 won) per minute is considered expensive as the unit price has fallen. However, even though AI production costs have dropped sharply, total production costs have not fallen noticeably. That is because AI production specialists have become necessary.
In fact, the "Hou Journey to the West" production credits include nine AI directors, two heads of AI-generated content (AIGC), six AIGC operations staff, and 30 AI production staff, among others. Even if AI generates the footage, considerable manpower is still needed to select, revise, and regenerate the output. Citing industry sources, Jiemian News said, "If AI accounts for 20%–30% of total production, the remaining 70%–80% is all manpower," adding, "Considering the many rounds of revisions and post-production that must pass through workers' hands, the final economics of AI dramas may not be as strong as expected."
It added, "The fact that the first AI feature-length drama in the content industry has entered satellite TV only means the door has opened," and predicted, "Whether subsequent works can keep giving viewers reasons to watch, and whether production companies can make money, will determine whether there is a real industrial path to walk through that door."