China's AI short-drama costs: generation gets cheaper, finished episodes get pricier
What happened
On October 13, Computing Life reviewed how AI short-drama costs in China have shifted. Per-second image generation has fallen to a few tenths of a yuan, but repeated generation and paid traffic push up the cost of a finished episode. The article cites research saying comic-drama production rose from about 100 yuan per minute to 200–300 yuan, that one shot often needs 5 to 7 generations, and that buying traffic takes roughly 70% of gross revenue. Teams also face lower revenue shares and tighter review, with profit flowing to upstream tools and platforms that control distribution and monetization.
Written by AI from the coverage · updated 1 hour ago
Coverage
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- Computing Life · Share · Yage中国 AI 短剧成本复盘：画面生成更便宜，成片制作反而更贵
中国 AI 短剧的画面生成单价已降至每秒几毛钱，但反复生成与流量购买推高了成片总成本。文中引用调研称，漫剧每分钟制作费用从约 100 元涨至 200 到 300 元，同一镜头往往需生成 5 至 7 次，买流量约占总流水七成。文章判断，制作团队还面临分账下降与审核收紧，利润更多流向上游工具和掌握分发、变现规则的平台。
Heat over time
Not enough continuous observations to draw a trend yet.