Chinese streaming site Bilibili might best be known for its vast catalog of anime, unboxing videos and makeup tutorials. But now CCTV, China’s foremost state-owned television broadcaster, will be streaming national news on the platform beloved by millions of young internet users.
Bilibili was initially intended to be an online community for Millennial and Gen Z netizens who are into anime, comics and gaming. It’s now the country’s biggest platform for internet subculture, teeming with user-generated content, and has an estimated 128 million monthly active users.
To promote CCTV’s launch on Bilibili, news anchor Zhu Guangquan performed a slow rap filled with internet slang. Zhu asked viewers to like and subscribe and even reminded them to donate, a common means of monetization on video sites.
Bilibili became a hotbed of internet slang thanks to its highly interactive platform. One of its signature features is bullet comments, which are user comments that fly over the top of whatever video you’re viewing. Its rapid growth after launching in 2009 led to Bilibili going public on the Nasdaq nine years later.