Online Entertainment| Mapping and Managing Chinese Social Media Entertainment: A Conversation with Heng Cai, Chinese Media Entrepreneur

Abstract

USC Annenberg Clinical Assistant Professor David Craig and USC Annenberg graduate student Junyi Lv interviewed Heng Cai, a social media entertainment entrepreneur. Heng is a partner in Star Station TV, a content provider, talent management firm, influencer advertising agency, multiplatform network, and production company. Heng’s account serves as a micro–case study for how these firms function within the rapidly developing protoindustry of Chinese social media entertainment. This industry features Chinese content creators and management start-ups operating across multiple Chinese online media platforms, including Youku, Weibo, and iQiyi. The rise of the industry challenges notions of a new wave of media globalization in the wake of online entertainment.