Mango Excellent Media's "new script"

An AI monkey has driven the market value up by 11.7 billion yuan in just two days.

On August 31st, Mango Super Media hit the 20% daily limit 16 minutes after the market opened.

On September 1st, it hit the daily limit again. Its market value increased by over 11.7 billion yuan within two days.

What "ignited" all this is a drama with no real human actors, the "Huaguo Mountain Chapter" of the first season of *Post Journey to the West*.

(Source: Official WeChat Account of Super Media Hen Mang)

This is China's first AIGC long drama that premiered on prime time of a satellite TV station. It has 30 episodes, 40 minutes per episode, and is entirely produced by Mango TV's self-developed AIGC platform "Mango Lingchuang".

The capital market has voted with real money.

But the question is: Is the "new script" of Mango Super Media reliable at all?

01

The premiere ratings of *Post Journey to the West* are indeed quite good.

On the night of its premiere, the real-time audience rating ranked first among provincial satellite TVs in the same time slot, with a market share exceeding 1.5%.

But good ratings do not necessarily mean "good to watch".

Judging from audience feedback, the reviews of this drama show obvious polarization.

Some audiences were surprised by the completion of the visuals, thinking that the character movements are smooth and free from the roughness common in AI-generated videos.

Some audiences praised its "movie-level picture quality", while others put forward different opinions on the narrative rhythm and the emotional expression of characters.

In the climax of the second episode, Grandma Qingluo is killed while saving the little monkey, and Sun Xiaosheng faces the grief of his home being destroyed, but "you can hardly read the real sense of tearing from that deliberately drawn face".

(Source: Mango TV)

Some audiences also complained: "The plot is too confusing to figure out what it is trying to convey."

The "technical experiment" of AI long drama has succeeded, but the "narrative experiment" is still on the way.

Cai Huaijun, Chairman of Mango Super Media, revealed that the total cost of this drama is only a fraction of that of similar S-level live-action dramas, and the production time is 70% shorter than that of traditional 3D animations.

According to Tianyancha, Cai Huaijun is also the legal representative of Mango Super Media Co., Ltd.

This set of data is exactly what excites the capital market: the cost is reduced, the efficiency is improved, and the commercial model of AI long drama has been initially verified.

02

If we put the cost change of *Post Journey to the West* into the current financial context of Mango Super Media, the logic becomes clearer.

In the first half of 2026, Mango Super Media recorded a revenue of 6.194 billion yuan, up 3.86% year on year; but its attributable net profit was only 202 million yuan, down 73.58% year on year.

(Source: 2026 Semi-Annual Report of Mango Super Media)

The cost pressure of the traditional content model is squeezing the profit margin.

The emergence of AI long drama just provides a solution for "cost reduction".

Mango Super Media has raised AI to a strategic level internally. In February 2026, it established the AIGC Innovative Content Center as an independent first-level department, parallel to the Program Production Center and the Technology Center.

In May, it established the AI Industrialization Center. AI has been upgraded from a "technical support" role to a core participant in "creative decision-making".

The "Mango Lingchuang" platform that supports *Post Journey to the West* has integrated more than 40 full-modal models and over 80 functions, serving more than 40,000 professional users in total and supporting over 3,900 business projects.

This system already has "reusability": 109 digital character assets and 143 digital scene assets can be directly reused in subsequent episodes and the second season, so the marginal cost will become lower and lower.

03

But expectation is expectation, reality is reality.

*Post Journey to the West* has not yet entered the separate investment promotion stage, and there is still a distance from a closed commercial loop.

The current commercial value of this drama is more reflected in "verifying the model" rather than "generating profits".

It proves that AI long dramas can be broadcast on satellite TV, occupy prime time slots, and be produced at a fraction of the cost of traditional dramas.

But it remains to be verified whether the audience's attention can last until all 30 episodes are finished, and whether brands are willing to invest in advertisements for AI long dramas.

The dynamic P/E ratio of Mango Super Media is close to 95 times, far exceeding the average valuation of about 30 times in the media industry.

(Source: Announcement of Mango Super Media)

The premium given by the market is not based on current profits, but on the imagination of the future commercialization of AI content.

iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku are all making layouts for AI long dramas and AI films.

How long the "first-mover advantage" of Mango Super Media can last depends on whether the technical barrier and content production capacity of "Mango Lingchuang" can continue to lead the industry.

Conclusion

From AI short dramas to AI long dramas, from online platforms to prime time slots on satellite TV, the release of *Post Journey to the West* has indeed crossed the threshold.

The "new script" of Mango Super Media is still in the "storytelling" stage for now.

It has proved that the technology is feasible, the cost is controllable and the distribution channels are accessible, but it has not yet proved that the business is profitable, the audience engagement is sustainable and the model is replicable.

There are positive signs, but there is still a long way to go before it truly grows into a towering tree.

That "digital monkey" has stepped out on the "journey to the West" path for AI long dramas.

As for whether this path can lead to success, the key does not lie in how the capital market values it, but in whether the audience is willing to finish watching all 30 episodes.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Niudao Caijing" (ID: niudaocaijing), written by Sun Jingshan, authorized for release by 36Kr.