Simba's attempt to "land grab" the slice business is not without reason.

In September 2023, a batch of Simba's slice short videos appeared on the Kuaishou platform, with product links attached, but these accounts were halted shortly after.

Not long after, the Simba Selection Group launched the "Million Baoma Entrepreneurship Plan," which includes two models: one is short video entrepreneurship, i.e., slice distribution; the other is the Baoma entrepreneurship model. In the live broadcast room of his apprentice Zhao Mengche, Simba boldly stated: "Short video entrepreneurship (slice distribution) is expected to reach a scale of 60 billion to 80 billion yuan, and in two years, the 'Million Baoma Plan' might reach a scale of 300 billion to 500 billion yuan."

Simba mentioned in the live broadcast room that in 2023, the GMV of Simba Selection Group exceeded 50 billion yuan. The "300 billion to 500 billion yuan" increment is almost equivalent to creating another Simba Selection.

According to people close to Simba Selection, after Simba reduced the frequency of his live broadcasts, the internal team began to consider, based on Simba's personal influence and supply chain advantages, what kind of extended business explorations could be done. "Live broadcast slicing is certainly one of the increments, and the team spent a long time weighing whether to build their own team to do slicing or to widely open up authorization, bringing in more ordinary people to join in the distribution."

When "Tianxia Web Business" inquired about the progress of the slice business with Simba Selection Group, the response was that they had no comment.

Simba is not the only one eyeing this business. At the end of last year, Dongfang Selection also stated that its live broadcast slice authorization pilot was in the internal testing phase; Wuyou Media launched the Wuyou Starshine App and opened the slice authorization channels for internet celebrities such as Zui Ge, Duo Yu, Mao Mao Jie, and Liu Siyao, etc...

Various platforms are also pushing behind the scenes, with Douyin launching the "Live Replay" feature, supporting automatic editing and publishing of live broadcast slices; Video Number officially introduced live broadcast slice authorization related functions, with the authorization scope limited to live editing and video content published on Video Number.

A leading MCN agency that has been involved in the slice business for many years told "Tianxia Web Business" that the live broadcast slice business has gone through a transition from wild to formal.

In the early days, live broadcast slices on short video platforms were more unauthorized, with some bloggers using the personal IP of major broadcasters to attract traffic, and the practice was repeatedly banned. When agencies and broadcasters realized they couldn't completely ban these infringing videos, some agencies took the lead in changing their approach, starting to cooperate with slice accounts through free authorization and taking a commission split.

"In the second half of live broadcasting, slices are one of the carriers we can find that can produce a long-tail effect, and it is one of the businesses that can continue to monetize, with a large distribution scale and low cost, which is of great value to the live e-commerce ecosystem," the MCN agency believes. This is a project that benefits all three parties—broadcasters and agencies can maintain popularity and continuously output content through a large number of "wild" bloggers while reducing live broadcast frequency, with a steady stream of distribution commissions coming in; for brands, the overwhelming slice videos mean higher product exposure and sales.

Several other MCN agencies indicated that internally, live broadcast slicing is an exploratory project still in the trial phase.

Some earn a hundred thousand a month, is "slice selling" really that profitable?

So, how exactly does "slice selling" work?

"Tianxia Web Business" experienced the full application process on the "Zhong Xiao Er" APP: The application threshold is not high, bloggers only need to accumulate 1,000 followers, activate the Douyin showcase, take a 30-minute course, and pass a simple exam to apply for broadcaster authorization, with agencies providing free editing skills training courses.