Satellite intermediaries: Media management and entrepreneurial labour in the Chinese Wanghong livestream guilds

Abstract

In China, livestream guilds represent a significant secondary sector within the wanghong economy. These organisations are similar in many ways to multichannel networks (MCN), the bridge between video-based and streaming-based social media platforms and creators. As the wanghong industry institutionalises, livestream guilds have become a vital player in the governing infrastructure of platform economy. This paper introduces the term ‘satellite intermediaries’ to describe an extended layer of cultural intermediation within the production side of the platform economy. Through a critical analysis of the media management practices and dispositions of Chinese livestream guilds professionals, this study focuses on the role of livestream guilds in constructing the discourse of entrepreneurial labour. It argues that Chinese livestream guilds, as a form of satellite intermediaries, extend the understanding of traditional cultural intermediaries, and contribute to the structuration of work and labour in the wanghong industry.