Hong Kong ’ s movies & entertainment shares jumped on Thursday. YH ENT up 19%; Tencent Music up 8%; Sunny Side up 5%.

Tencent Music Entertainment surpassed first-quarter revenue expectations on Tuesday on the back of strong subscriber growth in its online music services, particularly in its long-form audio content.

The Chinese music streaming giant has heavily invested in long-form content, like podcasts and audiobooks, as part of its bet on the Super VIP ( SVIP ) program, which bundles high-quality audio, online karaoke and exclusive event access.

This has helped Tencent Music offset weakness in its social entertainment business, impacted by the removal of certain live-streaming features such as virtual lucky draws to comply with Beijing's anti-gambling regulations.

First-quarter revenue from music subscriptions grew 16.6% to 4.22 billion yuan ( $586.1 million ) , while paying users increased by 8.3% to 122.9 million. CEO Ross Liang cited long-form audio as a key driver for SVIP business growth on an earnings call.