Simon didn't have much time to pay attention to the intense controversy caused by "Basic Instinct". He flew to New York on Saturday morning to participate in the official recording of "Who Will Be a Millionaire".
After initially drafting a project plan of more than 20 pages based on memory, Simon has been regularly participating in the production meetings of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" in the previous months of preparation, and continues to work on this project He provided a lot of opinions on the creation of the reality show's question bank, link setting, contestant selection and even the most detailed on-site atmosphere creation.
When the recording actually started, the project team, which had conducted many test shoots and rehearsals in advance, was already at ease, but Simon decided to watch the scene in person. After all, the success or failure of this reality show is related to whether Daenerys Pictures can successfully enter the field of television program production.
Because "Who Will Be a Millionaire" itself tends to be a variety show, it is relatively simple to produce. The project team started recording seven pilot episodes in one week on Saturday, which allowed them to complete the entire pilot program while filming and broadcasting. .
However, this process is not easy.
Everyone on the project team worked more than ten hours over the two weekends, and Simon was no exception. I was busy until ten o'clock in the evening on Sunday. After watching the final sample of the first issue with everyone and confirming that it met my expectations, Simon relaxed a little.
Monday, June 20th.
A new week has arrived in a blink of an eye, and the hot media discussion of "Basic Instinct" continues. Simon rarely sleeps in and doesn't get up until nine in the morning.
In the morning, I went to the apartment on Fifth Avenue to check the decoration effect. After the ridiculous night the three of them had together, Catherine happened to be in New York to produce "Blue Angel" again, so Janet forced this matter to her to keep an eye on. Catherine had done some interior design work in the 1970s and had more experience than Janet in this area.
I had dinner with Catherine at noon and talked about some things about "Blue Angel". During this period, the woman rejected Simon's suggestion to go to his place tonight, claiming that she was going to attend a party in the circle that night. Simon said that he was very happy to meet some people in the New York film industry with her, but he was just given a blank look. After all, the woman did not want the relationship between the two to be known to too many people.
In the afternoon, I met with James Raybould as usual to discuss some affairs of the Westeros Company.
The debt-for-equity swap plan was finalized. During this period, James Raybould had once again cleared out the New World Entertainment shares in Westeros Company. Although Simon is bound to win Marvel, if he can save half of the money, he will not choose to be taken advantage of again anyway. There is no need to secretly buy New World Entertainment stocks.
After completing various acquisitions and investments during this period, the US$100 million loan that Westeros Company had just obtained was once again running low in the blink of an eye, and Simon had no plans to increase his debt in the short term. James Raybould will be focusing on running the existing businesses of Westeros for a long time to come.
Over the past six months, North American stock markets have continued to recover.
However, because the 'Westeros Combination' stimulated a strong rebound in the technology stock sector last year, the rise in the technology stock market has slowed down significantly compared to other sectors in recent months.
As of last week, the total value of the technology stock portfolio of listed companies held by Westeros was approximately US$1.76 billion, and the scale of other unlisted company shares and real estate investments was approximately US$150 million. Due to the continued success of "When Harry Met Sally" and "Pulp Fiction", the industry's valuation of Daenerys Pictures is around $300 million, minus Daenerys Pictures and Westeros Corporation With a total debt of US$200 million, Simon's personal assets have reached US$2 billion.
This year's Forbes list of the world's richest people is expected to be released in August.
If "Who Will Be a Millionaire" and "Basic Instinct" succeed, Simon's net worth will definitely continue to increase. With a personal asset of more than US$2 billion, he is completely enough to rank among the top 50 richest people in the world.
In the underground parking lot of the building where the Westeros company headquarters is located, James Raybould watched Simon's car leave. This series of data flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but feel a little emotional again. Feeling his daughter next to him looking at him with confusion, he came out of his trance and said to Jennifer with a smile: "Let's go back. Your mother will prepare dinner tonight."
The father and daughter got into their car. James Raybould started the car and left the parking lot, and then asked his daughter next to him: "Do you think "Who Will Be a Millionaire" can be successful?"
Simon had told James Raybould in advance about using the reality show project in hand as a bargaining chip to exchange for New World Entertainment from General Electric.
Jennifer heard her father's question and said, "I find it very interesting. As for the ratings, we will know tomorrow."
James Raybould paused and asked: "Didn't Simon tell you his expectations for this show?"
Jennifer sensed some other meanings in her father's words and was a little embarrassed, but still said: "He, he is very confident in this program."
James Raybould turned the steering wheel and turned down a street. He turned to glance at his daughter and said, "Jenny, you have to know that there are some things that you need to work hard for."
This was already very straightforward. Jennifer's face turned slightly red, and she couldn't help but think of every detail since working for Simon.
To be fair, it was not that she had not thought of snatching that man away from Janet.
However, staying by his side may be because she is too busy, or it may be because of other things. In short, it is basically difficult for her to have thoughts of robbing men. Mostly, she just unconsciously believed that being around him and working for him was enough.
She has always felt that she is an easily satisfied person.
The father and daughter returned to their home on the Upper East Side. Jennifer's mother, Carol Raybould, had returned early and was preparing dinner. James and Jennifer went to the kitchen to help together. The family of three had a warm dinner and then had a great time. They stood in front of the TV in the living room together in a tacit understanding, chatting about something casually, waiting for nine o'clock to arrive.
"Who Will Be a Millionaire" airs at nine o'clock in the evening.
ABC did not give the most prime eight o'clock time slot, and of course, it did not relegate this program to the least important ten o'clock time slot. Daenerys Pictures cannot expect too much from this. Moreover, because ABC is unwilling to invest money to promote this reality show, Daenerys Films can only invest US$2 million in TV, newspaper and magazine advertising. This part of the expenditure is equivalent to a week's pilot broadcast. The budget was set, and a lot of money was invested in the early stage auditions to build momentum for the show.
In addition, in order to retain the initiative as much as possible, Daenerys Films did not find sponsors to share the investment for the pilot episode. Therefore, in the pilot stage only, Daenerys Films’ total investment in all aspects of this project is close to US$5 million. That’s already a quarter of the entire season’s budget for “Who Will Be a Millionaire?”
It is conceivable that if the show fails, Daenerys Pictures' lavish investment will definitely become the butt of ridicule in the industry.
Nine o'clock.
On the TV screen, the screen switched, and with host Regis Phil's introduction deliberately speeding up his speech, the program officially began.
Regis Fehr was the host of the original Who's Going to Be a Millionaire, and before Daenerys Films approached him, Regis Fehr was also hosting a sports program on a local TV station in New York. After receiving an invitation from Daenerys Pictures and realizing that he could break into programs on the four major television networks, Regis Phil resigned from his original job without hesitation and devoted himself wholeheartedly to "Who Will Be?" "Millionaire" is in production.
In the living room of the Raybould family, as the elite of this society, because they have a rich private social life, the Rayboulds have never been too interested in TV programs. However, from the beginning of the program, the host's introduction, the fiery atmosphere and even the lighting and music and other details, they were unknowingly introduced into a certain atmosphere, especially the $1 million ultimate prize specially introduced by Regis Phil. Even the Raybould couple, whose annual income far exceeds this figure, find it difficult to calm down.
Who wouldn’t want to become an instant millionaire by simply answering a series of questions
Coincidentally, the first player to appear was a lawyer. He was about forty years old, in the prime of life, and had a very brilliant resume. Regis Phil did not rush to answer the questions, but skillfully chatted with the lawyer about his motivation and determination to participate in the show. This seemingly casual detail further enhanced the atmosphere of the scene.
When the question-and-answer session officially began, the expectations of both the live guests and the audience in front of the TV had reached their highest level.
In the final analysis, the success of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" does not lie in answering questions, but in mobilizing the audience's emotions during the answering process. Seeing that one question may determine the ownership of a large amount of money that one may earn in a month, a year or even a lifetime, it is destined to be difficult for the audience to divert their attention.
This is actually the reason why the industry generally regarded "Who Will Be a Millionaire" as a reality show rather than a traditional variety show.
Because the core of the program is 'show'.
In front of the TV, they saw the lawyer on the screen who was unfortunately eliminated because of a mistake regarding the Great Lakes. In the end, he only took away $8,000. The Raybould family felt a little despised.
Americans are still very familiar with the Great Lakes. At least many people feel that they are very familiar with the Great Lakes.
This is actually a strategy.
In the process of creating the question bank, Simon specifically emphasized looking for questions that were closely relevant to North American audiences and at least felt familiar. If the questions are too biased, the audience will inevitably think that the show is just trying to make things difficult for people, and it will be difficult for the show to gather much popularity.
Although these questions are very 'down-to-earth', it is definitely not easy to answer them correctly. This is after the players have been selected in advance. If the contestants on the stage can only answer one or two questions correctly or even fail to answer even one question, the show will be the unlucky one.
After the lawyer stepped down a little dejected, Regis Phil quickly introduced another contestant.
Such a mind-blowing puzzle competition made the hour-long program seem to pass quickly. The program did not deliberately pursue the integrity of the question-answering session. Due to time constraints, the last contestant answered five questions correctly in a row and accumulated a considerable bonus. , the first episode of the program came to an end.
Although the actual recording has been completed, the subsequent episodes will continue tomorrow. The pilot episode in the next week will basically adopt this tail-leaving strategy.
Because of their familiarity with Robert Egger, the Raybould family also had some knowledge of the television network. When the one-hour television program ended without anyone noticing, the Raybould family had a premonition that this program would definitely be very successful.
How could such a program be unsuccessful if it allowed one to pass an hour without feeling the passage of time at all, and without being distracted by anything else during the whole process
However.
The Raybould family still had no idea how successful the show would be.
Because of his busy schedule in recent days, Simon took a rest very early last night and did not stay in front of the TV to watch this program. He has watched it too many times during the production stage, and it is impossible for him to sit in front of the TV in person to increase the show's ratings too much.
Simon woke up early the next morning and was heading back to the West Coast today, where he planned to spend the last week of the month finalizing the casting for "Batman."
The last surprise drug test eliminated three more candidates from the last ten candidates. Simon was quite satisfied with the results, at least not more than half of the candidates were eliminated. Moreover, based on all aspects of information, he has basically confirmed the last few targets. Next, he only needs to conduct some auditions and confirm contract details.
ABC previously told Simon that the first day's ratings data would be notified to him after working hours. However, around 8:30, Simon had just finished breakfast when the phone rang in the living room.
Simon thought it was someone else, so he came to the living room and picked up the phone. Robert Iger's obviously suppressed excitement voice immediately came out: "Good morning, Simon."
"Good morning, Bob," Simon stood by the phone and asked directly with a smile without making too many detours: "How was the result?"
It's not yet time to go to work, but Robert Iger is already at the ABC Television Network's headquarters in Rockefeller Center in Midtown. Moreover, he was surrounded by many other ABC executives at this time, even ABC Chairman Tom Murphy appeared here.
Although there is a time difference between the east and west coasts, based on the long-term experience of sampling statistics by Nielsen and other survey agencies, there will not be much error between the relevant data and the actual ratings.
then.
The preliminary number of viewers on the first day of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" reached 13.65 million.
13.65 million is more than twice the 'passing mark' of 6.5 million viewers set by ABC for this show. Moreover, this is only the first-day result, the first-day result of the unpopular summer TV season.
Just on the first day of broadcast, it created a ratings data that was beyond everyone's expectations. No one would doubt that the popularity of this show will continue to increase in the future.