The day after the Federal Trade Investigation Commission announced that it would launch an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices of Firefly and United Elite Brokers, Firefly filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court as a counterattack, demanding that Fox Television repay the arrears of 29 million U.S. dollars in "Friends" advertising revenue, At the same time, on the grounds of Fox's breach of contract, they requested the court to rule that the two parties should terminate the signed "Friends" premiere rights contract for the next four seasons.
After receiving the news, Barry Diller and Rupert Murdoch couldn't sit still. The two called Eric one after another, swearing and swearing that the matter during this period had nothing to do with Fox, and asked Eric Withdraw the lawsuit and say that after Fox's financial audit, the arrears owed to Firefly will be settled as soon as possible.
Now that it has reached this level, Fox is still unwilling to admit that he participated in this turmoil, and Eric is too lazy to tear his face apart. He also confides his pain to the other party, saying that things have developed to this level, and he made such a move. Things are also helpless.
Hanging up the phone with a sneer on the corner of his mouth, Eric knew that the whole thing would definitely come loose from Fox. Although "Friends" only aired for one season, for Fox, "Friends" has become a signboard of Fox.
Just like in the previous life, when mentioning the American NBC TV station, many people immediately thought of ∈↑, and it was "Friends". Since the broadcast of "Friends" in the previous life in 1994, each episode has brought NBC more than 3 million US dollars in advertising revenue on average. Not only that, because of this signature role, in the 10 years since "Friends" was broadcast, the overall strength of nbc is almost the sum of abc and cbs. And 10 years later, because of the end of "Friends". Because nbc has not developed a new American drama series. The strength ranking is directly from the number one position of several major TV stations. It fell to the last place, which was not even as good as fox, and it didn't rise again for many years.
This shows how important a popular TV series is to a TV station. What's more, although Fox's strength has risen to a higher level because of the hit of "Friends", its current strength is still behind the three major TV stations, and it is slightly behind. If you are not careful, you may be left far behind by the three major TV stations again. So Eric can be sure. In any case, Fox would not be willing to give up such a TV series for less than $30 million in arrears.
However, Eric does not intend to let go this time. He is not for the less than 30 million US dollars in advertising revenue, but has made up his mind. If Fox does not compromise, he will continue to fight the lawsuit until Fox makes concessions. The alliance of several major film giants began to unravel. Or finally get back the premiere rights of the next four "Friends".
Among the seven major film companies, Fox and Firefly have the deepest interest entanglement. Therefore, it is also the easiest to break through. As long as Fox starts to compromise, Eric believes that the other major companies will not be able to last long, because they will realize that if Fox compromises, Firefly will no longer be embattled on all sides. The release of "Home Alone 2" and "Sleepless in Seattle" can provide enough funds for Firefly to deal with. Even if Firefly loses the lawsuit in the final antitrust investigation, Eric will still not be at the end of his rope.
In this case, if the remaining major companies continue to persevere, apart from creating a completely irreconcilable conflict between the two parties, it will be impossible to gain any benefits.
Moreover, now that this point has been reached, Eric no longer keeps anything, and throws out all the other chips in his hand in one go.
…
"...Barry, you must persevere. Don't forget, as long as things work out in the end, let alone the copyright of "Friends", the other two shows that have been temporarily suspended by Firefly also belong to Fox..." Michael Sitting in the office, Eisner said to Barry Diller on the other side of the phone with a slightly excited expression. After he learned of Firefly's lawsuit against Fox Television, he knew exactly what Eric was up to. Therefore, he got As soon as the news came out, he called Barry Diller's office.
The two were discussing on the phone when an assistant of Michael Eisner rushed in.
"Mr. Eisner, it's not good, something serious happened."
Looking at the panic-stricken assistant, Michael Eisner showed a strong displeasure, and hurriedly said a few more words to Barry Diller before hanging up the phone and asking, "What happened?"
The assistant said out of breath: "Go and see, many TV stations... many TV stations are broadcasting a video."
Michael Eisner's heart skipped a beat, with an ominous premonition, he got up and followed his assistant to a lounge, where several other Disney executives had already gathered, watching the TV in the lounge There was a whisper in a program.
Michael Eisner ignored these people and looked directly at the TV screen.
On the screen, Arnold Carpenter, with a sneer on the corner of his mouth but a somewhat smug expression, was facing the camera and said to the young man sitting opposite: "...Mr. Williams, the 'public' you speak of is the most ignorant A group, what kind of person they will regard you as, the key depends on what kind of person the media that controls public opinion want them to regard you as... "
Michael Eisner's heart surged with anger, and he casually picked up a coffee cup placed on the coffee table in front of him and slammed it at the TV screen.
boom-
The TV screen shattered directly, and a puff of green smoke came out. The executives who were watching with relish suddenly became silent.
"You idiot!" Michael Eisner cursed fiercely, then glanced at the people around him: "It's working hours now, don't you all have to work? Get out of here!"
Facing the furious Michael Eisner, no one dared to refute, and everyone hurried out along the corner with lowered eyebrows.
After all the people in the lounge were gone, Michael Eisner called his assistant and said, "Go and tell that idiot, tell him to roll as far as he can now, immediately, immediately, and don't let anyone find him."
The assistant nodded cautiously and left in a hurry.
After the video of Arnold Carpenter threatening Eric was exposed, it quickly spread all over the world, especially Arnold Carpenter's words about 'the public is the most ignorant group'. There was a strong repercussion among the people. In this excessive state that repeatedly shouted that freedom is above all else, and even wrote the word freedom into the constitution, people found themselves a group of people who were fooled by others, and the anger they generated can be imagined. I know, therefore, no one has any doubts about the content of the video. In addition, Firefly just released this video without making any excuses or accusing anyone. Therefore, no force will be so stupid Stand up to deny the authenticity of this video, so a series of public opinion turmoil about Eric in North America began to reverse.
The media that originally launched public opinion attacks on Eric had to restrain themselves, and even stopped their attacks. Many newspapers and media that followed the trend originally wanted to distance themselves from the public, so that they would not be regarded by the public as a part of what Arnold Carpenter said to fool the public. The member directly changed his original position and began to complain about the various attacks Eric had received during this time. (To be continued..)