If you want to revitalize a TV station, it is definitely not enough to rely on only one popular program. However, a popular program that is full of topics and attracts widespread media attention can significantly increase the popularity of related TV channels and gather more popularity for it. As long as the situation is opened and high-quality TV programs are continuously produced, the TV station will be able to enter a virtuous circle of continuous development and growth.
That's what Eric expected from America's Next Top Model.
In the next few years, Firefly will not have a large-scale merger and acquisition expansion plan, which does not mean that Firefly will stop growing.
Before Eric put forward the idea of "America's Next Top Model", Katzenberg had already begun to increase support for Firefly's record business. Eric was familiar with the development prospects of the Western record industry, and Katzenberg's development Although the planning was not eager, it did not stop it. Relying on strict copyright protection laws, although the Western record market has been strongly impacted by the Internet age and has become more and more sluggish, it has not declined to the point where the entire industry has disappeared.
In addition to the record business, the more standardized commercial operation of the peripheral products of its popular movies is also one of the important development plans of Firefly in the next few years. The toy peripheral cooperation negotiation with Hasbro Group that is about to start is part of this plan.
After hearing the idea of "America's Next Top Model", the energetic Katzenberg immediately proposed the idea of developing lietime TV station.
As I said earlier, even if "America's Next Top Model" succeeds again, a TV station cannot be supported by only one hit show.
After many brainstorming meetings, the management team quickly worked out a set of detailed plans for original program production, TV network resource reuse, programming and channel marketing. In the next three years, Firefly will invest 100 million U.S. dollars in the program production, procurement and marketing of lietime TV station every year. It is expected to create a professional female TV station for young women who focus on fashion and high-quality life.
AE TV Network, the parent company of Lietime TV, is jointly owned by Firefly Group and Hearst Group. Therefore, this reform plan is aimed at Lietime. It is still necessary to negotiate with the Hearst Group and obtain relevant resource support. The Hearst Group has hundreds of daily newspapers, weekly magazines and magazines around the world. At present, these paper media resources are still indispensable for the promotion of women's channels of.
After the Oscars, awards season is finally over. Eric also handles most of the film projects that require personal attention. But before I had time to rest for a few days, a lot of things happened again.
The headquarters of Hearst Group is located in New York, and the headquarters of AE TV is also in New York. Once the plan is implemented, most of the programs of Lietime TV will also be produced in New York. No matter from which point of view, Eric needs to go to New York in person Related consultations and layouts.
At the same time, the birthdays of the two little guys are coming soon, and this year's Easter is also on April 16. On these special days, always take time to accompany women and children.
Hasbro's headquarters is in Rhode Island, which is very close to New York. The negotiations between the two parties on toy development cooperation will eventually be carried out in New York.
The capital injection negotiations between Firefly Investment and telecom operator Spint have started, involving an investment of more than one billion U.S. dollars, and some important occasions also require Eric to attend in person. Both Firefly Investment and Spint are headquartered in New York.
On the plane to New York, Eric simply calculated his schedule. I found out that after finishing these things, the summer movie file is coming.
Just got off the plane. Eric threw himself into non-stop work.
In the meeting room at the headquarters of ab TV station on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the executives of the Firefly TV network, the managers of the ae TV network, and representatives from the Hearst Group are holding relevant meetings. At the invitation of Eric, the third party of the Hearst Group Acting head William Hearst is also sitting in the conference room.
"...According to the statistics in 1994, the number of users of Lietime TV station was 31.5 million. Cable TV operators such as Comcast, Time Warner, and Telecom paid an average of 15 cents per month for each user. Lietime TV station Last year's operator share was 56.7 million US dollars, advertising revenue was 33.5 million US dollars, annual revenue was 90.2 million US dollars, and realized a profit of 13.8 million US dollars. We plan to use it in three years. Through the first phase of the reform plan, the Lietime TV station's The number of user subscriptions has expanded to 60 million to 90 million, and the operator's share has been increased to 25 cents. It is expected that by broadcasting a series of high-quality TV programs, the advertising revenue will exceed the operator's revenue, reaching an annual revenue of 500 million US dollars. A net profit of $100 million."
Katzenberg finished his brief report and was about to move on to the next topic. William Hurst, who was sitting at the top left of the long conference table, raised his head and knocked on the document in front of him. He ignored Katzenberg, but He looked at Eric, who was sitting opposite him on the other side, and said, "Eric, last year's Victoria's Secret show, it was a direct profit and an indirect stock appreciation, which brought you more than 1.5 billion US dollars in income. In comparison, doesn't this plan seem too stingy?"
Eric leaned on the back of the comfortable leather chair, held a pencil in his hand, and habitually twirled the pen in his hand, and said with a smile: "William, it was a complete accident last year, the road always has to be taken step by step. , with the foundation of Lietime TV, achieving this goal in three years is already very impressive, and the total profit of all TV businesses under Firefly last year was only more than 600 million US dollars."
William Hearst stared at the young man on the opposite side, and said, "I don't pay much attention to the TV business, but I always feel that this plan is a bit imperfect, or something is not clearly stated."
The other party didn't make it clear, and Eric continued to play around: "This is just a draft, and it must still need to be revised, otherwise we wouldn't have to hold this meeting today."
William Hearst looked at the somewhat lazy smiling face and said, "Eric, what I mean is, regarding the production of the original program of Lietime TV station, this plan doesn't seem to explain what to do?"
Eric replied: "Oh, I don't think there is any objection to this matter. Except for the news, all the programs of the TV network are in charge of the TV program production department of the Firefly Group. This time, of course, it follows the convention."
The two bosses wrestled, and everyone in the venue calmed down and listened patiently.
As industry elites, most people actually know what the two bigwigs are discussing. When the two of them said this, even the civilian staff who were in charge of meeting minutes next to them, who were a little confused just now, almost understood.
Eric and William Hurst are discussing the copyright ownership of Lietime TV's original programs.
Usually, the producer of a TV program sells the first broadcast right to the TV station, and the sales revenue obtained only accounts for a small part of the program revenue, and cannot even recover the cost.
Most of the income of TV programs actually comes from the distribution of videotapes of episodes and the income of TV program syndicates after the first broadcast of the TV stations. The so-called TV program syndicates are simply explained as the program distribution system.
A television program is distributed through a syndicated program distribution system. In the United States and more than 100 countries around the world, the broadcasting rights and remake rights sales profits of countless TV stations will definitely far exceed the income of the first round of TV broadcasts, and the profits brought by videotapes and syndicated income of popular dramas can even reach production. This is more than ten times the cost, which is also the reason why the protagonists of many TV dramas can get millions of dollars per episode later. If there is no video tape and syndicate, it is absolutely impossible for the TV network to charge such a sky-high price only by the first round of advertisements and cable TV. remuneration.
The program production department and distribution system of most TV stations are integrated, so there is no need to distinguish these issues.
But AE TV Network, the parent company of Lietime TV, is different. The ae TV network is jointly held by Firefly and Hearst, each holding 50% of the shares. If lietime's original programming is produced by ae network production, Hearst will be able to share in the profits from the tapes and program syndication. But if these programs are produced by Firefly's TV department, the copyright of the programs has nothing to do with AE TV Network. Although Hearst Group does not have to bear the risk of production investment, it cannot share the income of video tapes and syndicates. That's why William Hurst just called the plan 'stingy'. If only the TV station's cable TV share and advertising can make an annual profit of 100 million US dollars, the income of video tapes and syndicates must be much more than that.
As we all know, the projects led by Eric, whether they are movies or TV series, can be associated with the word 'profiteering'. Of course, it is impossible for the Hearst Group to give up this easy-to-reach profit.
Although the Hearst Group is a giant in the print media industry, it does not have enough confidence in the operation of the TV network. William Hearst realized that Eric invited himself to this meeting, and it would not be like the one on the surface. It's so simple, at this time, he can only follow his train of thought, and said: "Eric, I think it is more appropriate for AE TV Network to be responsible for producing these original programs, Hearst Group can provide production funds in proportion, In addition, if we need the support of print media resources here, we can also cooperate as much as possible."
Eric seemed to have heard something of interest, straightened his body, and said: "Speaking of proportions, William, I think the shareholding ratio of Firefly and Hearst on ESPN is more coordinated, what do you think?"
Although he had already prepared, William Hearst almost threw the document in his hand towards him when he heard Eric's words, and shook his head without hesitation: "Eric, this is not allowed, absolutely not."
Firefly and Hearst hold 50-50% of the shares in AE TV Network, but they hold 28% of ESPN's shares, with Hearst accounting for 20% and Firefly accounting for 80%. At the very beginning, Hearst and Metropolitan Media Group had equal rights and interests in ESPN. In the 1980s, ESPN had not yet risen. Minority shareholders bought most of ESPN's shares. At that time, it only cost less than 50 million US dollars. Now ESPN is the largest sports channel in North America. In 1995, the annual profit exceeded 200 million. It was only sold by the Hearst Group The profit generated by that share is more than 50 million per year.
With such a lesson in mind, it is certainly impossible for William Hearst to do such a stupid thing again.
Hearing William Hearst's excited refusal, Eric shrugged and said, "William, if you disagree, forget it."
William Hearst was at a loss for words, and after a moment of silence, he continued: "Eric, I have already heard your idea about "America's Next Top Model". This project requires the support of a large number of print media resources. All of the print media assets have been sold, without Hearst, it would be difficult for you to expand this project alone."
"William, I think this is a win-win thing. We get resources, and you can get more news materials," Eric shook his head, with a confident smile on his lips: "Besides, you made a mistake One thing, there is no Hearst, there is Condé Nast, and News Corporation, Firefly has a good relationship with these two. I even have Yahoo in my hand. Although the influence is not comparable to traditional paper media for the time being, the user population But there is a lot of overlap with the fashionable female audience of Lietime TV, I think you can definitely see the media operation potential that Yahoo showed during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last year."
William Hearst opened his mouth, but couldn't find a suitable rebuttal word for a while.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit this fact in his heart. Although Hearst Group is very powerful in the media industry, Hearst Group is not indispensable to Firefly, which has more resources. On the other hand, without Firefly, it is not difficult for the Hearst Group to further expand the ae TV network alone.
The current situation is that Eric has put forward the conditions that Firefly wants most of the shares of AE TV station. If the Hearst Group does not agree, then they will not be able to share most of the profits that Lietime TV station may bring after its growth. But if there is a compromise, the Hearst Group will almost certainly repeat the mistakes of ESPN.
After another struggle, William Hurst said: "Eric, it is definitely impossible for Firefly to take 80% of the shares. At most, we will give up the absolute controlling stake. You can completely transform this company according to your own ideas." How about a TV network?"
Eric shook his head: "William, the Hearst Group's business focus is on paper media, I don't think you need to stick to these TV network assets at all, so let me take a step back, Firefly only needs 75%, this is my bottom line .”
"No, no, Eric, up to 55%. If it is higher, I would rather give up the right of AE TV Network to undertake the production of the program and keep it as it is."
"Hey, William, did you know that last year's "ER Story" cost less than $30 million to make, but the syndicate sales profit of the first season alone exceeded 150 million, and we will release the video tape soon, which is The revenue will be more objective. Look at the advertising revenue, 45 million US dollars, the profit is only one-tenth of the syndicate, one-tenth."
William Hearst looked helpless: "Well, Eric, 60%, if it is higher, I am afraid I will be questioned by shareholders."
"You can't lie to me, William. The Hearst family has always firmly controlled the Hearst Group. No one will object to your decision. 70% is the bottom line that Firefly can bear. If you can't accept it, Firefly does not rule out acquiring a cable TV station alone."
"..."
"..."
Everyone in the conference room listened to the two bosses coming and going, quick thinking, fast speaking, seemed to blurt out without hesitation, but shrewd and calculating everywhere, they all wondered in their hearts, Westerners rarely see dishes It's like bargaining in the market.
In the end, after arguing for more than ten minutes, the two parties finally decided on a plan that they could barely accept. Firefly held 65% of the shares, Hearst Group retained 35% of the shares, Lietime TV program production was in charge of ae TV station, and Hearst Group held 35% of the shares. Ster Group fully cooperates in paper media resources. (To be continued.)