In addition to comparing the financial data of Firefly, Time Warner, and Viacom in detail, "Forbes" also uses the example of the three giants of the telecommunications industry to make an analogy to demonstrate its own point of view.
In 1996, the annual revenue data of AT-T, the number one overlord in the US telecommunications industry, was more than US$74 billion. The second and third companies, Verizon and Sprint, had a combined annual revenue of only US$30 billion, which was less than that of AT-T. -T half, although the gap between Firefly's revenue data and Time Warner and Viacom is not as wide as that between AT-T and Verizon and Sprint, but it clearly shows this trend.
At the same time, Firefly has many similarities with AT-T in terms of industrial layout.
AT-T itself is a diversified giant in the telecommunications industry. The industries involved include landline telephones, mobile communications, cable TV, communication software, and electronic products. Leaving competitors far behind, but all industries combined, AT-T's strength far exceeds those of Verizon and Sprint in the same industry. The current situation of Firefly Group is also the same. In its TV business, film and television entertainment and other sectors, Firefly does not maintain a large lead compared with competitors in the same industry, but when these businesses are integrated as a whole, it will show The oligarchic momentum that dominates the media field.
Eric sat in the restaurant and patiently read all the articles about himself and Firefly in this issue of "Forbes" magazine. When he came back to his senses, more than half an hour had passed.
Christina was still sitting quietly across from him. She had finished her breakfast and was just looking at him curiously.
Looking at his watch, Eric smiled and said to Christina, "You still have a training session today, right? I'll ask the driver to take you to Burbank."
Although Eric looked very relaxed, Christina did not forget the way he frowned when he just read "Forbes" magazine. She is a girl who is very good at observing words and expressions, although she doesn't quite understand why Eric has such a reaction , but also knew that he definitely didn't have much thought to deal with himself at this time, so he nodded obediently, packed up the tableware in front of him, and left the restaurant with Eric.
The two came outside the villa together, the car was already parked at the door, and after ordering the driver, Eric kissed Christina on the cheek and sent her to the car.
Returning to the restaurant again, Eric finished his breakfast in a hurry, took another car to the Firefly headquarters in Burbank, and called the female assistant Kelly on the way, asking her to pay attention to this issue of Forbes "Magazine.
Relevant articles published by "Forbes" magazine will definitely arouse heated discussions in the media in the future. Eric has been in this circle for so many years, and he is well aware of the serious impact of media public opinion on some companies. Therefore, he It is necessary to prepare some plans in advance to deal with possible events.
Because it was Monday, since Eric arrived at the headquarters, he personally attended the group's weekly high-level meeting. Before that, most of the time, Kelly attended instead of Eric, and then sorted out the meeting minutes and handed them over to him. review.
Recently, the company's focus is still on the global distribution of "Titanic".
However, the TV series in the spring season have all landed on major TV stations so far. Robert Iger, the head of TV business in New York, introduced TV platforms such as ABC TV Network, AE TV Network, and Disney Channel to everyone through video calls. The ratings of the first series, the ratings of the ABC TV network and the Disney Channel have risen steadily. Last fall, ABC TV’s dark horse "Everybody Loves Raymond" returned after the winter break, with the highest ratings already Exceeded 22 million person-times.
Driven by iconic dramas such as "The City", "Project Runway", and "America's Next Top Model", Lifetime TV Station, a subsidiary of the AE TV network, has continuously launched new high-quality drama series, continuing to erode the female audience market. The average viewership data during the prime time is less than 1 million. Under the excellent operation of Anne Sweeney, Lifetime TV has an average viewership of 3.5 million in the 12-hour prime time launched every week. Core dramas such as "Desire and the City" The ratings data of the episode even touched the record-breaking 8 million viewers of the cable TV station. This achievement made Lifetime TV station the most popular new star among the cable TV stations in the United States in recent years.
Since the last topic involved the distribution and promotion of this year's summer film Firefly, the regular meeting was held until eleven o'clock.
The high-level news channels that can participate in the group's weekly meeting will never be blocked. When the meeting ends, everyone will inevitably mention the "Forbes" magazine that was just released today, or congratulate Eric seriously or jokingly. Of course, this Among them, some people saw the possible impact of the relevant articles of "Forbes" magazine on the Firefly Group, and solemnly reminded Eric.
Everyone left one after another, and Katzenberg and Wells stayed in a tacit understanding, and came to a small meeting room nearby with Eric.
When the secretary brought the coffee, Katzenberg dismissed the other party and said, "Eric, I called Steve Forbes this morning. They shouldn't have used the word 'oligarch'. Unfortunately, we couldn't." This was anticipated in advance.”
Katzenberg is obviously also very aware of the possible impact on the company that the article in "Forbes" magazine exaggerated the "rise of the media oligarchy" of Firefly Group.
From Katzenberg's obviously angry expression, Eric can even guess that the call process between the fiery Katzenberg and the head of Forbes Group Steve Forbes must not be so pleasant. Disputes are not out of the question.
In this country, the president will be scolded by the media every three days. Although the Firefly Group already has a very strong influence in the media industry, it is impossible to control everyone's public opinion.
After taking a sip of coffee, Katzenberg continued without waiting for Eric and Frank Wells to speak: "I will greet Robert in the afternoon and cut off the advertising budget for all media platforms owned by Forbes this summer. They You can’t do this kind of surprise attack just to get attention.”
It appears that Katzenberg did have an argument with Steve Forbes this morning, and it was pretty heated.
Eric shook his head with a smile, and was about to say something, but Frank Wells had persuaded him: "Jeffrey, if you do this, we will really become the media oligarchs in the mouth of "Forbes" magazine, I think The situation is not that serious, so it's better not to tear your face."
Frank has always been a 'good policeman' within the group, and Katzenberg respects him quite a bit. Hearing what Frank said, Katzenberg also calmed down, knowing that his ideas were a little radical, and he had too many personal Emotional, so he nodded slightly and turned to look at Eric.
"Although there is no need to completely sever cooperation, we still have to show our attitude. Let Robert take care of this," Eric said to Katzenberg, and then asked Wells: "Frank, Do you think we might run into substantial legal risk?"
Frank Wells was originally a lawyer. After thinking about it, he said: "There is no risk in the short term for the group's own business to continue to expand. There is still a long way to go. However, if the company continues to develop its business in other areas in the next few years, such as expanding to cable TV operators as you mentioned, at that time, we will be subject to very strict antitrust scrutiny. Moreover, the possibility of encountering failure is also very high.”
Eric discussed this issue with the management two years ago.
The decline of public television stations in North America and the rise of cable stations are inevitable trends in the future television industry. In order to maintain a leading position in this general trend, in addition to continuing to produce a large amount of high-quality content, channel resources are also very important. If there is no cable TV broadcasting platform of its own, Firefly's TV business will be easily stuck in the future. Although federal law does not prohibit media groups from owning cable TV broadcasting platforms, Firefly Group's position is too strong and it will definitely encounter anti-monopoly issues.
"In any case, this must be a few years later," Eric straightened his thoughts and said, "Let's focus on the immediate problem."
Frank Wells nodded and said: "Our film and TV business will not encounter legal challenges, but there may be some troubles in the digital field. When we announced that the digital field will stop external cooperation a few months ago, There are those who have urged the Justice Department to investigate this, and right now, if the topic that Forbes brings up gets too hot, some will probably bring it up again."
"So, what we have to do now is to prevent the topic of 'oligarchs' from being used by others, and it is best to divert the media's attention away from the company," Katzenberg looked at Eric, and continued: "Eric, I have a suggestion, maybe you can consider it."
Eric nodded, signaling Katzenberg to continue.
"I mean, let the media focus more on you."
Eric spread his hands and said, "Of course I don't mind if this is useful, but do you think the company may be ignored when it comes to my topic?"
"So, we have to artificially create a topic focus," Katzenberg said, tapping on a copy of "Forbes" magazine on the desktop, and said: "$98.7 billion, compared to the second-ranked Bill Gates, it is 60 billion higher, which is difficult for most people to accept. Before the release of "Forbes", I have seen in many media questioning whether your net worth is so much article, then, now we can just stir up this controversy and divert the attention of the media and the public."
Frank Wells patted the table next to him, nodded and agreed: "Eric, this is a very good method."
Eric thought about it for a moment, and felt that this plan was very feasible. "Forbes"'s statistics on his personal net worth reached 98.7 billion U.S. dollars. Although he can attract a lot of attention, it will also cause a lot of doubts. After all, people are always reluctant to believe in miracles.
The three discussed the detailed plan, and Eric finally called Kelly over. After lunch at noon, Katzenberg and Frank went back to continue their work, and Eric personally directed the implementation of the established plan.
In this era, it is impossible to find a large-scale navy if you want to attract public attention. However, Katzenberg’s words when discussing the countermeasures also reminded Eric. This issue of "Forbes Before the magazine was published, many people questioned Eric's personal wealth. Then, after the data of "Forbes" magazine far exceeds that of major financial media, the doubts of this group of people will definitely become more intense.
What Eric has to do is to let these people make their voices heard in the media as much as possible.
The efficiency of the assistant office is still very high. Just after two o'clock in the afternoon, Kelly handed over a list of 45 people collected to Eric. These are all well-known financial media reporters or commentators, and , they have all recently published related articles questioning Eric's wealth.
Looking at Eric who was flipping through the folder, Kelly, who was sitting opposite, introduced softly: "We have consulted about 300 different newspapers and magazines, and this group of people has the greatest influence. If they can A unified voice in the media for a period of time in the future will definitely have a very large influence and cause more media platforms to follow up. In addition, we also listed News Corp., Hearst Group, and Condé Nast’s more suitable for publishing related articles. Media platforms, however, these may require you to greet them personally before they will cooperate. I have already chatted with Tina on Yahoo, and she will send out relevant draft applications to the list we provided in the afternoon."
Eric read the general information of these people, called up an address book on the computer screen on the desktop, and joked to Kelly while dialing: "If these people know that they are being secretly regarded by the people they question and oppose If you lose the chess piece, will it collapse?"
Kelly smiled, seeing that Eric had already connected the phone, she didn't speak.
On the other side of the desk, Eric held a pencil in his hand, leaned lazily on the back of the chair, and laid his legs on the table leisurely, and said to the eager voice from the microphone: "Hey, William, It's me, Eric, how's it going lately... lol, of course, oh, you're at San Simeon's castle now, I've been wanting to see that place for a long time, but you guys never invited me... probably not lately , too busy, but you can come to Los Angeles."
Chatting with William III, the current head of the Hearst Group, Eric didn't get to the point until the other party asked, "Of course, it's just a small thing. I hope that some of your daily newspapers will Being able to invite a few people for a few feature articles.”
Hearst Group has always had a close relationship with Firefly due to the joint ownership of AE Television Network and ESPN Television. Eric explained a few words, and William Hearst III immediately agreed readily. As the head of the world's largest paper media group, William Hearst III certainly knew Eric's purpose in doing so. After agreeing, he couldn't help teasing Eric on the phone.
After writing down the telephone number of a senior executive of the Hearst Group given by William Hearst III, Eric pressed the on-hook button and dialed Murdoch's private number. While greeting Elizabeth worked just as well, it was more efficient to contact Murdoch directly.
After making several phone calls in a row, Eric sat up straight, handed the list full of contact information to Kelly, and said, "Hey, contact these people, you can talk to them directly about the specific implementation plan. , they will cooperate with you." (To be continued.)