For a TV station like Xiangnan Satellite TV, everything is based on three words: ratings.
The main revenue of TV stations comes from advertising, and the level of advertising revenue depends entirely on the ratings. The higher the ratings, the more valuable the long advertisements are.
In addition, the performance appraisal of TV station leaders is also closely related to the ratings. How much money the front and backstage staff of the TV station can earn and how famous they can achieve are also completely determined by the TV station's ratings.
As for how to improve ratings, in most cases, there are only two methods.
One is to increase ratings through film and television dramas, such as "My Fair Princess" and "Meteor Garden". These are super hits that have appeared on TV screens in recent years. As long as you get the broadcast rights, you will definitely make money. Ratings.
However, the chances of a film and television drama becoming a hit are not high, and even if a hit is made, it may not be exclusive to itself. Sometimes the exclusive broadcast rights of a hit are taken away by competitors, which will have a negative impact on the TV station. After all, most families only have one TV screen. If you watch other people’s TV screens, you will naturally not be able to watch your own.
The second is to increase the ratings through variety shows. Hunan Satellite TV's "Happy Camp" has always been the mainstay of variety shows in Taiwan, with very high ratings. However, one variety show is not enough, because the average variety show is only once a week. Each episode only lasts about two hours, so if you want to rely on variety shows to increase ratings, you must have at least two or three variety shows.
At least starting from Friday night to Sunday, these three days of prime time will have to be lined up. As long as you win these three prime time periods, the advertising revenue will be enough to make a fortune.
Now, in the eyes of the leaders of Shonan Satellite TV, they have "Happy Camp" and "Longing for Life". If they can add another "Amazing Race", it will be a perfect combination.
There are three programs, scheduled from Friday night to Sunday night, two hours of prime time every night, and the three programs have very different styles. One is a celebrity variety show that is recorded in the studio and focuses on comedy entertainment. ; One is an outdoor reality show that is recorded in a suburban farmhouse, focusing on warmth and leisure; the other is an exciting reality show that is recorded in various parts of the country and even the world, and is mainly fast-paced and high-intensity.
Such three programs are really dynamic, quiet, leisurely and exciting. If it really succeeds, then the national audience will be firmly controlled by Shonan Satellite TV during the three prime nights from Friday to Sunday.
However, it is not easy to make "The Amazing Race" a success. This kind of program with frequent location changes and extremely fast pace has never been done by Shonan Satellite TV. This puts very high demands on the production team. According to preliminary estimates, such a program alone is When shooting in a city, you need to prepare at least dozens of camera positions. Each of the six groups of guests requires several camera positions to follow and shoot. In addition, various transportation and mission locations also require a large number of fixed camera positions. The entire filming, logistics, and coordination team will be very large.
This is very similar to letting a regiment commander command a group army in combat. The biggest problem is whether there will be uncontrollable situations.
Moreover, if such a show is done well, it can have a long life, so the first season is particularly important. The higher the height of the first season, the greater the subsequent success.
Therefore, Xiangnan Satellite TV did not dare to start the project rashly on its own. They hoped to cooperate with Li Mu's Makino Image to bundle a powerful first-stage booster rocket in advance.
Chen Wan helped Hunan Satellite TV obtain a lot of resources from Li Mu, so as soon as the intention to cooperate with Li Mu came into being, the leadership regarded Chen Wan as the best negotiator.
Naturally, Chen Wan did not refuse Taili's arrangement. She called Li Mu as soon as the meeting ended.
Li Mu heard on the phone that Chen Wan was coming to Yanjing to discuss cooperation with him. He immediately agreed happily and said with a smile: "If there is any cooperation, just bring the contract over and I will sign it for you. But when you come, you have to Apply for a few more days and come to Yanjing to stay with me."
Chen Wan smiled shyly and said, "You are such a busy person, do you still need my company?"
Li Mu said with a smile: "I was very busy some time ago, but things are going well recently. I don't need to leave Yanjing for the time being, but I will probably go to the United States again in a while."
"Are you going to the United States again?" Chen Wan asked in surprise, "Why are you going to the United States so frequently during this period?"
Li Mu said: "There are plans to acquire several car brands from Ford. One of my partners there will have a first meeting with Ford soon. If things go well with him, I will go to the United States to talk to them soon." Interview.”
Chen Wan said: "There is no problem in applying for a few more days, but the key is that this time the station did not let me go by myself. There was a director and several of his subordinates with me."
"It doesn't matter." Li Mu said, "We can talk about whatever we want at that time. The process will go as normal. You just need to come."
"Well." Chen Wan's face felt slightly hot and she whispered: "We will go there early tomorrow morning. If you have time, arrange an interview. If you don't have time, it can be the day after tomorrow. We can wait."
Li Mu said: "Then tomorrow at noon, I will arrange a reception banquet and chat while eating. In addition, you don't need to book a hotel. I will make unified arrangements here. You can tell me how many people will stay and how many rooms you want."
For Li Mu, when Chen Wan brought her colleagues over, she had to arrange the scene in place. This not only gave Chen Wan face, but also let Xiangnan Satellite TV know how much he valued Chen Wan. It would be an honor to work with Chen Wan.
Chen Wan also knew what Li Mu was thinking, but the relationship between the two was so close that she was not polite to Li Mu.
…
The next day, Chen Wan and five colleagues took the 9 a.m. flight to Yanjing.
Li Mu asked Makino Technology's fleet to send several commercial vehicles to the airport to greet them.
Since Makino Technology has very in-depth cooperative relations with many five-star hotels in Yanjing, Li Mu directly arranged for them to stay at the five-star hotel closest to Makino Technology, and at the same time asked the catering department to prepare private rooms. It is used to receive the wind and wash away the dust for six people.
At around 11:30, Chen Wan and five colleagues arrived at the hotel. They first went to the room to put down their luggage and rest for a while. At 12:30, according to Li Mu's arrangement, they arrived at the high-end box in the catering department.
Li Mu arrived at the box ten minutes early with Li Ziwei and the two people in charge of Ning Hao and Makino Imaging.
When Chen Wan finished applying makeup and came in with five colleagues, Li Mu stood up immediately and greeted her warmly.
For Chen Wan's five colleagues, having the world's top entrepreneurs and tycoons hosting them in person was really flattering, and they could brag about it to their relatives and friends for at least a year or two.
Li Mu greeted everyone warmly, and Chen Wan introduced them one by one. Li Mu also introduced the colleagues he brought with him. Then the two parties sat down and drank a few glasses of red wine before starting. Into the title.
Since it was at the dinner table, Chen Wan's colleagues were too embarrassed to talk about work directly. It was Li Mu who started the conversation first and asked Chen Wan: "Sister Wan, you said you came here to talk to me about the cooperation in variety shows. What is it specifically like?" Can you introduce us to our cooperation first?”
Chen Wan nodded and said, "Director Wang has been following this program. Let Director Wang introduce it to you in detail."
Director Wang said hurriedly: "Mr. Li, let me give you a brief introduction."
"Director Wang, please speak."
"This time, we want to make a domestic version of the show based on the American show "The Amazing Race"..."
With that said, Director Wang introduced the entire plan to Li Mu in detail.
After listening to this, Li Mu immediately nodded in agreement and said, "I think your idea is great. There is currently a lack of a variety show in China that is truly up-and-coming, noisy, and exciting. The format of this show can fill a gap." .”
"The Amazing Race" can be said to be the enlightenment of competitive reality shows. Looking back, the running men and extreme challenges that followed are all variants of this kind of show. The purpose of its program is: first, it is highly competitive; second, it is , outdoor recording; third, the location changes every issue; fourth, the pace is extremely fast.
If "The Amazing Race" is produced now and the audience gets used to this style of show, then it will be much easier to want to be a running man in the future. At least the audience will have similar experience and it will be easier to accept it.
Moreover, Hunan Satellite TV wanted to integrate the first season of "The Amazing Race" into the panda tourism route, which played into Li Mu's plan.
This is a good opportunity for mutual benefit. Although on the whole, Xiangnan Satellite TV may be more advantageous, but this is a matter where you earn one thousand and I earn six hundred. Overall, it is a good thing, and Chen Wan still has face. There is absolutely no reason to refuse this.
So, Li Mu asked the question he was most concerned about: "Director Wang, have you talked to the original company of "The Amazing Race"? Have you obtained the copyright authorization?"
Director Wang was stunned for a moment, then said: "This shouldn't require authorization, right? We can borrow their program format and make slight modifications, and there should be no problem."
Li Mu immediately shook his head with a serious face and said: "In the future, we may be exposed to many overseas variety shows. If we start plagiarism, then the domestic variety show market will be flooded with infringements in the future, so I suggest that copyrights must be regulated. , starting with us, we must have a clear and clear copyright authorization chain. In this way, if other TV stations do similar things in the future, they will be wary. Otherwise, once someone sets a precedent for infringement, everyone will be in trouble later. We’re all used to it.”
Li Mu has been working on copyright formalization, so if Hunan Satellite TV is not prepared to obtain the authorization for "The Amazing Race", then he will never do it. Otherwise, if word spreads, it will be equivalent to Makino Technology cracking down on piracy while simultaneously He would never do such a thing jointly with Xiangnan Satellite TV.
Only then did Director Wang remember the copyright struggle that Li Mu had been engaged in, and hurriedly said: "Mr. Li is right, we have been negligent. Let's do this. We will definitely communicate with the original company in the United States and get the copyright. You don't have to do this. Don’t worry, let’s talk about specific cooperation and leave the copyright issues to us.”
Li Mu nodded and said: "Since it is a joint production, the copyright costs will naturally have to be jointly borne. You go and talk to the original company. I believe that with only a million dollars, you can get the copyright. For a long-lasting film For a variety show, such a small amount of money is really nothing, and a naming fee is several times that."
(End of chapter)