Huayu: When the director changed his major

Chapter 135 Everyone underestimated Zui Bai
In addition to the fact that Mr. Xiao from Tianyu received a call from Director Nie of Mango TV.

Cheng Xi also received the call.

"Director Cheng, I was indeed impulsive at the time. I was obsessed with the next film, 'Palace Lock Heart Jade.' So I signed 'Phoenix Totem' in advance, which resulted in missing the schedule."

"I admit that, brother, you miscalculated. You won't blame me for having no vision, right?"

Mr. Nie's words directly transformed the conflict between the two parties into a momentary impulse and an ordinary investment misjudgment, which can be said to be a brilliant move.

And there is a subtle apology in it.

Cheng Xi didn't expect that Director Nie, a big shot at Mango TV, could be so frank.

Perhaps this is what it means for people who have experienced many ups and downs to know how to bend and stretch.

"I had always wanted to buy 'The Beginning'. During the screening, I felt that the quality of 'The Beginning' was very solid. I just regretted that I lacked the courage at the time."

"How about Mango TV give the second round of broadcast rights for 'The Beginning'? We'll offer the same price as the first round: 80 per episode."

Cheng Xi was not surprised that Director Nie came to buy a second round, and the price of 80 per episode seemed very generous at the moment.

After all, the first broadcast was sold to Yanjing TV for only 80, not to mention that the price would be lowered when it was sold to Mango TV.

As for the previous unpleasantness between the two parties, from a business perspective, I would do the same if I were in his position.

Mango TV only wants to suppress Yanjing TV.

It just so happened that my drama was pretty good and was broadcast on Yanjing TV.

But of course Cheng Xi wouldn't think that he was easy to bully. He had refused to sell it to him for 60 yuan before.

Moreover, the release date was later adjusted to target "The Beginning". If "The Beginning" hadn't been so lucky, it would have been completely defeated by it.

Although Cheng Xi didn't say anything, he definitely had some opinions.

So he replied:
"Hello, Director Nie. Our last deal fell through, but the relationship still stands."

"But for the second round, I'm afraid it's a bit difficult. To be honest, I'm getting a lot of inquiries now. And the price of 80 is too low."

Cheng Xi was not making excuses when "Beginning" surpassed "Phoenix Totem" in ratings on the fifth day.

Mr. Zou from Yanjing TV offered 40 per episode for the second round.

On the sixth day, Aunt Guo’s ratings were 1.91%. When it was about to break 2, it had already risen to 60.

I guess it would be easy for him to buy it for 80 today.

What Cheng Xi knew even more was that the price would continue to rise.

Who says the second round can’t sell as well as the first round?

Am I willing to sell at a low price in the first round just to make money later?
"As you know, I was trying to get a prime-time slot for the first run, so I sold it at a low price. And what do you think the ratings for the second run of 'The Beginning' will be?"

Now it was Director Nie's turn to be in trouble. If he said too much, he would have to pay a higher price.

To underestimate the number would be inconsistent with the facts and would be even more detrimental to cooperation between the two sides.

He just handed the ball back to Cheng Xi and said:

"What do you think, Director Cheng?"

“No lower than the first round.”

"Ah? This"

When Director Nie heard this, he immediately felt that Cheng Xi was talking nonsense.

How is it possible that the second round will hardly be able to match the ratings of the first round?

No matter how good a drama is, it will be discounted at least 60% to 70%.

"When it first aired, 'The Beginning' was suppressed by 'Phoenix Totem' and you, so the ratings were low, not even breaking 1%. The first few episodes were basically watched by my fans and old viewers of Yanjing TV, so other viewers basically haven't seen the first few episodes. I think they have a strong desire to watch them again."

"If the ratings for 'The Beginning' can reach 3% at most, theoretically there will be 2% of viewers who will watch it later, plus Mango TV's own audience, I believe Director Nie's judgment is more professional than mine."

"And if the final episode of the second round breaks the 1 rating without a doubt, then it will be higher than the 0.99% of the first episode. It can be inferred that the average rating will not be much different from the first round."

When Mr. Nie heard Cheng Xi say this, he was thinking silently in his heart.

Of course it is impossible that 2% of the audience will watch the show again, but there will definitely be other new viewers coming in. Coupled with the foundation of Mango TV, there seems to be a slight chance of catching up with the first round of ratings.

So he asked:

"Director Cheng, what conditions do you think are more suitable?"

"I think the second round can exceed 2, so the price of selling 'Palace' is not excessive. 150 million per episode, and it must be broadcast in prime time. Whoever offers this price first will be the first to sell it to the second round."

Finally, Cheng Xi released his desired price and conditions.

If you didn't buy it at 60 yuan at that time, and now I give it to you for 150 million yuan, let's see if you have the courage to do it.

When Mr. Nie heard that the amount was 150 million, he immediately felt disappointed.

Although he personally is optimistic about it, he is afraid that the station will find it difficult to agree to pay 150 million per episode for the second round of broadcast rights.

So I just politely responded and said I would go back and think about it.

When Mr. Nie was about to buy a second round, many TV stations also approached Zuibai Studio to inquire about the price.

In addition to Yanjing TV, they offered 80 per episode and wanted to buy the second round.

Including Blue TV and Litchi TV also came to inquire.

In addition, those TV stations that had previously ignored Cheng Xiai and even looked down on him now called with interest.

Cheng Xi couldn't help but sigh that before you succeed, most people are facing backwards.

You succeeded. Not only did most of the faces turn around, but they also started to smile.

This is why everyone is obsessed with the feeling of success. One is material abundance, and the other is psychological enjoyment.

But Cheng Xi also put forward his own conditions as usual and said that he would not wait for anyone after the deadline.

I just told Mr. Zou of Yanjing TV that the current price is 150 million per episode.

But if Yanjing TV wants to buy it, we can give Mr. Zou a 9% discount, 135 million per episode.

In addition to TV stations, video network platforms have also come to Cheng Xi to buy online broadcasting rights.

The four major platforms, Sohu, Youku, Tudou and LeTV, as well as some smaller platforms, have all approached Zuibai Studio.

Brother Lu didn’t invest before, and now he regrets it so much.

I kept complaining in front of Cheng Xi about why I didn't be bolder at that time.

He must have imagined that "The Beginning" would start making money later.

The investment is basically recovered in the first round, and the profit is based on the sales volume thereafter.

Of course, it’s not just about money. Giving up the investment this time proves that his vision is still a little worse than Mr. Zeng’s.

This feels a bit like Youku vs. Sohu.

And has the relationship with Cheng Xi taken a step further?

This is what makes Senior Brother Lu even more unhappy.

The online premiere of "Palace" was bought by LeTV for 35 per episode, and now Cheng Xi's psychological price will not be lower than this.

So all three companies bid around 3 yuan, and only LeTV bid 35 yuan.

LeTV also wants to make an additional offer to buy out the online broadcasting rights of "The Beginning" for another five years.

Cheng Xi directly rejected this, but it has to be said that LeTV has a sharp vision and dares to take drastic measures once it sees something it likes.

In its previous life, LeTV made a fortune by taking advantage of "The Legend of Zhen Huan". It only spent 2000 million to buy the exclusive online broadcasting rights of 76 episodes of "The Legend of Zhen Huan".

And it’s five years!

It's a dead profit.

Cheng Xi knew that Mr. Zeng had always wanted "The Beginning" to be broadcast on Sohu, and he had helped Cheng Xi a lot.

Provide the crew in the early stage, coordinate the shooting location in the middle stage, and contact Mr. Zou of Yanjing TV in the later stage.

So Cheng Xi directly said to Mr. Zeng:
"Brother, you've been very helpful to 'The Beginning'. If you pay me 35, I'll sell you the online broadcast rights for 'The Beginning'."

But Zeng always knew that LeTV quoted 40 per episode, so he said to Cheng Xi:
"Brother, you can't say that. We at Sohu Video are the investors, so we should contribute."

"Besides, LeEco has already offered 40 yuan, so my 35 yuan is equivalent to asking my brother to directly subsidize me."

"A business that makes the other party suffer a loss will not last long. We are in business."

When Cheng Xi heard Mr. Zeng was so particular, he felt embarrassed to mention the 35 yuan anymore.

After all, who doesn’t want to make more money?

"I'll just treat my 12% investment as a loss. LeEco is offering 40 yuan per episode, so how about I offer 45 yuan per episode? I think that's not unfair to you, brother."

Mr. Zeng was really open-minded, so the two shook hands and reached an agreement on the online broadcasting rights for "The Beginning".

The two parties agreed that after the second round of satellite TV broadcast of "Beginning", the online premiere will begin.

The exclusive broadcast rights are valid for 1 year, and the broadcast rights are valid for 3 years.

After agreeing on the cooperation, Cheng Xi looked at Mr. Zeng and felt a little moved.

Of course, don’t get me wrong, it’s the attraction to talent.

If I can make myself bigger and stronger, then I can start my own company.

I could ask Mr. Zeng to run the business, but I'm not sure if he'd be willing to let Sohu join me. Li Wentao is certainly a good guy, but he has no experience managing a company and needs to grow.

It is more appropriate to have him serve as my assistant, as he is my own person who has been with me all the way.

Mr. Zeng has a good vision and asked Cheng Xi to write and direct "The Diaosi Man" from the beginning.

He trusts his employees and never takes responsibility even if he says he will.

He was a man of good sense and tact. He arranged for Jin Chen to be beside him, but pretended not to know.

He is knowledgeable and has good connections. He helped coordinate and solve problems faced by the crew on many occasions.

Don't overstep the line, treat business as business, don't take advantage of others, and don't let others take advantage of you.

He is flexible and humble, and can be friendly and attentive to your 19-year-old student.

At this moment, Mr. Zeng looked at Cheng Xiwang's eyes, which seemed to be glowing green.

I felt a little uneasy and thought, why are you looking at me? I'm not a handsome guy.

The next morning at ten o'clock, in the Mango TV conference room.

The theme of the meeting was how to save the current decline in ratings and confirm the next TV series to be broadcast.

The participants were basically the heads and key personnel of relevant departments of the station.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Director Jia himself.

Normally, Deputy Director Jia would not preside over a meeting of this level, and Director Nie of the Program Purchasing Center would make the decision.

But the current public opinion is not very good, and the ratings of "Phoenix Totem" have dropped too fast, and Yanjing TV is catching up quickly.

If the next drama can't hold up, you can imagine the pressure everyone will be under.

Director of Production Department:
"At the meeting, I told them not to choose Phoenix Totem because it's not as good as our own dramas."

Director of Operations:
"The management team was also opposed to adjusting the release date, issuing an announcement, and directly competing with 'The Beginning'."

Director Nie of the Program Acquisition Center:
"This time, I was indeed too eager for quick success. I will apologize to the station. Regarding the rapid decline in the ratings of "Phoenix Totem", I have already notified Tianyu to reduce the series to 34 episodes and it will be taken off the air within a week."

Deputy Director Jia:

"Now is not the time to assign blame. Since the issues with 'Phoenix Totem' were resolved by canceling the show early, has the next series been confirmed?"

When asked this question, no one in the entire conference room said a word.

If it were normal, everyone would definitely recommend it actively.

But if something goes wrong and the ratings fail to improve for two consecutive series, I'm afraid the station director will be held accountable.

After all, it is Mango TV's prime time, and they can't even handle it. I believe the director's anger will be vented on everyone.

Whoever recommends it, of course, bears the greatest responsibility.

The safest approach at this time is not to take the blame.

Deputy Director Jia saw this and knew everyone's ostrich mentality, so he said:

"This time, the station has increased the budget by one third, to 200 million per episode."

The last time Director Nie bought "Palace" he used the highest authority at his disposal, at a price of 150 million per episode.

This time, when everyone heard the number of 200 million per episode, they were all excited.

The director of the production department took the lead and said:

"I have a palace drama here that I just finished editing. I think it can be used as a substitute."

Deputy Director Jia frowned when he heard that it was another palace fighting drama, but did not dampen everyone's enthusiasm for recommending it.

Instead he asked:

"Okay, here's a candidate. Does anyone have any recommendations? Director Nie, you're the director of the film acquisition center, don't you have any recommendations?"

Director Nie heard Deputy Director Jia directly give him the order and raised his head to think carefully for a long time.

It is true that I don’t have any dramas recently that are guaranteed to carry the ratings. After all, it is difficult to guess the audience’s taste before a drama is aired.

Moreover, the Waterloo of "Phoenix Totem" this time made him a little less radical and began to play it safe.

Just when he was at his wit's end, he remembered the young man's confident words:

"This drama can break 2 in the second round."

So he met Deputy Director Jia's gaze, gritted his teeth and said:
"Master Jia, how about 'The Beginning'?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, before Deputy Director Jia even spoke, several people in the conference room started laughing.

Director of Production Department:
"Why, buying a second-round show and airing it in prime time on the station? Director Nie is scared by 'The Beginning', right?"

Director of Operations:
"I disagree. Second-run ratings are generally not good. Even if 'The Beginning' is very popular now, it's impossible for it to reach the ratings of the first broadcast."

Director Nie:
"This is my suggestion now. If anyone can come up with a more reliable suggestion, just ignore what I said."

Deputy Director Jia:

"Why do you think 'Beginning' is stable? Tell me."

Director Nie then repeated Cheng Xi's analysis and added his own interpretation:

"Now we need to find a show that can withstand the ratings, which is the safest bet. But we haven't witnessed the premiere results of other dramas, and no one can guarantee that it won't fail again, but 'The Beginning' has proven that."

Director of Production Department:
"I think the ratings for 'The Beginning' have reached a plateau and are unlikely to rise any further."

Director of Operations:
"It's been proven. The average viewership rating for 'The Beginning' is only a little over 1 point, and the highest rating for a single episode is only 2.5%."

Just as a few people were still mocking Director Nie, Xiao Wang, assistant to Deputy Director Jia, hurriedly handed him a page of materials.

Deputy Director Jia took a look, then glanced at Director Nie involuntarily, and asked:

"What do you think the second round ratings for 'The Beginning' will be?"

Deputy Director Jia was feeling very angry after listening to the ridicule from the two directors who had always been at odds with him.

So he said directly:

"It can break 2."

Suddenly, everyone in the office started laughing again.

"What are the conditions at Zuibai Studio?"

"The price per episode is the same as the first run of 'Palace', 150 million per episode, 15 million for 2250 episodes, prime time, no waiting."

When the two directors heard this, they started to confront Director Nie directly and rudely.

"You're buying a second-rounder for 150 million. Didn't they originally offer you a first-rounder for 60, but you refused? Now they're taking advantage of our TV station, and you're just trying to get in on the action."

"Old Nie, your taste in dramas is getting worse and worse. I dare say the ratings for 'The Beginning' have peaked, and they'll only drop faster and faster from now on."

Director Nie is usually an important figure in the TV station who has the power of life and death. At this time, he was treated so disrespectfully by the two directors and was squeezed out in front of everyone.

I was already furious, so I said:
"I made a mistake in choosing the Phoenix Totem over the other options, which led to the current situation. I reflect on this."

Continuing with the same old tune, the two directors looked disdainful.

"But we are Mango TV. How did we get to where we are today? Because we are not afraid of making mistakes, we have the courage to correct them, and we can change direction in time."

"Beginning" wasn't aired at the time, so I thought it was worth 60 yuan. That was my professional judgment. Now that it has proven itself, I think 150 million yuan is also my professional judgment."

The two directors began to laugh faintly as they continued to shirk responsibility.

"As for what you said about 'The Beginning' having peaked in ratings, I actually don't think so."

"I originally wanted to buy it because I saw its potential, but to play it safe, I chose a palace drama. Now I'm correcting my mistake. I think 'The Beginning' can have a peak viewership rating of over 3!"

When the two directors heard Director Nie say that "The Beginning" could reach a score of over 3, their lips curled up and they laughed out loud.

Director Nie didn't bother to pay attention to the two people's sarcastic remarks, and directly said to Deputy Director Jia:
"Deputy Director Jia, I'm the director of the program purchasing center. The play I recommend to you is 'The Beginning'."

After saying this, Director Nie felt relieved.

Deputy Director Jia also took in everyone's expressions, shook a piece of paper in his hand, and said:
"These are the ratings that just came out. 'The Beginning' was at 2.23% on the seventh day, and 2.6% yesterday on the eighth day."

"Today is"

When talking about today, Deputy Director Jia paused for a moment, then continued in a clear and loud voice:
“Today it’s 3.01%!”

When everyone heard this, they all gasped and looked incredulous.

The growth rate not only did not stagnate, but was getting faster and faster?
Especially the two directors who wanted to continue mocking "The Beginning" felt like their throats were clamped by a big hand!
Stuck there, unable to move awkwardly.

Not only did the ratings of "The Beginning" not reach its peak, but it directly broke through 3 in one go!

At the same time, I thought: You don’t have to slap someone in the face like this. Can’t we announce the ratings after the meeting?
Now everyone is looking at the two of them as if they were watching a monkey show!

Even those who were experienced in battle couldn't help but blush.

Even Director Nie, who had just confidently recommended "The Beginning", looked surprised.

When he said it could break 3, he meant the finale might break 3.

Not now!
But looking at the two directors' expressions as if they had seen a ghost, I couldn't help but feel extremely relaxed both physically and mentally.

Now it seems that everyone still underestimated "The Beginning"!
I underestimated Zuibai!

(End of this chapter)