Chapter 223 The Tide Starts
On the second day of the "Friends" viewing celebration party, Murdoch couldn't wait to use News Corporation's media to release the news that Firefly would become a stake in the Fox Television Network. There will also be closer cooperation.
As soon as the news came out, most of the media who were originally pessimistic about whether Fox could keep "Friends" under the covetousness of the three major TV stations immediately changed 180 degrees, and began to express their optimism about the development prospects of the Fox TV network.
Not to mention that the Firefly revealed by Murdoch will cooperate more closely with the Fox network, and only by virtue of the Fox network keeping the hit series "Friends", Fox can seize the opportunity and produce More sophisticated TV programs to cultivate a loyal audience, then its fourth position in the North American TV industry will be unbreakable, and even through a few years of concentrated development, it is not impossible to surpass the original three TV stations. Affected by this good news, the market value of Fox Television Network, which was originally less than one billion US dollars, rose rapidly.
The transfer of shares in the TV network cannot be completed overnight. After the Fox TV network released the news, the three major TV stations not only did not give up the scramble for "Friends", but also became more frequent in contact with Eric.
Among them, because of the merger with the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation in 1985, the company that was most eager to turn over after several years of losses even offered to become a shareholder. However, Tom Murphy of the TV station only got 3% of the board of directors. The transfer authorization, although the value of the 3% shares is more than twice that of the 10% shares of Fox TV, but Eric has no heart at all, because getting the 3% shares will continue to lose money until it is acquired by Disney. Historically, it is unlikely that any dividends will be received for the next several years. Instead, it will consume a large amount of Firefly's funds.
Moreover, this 3% stake is unlikely to bring much say to Eric. So between the booming and the mud-footed, just have a slightly normal IQ. Everyone knows what choices to make.
On the evening of September 10th, with the laughter of the "Friends" audience and the scrutiny of other TV companies. "Friends" ushered in its second week of airing. Two hours later, Nielsen released the viewership statistics for the first time. The average viewership of the third and fourth episodes of "Friends" was 24.6 million, and the highest viewership still reached 29 million.
Seeing this data, the three major TV stations also began to analyze the success factors of "Friends". Finally, they found that in addition to the humorous plot and lines, this TV series was able to get the high ratings of its premiere. The most important thing is that the first two episodes were directed by Eric himself. Of course, there may have been film directors who switched to TV production in the past, but it must have been those film directors whose careers were underestimated, and when there was absolutely nothing to do, no film director would 'come down' when his fame was so high. Therefore, Eric, who had achieved great success in the first few films, directed the TV series himself. This stunt aroused the strong curiosity of the audience, and they were eager to see Eric, who achieved a series of box office miracles. What kind of TV show will the director produce? The quality of "Friends" itself has also met the expectations of the audience. So combined, this sitcom is now popular.
Knowing this, the three major TV stations started shooting almost at the same time. For a while, Steven Spielberg, Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton and many other Hollywood directors received high-priced invitations, and the three major TV stations even offered offers as long as they can Some dramas are willing to pay millions of dollars if they have a name on them.
Under the powerful money offensive, although most directors refused due to various scruples, it is not that no one tried it, and the results were very good. The ratings of some American dramas with the titles of Hollywood directors exceeded their ratings expectations. Therefore, in the next few years, well-known film directors will be invited to direct the first one or two episodes of American dramas. A trend quickly formed. If an American drama is launched, if there is no well-known Hollywood director sitting in the name when it is promoted. The audience will subconsciously feel that the quality of this TV series is not high, and the ratings will not be as good.
Of course, these are all things that happened later.
After the broadcast of "Friends" in the second week, those who are interested found that the news about "Friends" has almost completely disappeared from TV programs other than Fox. Everyone seems to have never heard of "Friends".
Obviously, this is a statement of the three major TV stations for Eric's continuous refusal to win over them.
But this kind of "blocking" has already done no harm to "Friends". Don't forget that News Corporation is standing behind Fox TV, which can promote this TV series from print media to TV media in all directions. Although the three major TV stations control most of the TV media in North America, they are still pure TV networks and have not been merged by media groups, so they have little involvement in newspapers and magazines. Newspapers and magazines also played a major role in the word-of-mouth spread of a TV drama in this era.
Although Fox's competitors have not forgotten to publish some attacks on "Friends" in the newspapers they can influence, such as the criticism that "Friends" has too many adult topics to be broadcast on public television, they have not. What a big impact. Because the more heavyweight newspapers have maintained a praiseworthy attitude towards "Friends".
Eric is now sitting in his office reading a story about Friends from the Los Angeles Times.
"According to Nielsen data analysts, the second week of 'Friends' has eliminated around 70% of volatile viewers, and in the end the sitcom's average viewership will remain at around 22 million, which will undoubtedly be the year The king of TV ratings.
It has been revealed that the average advertising revenue of "Friends" per episode has reached 3 million US dollars, so the TV series will bring in more than 70 million US dollars in revenue. Although we have no way of knowing the specific division plan between Firefly and Fox TV, with Eric Williams' always strong style, the advertising division of "Friends" will definitely reach the highest level in the industry. Fox's first run alone could bring in nearly $30 million for Firefly.
What's even more surprising is that the copyright of "Friends" is exclusively owned by Firefly. Then, the subsequent transfer of broadcasting rights and videotape distribution of this sitcom will bring in more than three times the revenue of the first round of advertising. The total investment in sitcoms is less than $5 million. Eric Williams, the 'pussy boy' who is stirring up trouble in Hollywood, has proved to the world that he can not only shine in movies, but also in TV dramas. .
When I conceived this article, the author kept thinking whether Eric Williams would extend his tentacles to the music field next, because in several of the films he directed, Eric was clearly hung in the soundtrack column. The name of K. Williams, the "Speechless Love" in the section where the bus met in "Dark War", I don't know how many fans are fascinated, the picture of Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields hugging each other Also because of the background of this soundtrack, it was called the most beautiful movie scene by the media this year. Everyone from the major record companies, look at the three major TV stations that are now in a state of embarrassment, a lesson from the past, why not take the lead in sending an invitation to Eric Williams before others take action? "
After reading the article in "Los Angeles Times", Eric thought for a moment. When he was shooting "Pretty Woman", because he remembered a song composed by the famous pop band Roxette, Eric had to train singers to intervene. The plan of the record industry. The 1990s was the last glorious era of the world's record industry. As long as a record company had a few leading singers, its profit was no less than that of a film company or a TV station. Even if the record industry declines completely in the future due to the rise of the Internet age, the copyright of songs owned by record companies is a huge asset that can bring long-term income in the West, where intellectual property protection is very strict.
After writing and drawing a few strokes on the memo beside him, Eric was about to flip through the next newspaper when there was a knock on the office door: "Mr. Williams, Miss Murdoch is here."
Eric responded casually, wearing a blue and white light plaid shirt and dark jeans, Elizabeth Murdoch, who was wearing a dark blue lady's satchel, rushed in and sat down opposite Eric very rudely. She still looked so carefree, as if Eric's strong kiss that night had no effect on her at all.
Taking off the satchel and putting it on her lap, Elizabeth glanced at the headline of the Los Angeles Times in front of Eric, and pouted her lips in disdain: "I didn't expect you to be so narcissistic that you secretly hid in the office to watch other people compliment you. your essay."
Eric didn't care about the sarcasm in the girl's tone. If he was just a film director, of course he could turn his ears and make the film well. But he is also the chairman of a film company, and it is necessary to keep enough attention to industry news. Because he was too busy during this time, Eric could only ask his assistant to sort out some more important news for him, and read some hurriedly before he came to the company every day to deal with affairs. (To be continued)