After a night of drinking followed a morning of hangovers. Levi couldn't remember who sent him home. The harsh sound of the phone woke him up.
When he looked at the two hands of the wall clock, which pointed straight up, he realized that he had slept until noon again. Levi raised his head, shook his head, and dispelled his dizziness. In the last few days, he had been drunk and unconscious, and the count of unconsciousnesses seemed to increase.
It could be a good thing; to be happy in this world is rare.
Reaching out to pick up the phone, Alexander's voice on the other end was extremely high, "Nick, what are you doing? Why are you so slow to answer the phone? Do you know that today is when our TV ratings come out? I'm almost dying of anxiety, and you are so lethargic..."
"The point is, I just woke up and feel dizzy." Levi interrupted his long talk, "You were as troubled as I was yesterday until late, and you got up so early?"
"I wouldn't be so drunk that I can't work on the days listed by the Nielsen index!" Alexander seemed a little angry on the other end of the phone, "Are you still there? You are also the producer and director of our TV series. Don't you care if the TV ratings are out?"
Has the ratings come out yet? Levi raised his head and looked at his watch. It was already afternoon, and it was indeed almost time to come out.
Nielsen's rating statistics are usually released in the premiere's next day afternoon. Levi is also very aware of this, and that's why he got drunk last night. Compared with waiting for the rating report in the company this morning, he prefers to sleep until the results come out.
And now, the results are out.
"Are the ratings not good?" Levi asked back.
This time, there was a burst of laughter in his ears. A moment ago, Alexander was indignant, but as soon as Levi's words came out, his laughter seemed unstoppable.
"I don't have any worries when I hear you laughing—the TV series must have been successful?"
"It's more than successful! It's very successful!" On the other end of the phone, Alexander was obviously extremely excited, "Guess what's our show's Ratings/Share?"
The ratings of American dramas are divided into two types: Ratings/Share. The former means how many people in the golden consumption age group of 18-49 are watching the TV drama. In contrast, the latter means the market share, which refers to how many people are watching this TV series among those who turn on the TV, basically the number of people watching this show against the total number of people watching TV.
Not everyone's spare time activity is watching TV dramas. A large part of people doesn't watch TV dramas. They watch other things, such as news, night shows, movies, etc., on TV. Generally speaking, people who watch TV can account for one-third of the total number of people in the golden age group. Even if there are a lot of minor adjustments, the number of the former is generally one-third of that of the latter.
Under normal circumstances, people are accustomed to using the Ratings index to describe the number of viewers of a TV series. Because 18-49-year-olds are prime consumers, advertisements are for them to watch, and the ratings directly determine whether a TV series is watched or not.
"I'm glad to hear you. How many? More than three percent?"
For a TV series, the ratings determine life and death. Generally speaking, three percent is a very important threshold. If it exceeds three percent, 90% of the time, the show can stay on for the current season, and they can even directly be considered for the next season. And the two percent is generally more tangled because it may be retained or it may be cut. As for the 1.5 percent or so, the show will definitely be cut unless there is someone high to support it.
As long as the total number of TV series exceeds three percent, there is no need to worry too much. In general, only about thirty percent of people will watch TV series, and the four major TV networks, plus some other small ones, will broadcast TV series at the same time period. TV stations, together with some pay stations, compete for this mere thirty percent, and it is not easy to get three percent.
Of course, this is limited to the four major TV networks.
This is not necessarily true if it's another TV network. For example, in the CW station of later generations, 1.5 percent is considered a hit drama, and 0.6 percent is considered likely to stay Rating. And for the niche TV stations such as Science Fiction, the ratings are even more murky, and the peripheral products of that TV series sell well. How do they decide which one to keep? It depends on their peripheral product sales as their TV series can't support themselves by relying on ratings.
"Your estimate is too low. Don't you think we only have such a little ability? Let me tell you, the media's comments on our TV series are 'the new banner of crime dramas,' 'excellent TV series with enlightening effect.' Such a TV series with only a three percent rating? You underestimate yourself too much. The number of ratings is beyond your imagination. Guess what is our Rating?"
"Alex, I just woke up. I am not in the mood to discuss this with you. What is the Rating? You can just tell me directly."
In Levi's heart, of course, he also hopes that his TV series will have higher ratings, but he doesn't want to guess randomly. If he had too many hopes, and if the TV series didn't come true, then he would have made himself sad.
But it shouldn't be low, right? Critics of TV series, although sometimes they also pay attention to the artistry of the story, they still care about the ratings. Since they commented on their TV series like this, the ratings cannot be bad.
"You're so boring...Listen—the ratings of our TV series is 5/14. You know what that means, right?"
Levi's head suddenly came to his senses with this shocking number. "5/14? That is to say, our viewership..."
"13.5 million, an unimaginable number!"
13.5 million viewers... Even Levi himself was shocked.
He has always known that the CSI TV series could definitely become a hit, but he never thought that this TV series would become so popular once it was broadcast.
13.5 million people - this number is beyond the reach of many old TV series. You know, even a TV series like 'Law and Order,' which is hailed as the most classic TV series, only had an average viewership of 12 million when the first season was just broadcast. They exceeded this in their pilot show!
Although many TV dramas are quite good in the later stage, they are not particularly satisfactory when they are first broadcast. It is very difficult to unearth a TV series with great potential. On the one hand, broadcast one or two episodes to attract the audience, and then fine-tuning is made with reference to the audience's comments; on the other hand, creation is based on the characteristics of the actors. And sometimes, some TV dramas need to be popularized by the TV station with a lot of advertisements, etc.
However, CSI has not done any of these things. Once it was launched, it has reached 13 million. What a surprise!
"13.5 million, this number, it seems that the Rating of 5 is still a bit low." Levi sighed in admiration.
The audience Rating of 5 is calculated according to the population, which means that the number of viewers who watch this TV series is less than 6 million people in the golden age. CSI is known as the old people's station, and it really deserves its reputation. More than half of the people are outside the ratings statistics, which also makes Levi feel a little inadequate.
If it were at NBC...that would be different.
"What's missing? This is the first episode, the first episode! Afterward, the ratings will definitely be even higher."
On the other end of the phone, Alexander's excited voice continued to yell, accusing Levi of being greedy, "The audience rating of 5, the market share is 14. 13.5 million people. Our TV series is really popular. The show just started airing, and our ratings will increase in the end. Think about it, the ratings of the first episode can exceed 5, and at the end, if we do well enough, it's not a problem even if it rises to 8 or more. What does eight or more mean? It means that our TV series is definitely the most classic TV series, and it is not at all problem to broadcast for more than five seasons. Nick, we have succeeded!"
13.5 million. The number of viewers is not particularly good compared to those gold medal TV series. The rating is also quite low. However, as the premiere episode of a TV series, 13.5 million is not lacking at all. Being able to have such a number shows that the future of this TV series is very much worth looking forward to.
The first broadcast can achieve such a good result, and the TV series will broadcast at least five seasons unless something goes wrong seriously, like, the screenwriter dying. Even in Levi's advanced memory, only the TV series "Heroes" has achieved this at one point, but that's because the Screenwriters Association went on strike. His TV series didn't have this concern.
"Since this is the case, all of us have to act—since the media has given us a good evaluation of the TV series, then I will go and have a look to determine the next modification direction of the TV series. You inform Clark and let him get in touch with all the actors, congratulate them on the success of the show, and make sure they don't jump ship. Get Bob to write the script for the new episode. I have the outline, and they need to fill it in. Alex, I will leave dealing with CBS to you."
"Don't worry. I know what to do." Alexander nodded proudly, "If our TV series is completed, it will be a lot of money. I will definitely not let the funds slip from my hands."
*****
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