Perhaps in the eyes of TV station bosses, a program like "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" will be an extremely satisfying and exciting TV program. Still, at least, in the eyes of the CBS staff, as far as he can remember, the day after such a show aired, there were complaints within CBS.
"Why do we arrange such a program to be broadcast on Saturday? We have to work overtime..."
Saturday of a week can be said to be the day with the least number of viewers for a TV station. However, although there are few people watching TV on this day, when a TV program accounts for about half of all viewers, then this TV program will also be very impressive.
As soon as the show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" aired on Saturday, CBS' statistics department knew very well that by the time the next day came, it was no longer possible to easily count Saturday's dismal ratings as usual rate, and the job is done. Because of the madness of this show, they are also busy.
"After the TV program was broadcast, the calls I received have not stopped. During the broadcast and by four hours after the broadcast, there were a total of 20,000 calls to participate in the event..." Whether
a TV program is good or not, the degree of participation from the audience can be seen to an extent. After a TV program is broadcast, 20,000 calls are made to participate in the TV program in just a few hours. With such a number, CBS immediately understands that it has dug a treasure.
"Our new program is definitely the best program of its kind on the market right now! I hope that the statistics department can cooperate immediately to conduct statistics on this program! Phone calls for participation, ratings, profit calculations, all aspects!" Sure enough, the
second after going to work the next day, Sunday, the entertainment president, Leslie, was already frantically recruiting people to work. From early in the morning, he ran back and forth between the statistics and entertainment departments, shouting and demanding everyone to work. Everyone knew that this program was made by the company Lesley dug out, but they didn't expect that Leslie would be so crazy.
It's understandable though; it's a lot of money, after all.
"The ratings of this TV program are unprecedented, so the return is naturally unprecedented. Now our hotline is almost blown up, and the media are discussing how many knowledge areas our questions cover. And the audience is very enthusiastically discussing how to get our one million. What they don't know is that our income is one thousand times more than this one million." Although the Nielsen index has not yet come out, people can already predict the popularity of this show. Generally speaking, among 1,000 people who watch TV, it is considered good if one person is willing to make a phone call to participate. Twenty thousand phone calls mean at least 20 million people have watched this program. Impossible to take it lightly.
TV programs are different from TV dramas. TV programs are rarely rebroadcast and broadcast overseas. Therefore, TV stations and production companies share the income of general TV programs. Shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, because CBS is involved in the production, they get 60% of the show's proceeds. And how much is 60% of such popular programs? This is hard to say.
"If you want to say that the income is high, this TV show will definitely have a terrific income. The higher the ratings, the faster the money will come in. Look at the football, and look at the proud faces of those guys in the sports department when it comes to spring! It's not because they can make money! Now, we also have programs with super ratings comparable to regular football games. Football games don't happen every day, and catching up with good games is not always possible, but programs like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire are different. They can be broadcast for a long time, and compared with those, the income will be higher!"
Inside the entertainment department, Leslie shouted loudly, urging his subordinates to make the fastest statistics: he needed to know the ratings of this program, and he also needed to know how much profit this program could bring.
For a whole Sunday morning, the entire CBS was busy. When the Nielsen index came out, although they had expected it, everyone at CBS was still a sensation.
"21/59, this TV show has incredible ratings!"
With a market share of 59, Leslie was also dazzled. How many years has it been since such a market share has appeared on TV programs other than the Super Bowl? A market share of 59% means that on Saturday night, more than half of the people are watching the CBS TV program. In the United States, the four major public stations plus pay stations and local stations go to the market, but Who Wants to Be a Millionaire still occupies more than half of the market.
This is the complete crushing, the real fighting against each other!
"If the analysis is correct, then the revenue brought by this TV series to CBS will reach about one billion a year."
Soon, the analysis department of CBS gave another exciting news. The first time Leslie saw it, he almost thought he had made a mistake. After repeated confirmation, he knew that this number was absolutely valid.
One billion a year, that is to say, CBS can get 600 million in revenue from this program alone! CBS's advertising revenue last year was only 2.8 billion!
A program accounts for more than one-fifth of the income of the TV station - such a program is another great success of CBS!
Leslie stretched out his hands to the sky, and he didn't know how to thank God. With programs like this, what are those TV shows? I found three popular dramas in one year, and the sum of them did not have half of the income of this show!
"Meet all the requirements of Enigma Company, everything! What is a movie? What is CSI? With such production capabilities, we can meet their requirements for whatever they want!"
***
Eisner's face sank like water.
"It's your dereliction of duty that you failed to bring such a program to ABC."
Watching the program, Eisner turned around and loudly criticized the people behind him who were still working. Although this is Sunday, it should be a day of rest, but in Disney, Eisner has the final say on the day of rest.
His words made everyone lower their heads, and no one dared to remind Eisner that it was Eisner himself who drove Levi away.
"This is the type of program that ABC should create. Such a program should not appear on a TV station like CBS, which is only watched by old ghosts, but should appear on our TV station!" Eisner's roar continued to sound. The whole crowd was silent, listening to his roar; no one dared to speak.
ABC has been shouting for development, and there are good programs, but they can only watch the programs go to other TV stations. If Eisner doesn't get angry about such a thing, will he still be worthy of the title of the tyrant?
"Sir, the production company of this TV show is Enigma." After hearing Eisner's anger, Westin dared to speak, "I reminded you."
"You said it to curry favor with Enigma Company, and you didn't predict that this TV show would be so popular! Would I refuse if you said that this TV show could have such a high income? Am I a fool?" Westin felt slightly aggrieved by this accusation: Who dares to say that he predicted it? And even if I really predicted it, would you believe it?
Eisner scolded loudly, and after scolding, he pointed to Westin, "Okay, I forgive you; now is not the time to pursue responsibility. The important issue is to cooperate with them - you go and flatter him, find his father, or do something and repair the relationship with him no matter what! Their next show must be brought to Disney to broadcast. If we, ABC, don't use it, then, only then, we can show it to others—the price is negotiable, but what I want is the possibility of cooperating with him!"
Eisner's order made Westin lament in his heart: Why me? Obviously, you are the one who offended; you go and kiss ass.
However, he wouldn't say these things to his superior. Eisner didn't like reasoning when he got angry. Fortunately, there are not many people who can make him angry. How many companies like Enigma can there be?
Just focus on this and please them. It should be done.
***
The same admiration came out of Edmond Sanctis' mouth.
As the president of NBC, he paid too much attention to CBS this year. CSI, "Everyone Loves Raymond," JAG, and now, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." During this year, CBS seems to have risen too fast. NBC's position as the boss was still unbreakable for a year, but now it appears to be on the verge of collapse.
One person contributed to two hit shows. Levi's name also made a mark in Edmund's heart. For such a person, he must find a way to develop a relationship with his company. If he can work for CBS, he can also work for NBC. His own TV station is bigger, has higher ratings, and gives more money, so he has no reason to say no.
In any case, you must have a good relationship with this company. This is the unanimous thought of the bosses of the three TV stations after today's program was broadcast - the future of this company is absolutely limitless!
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons Cherif Doghri, Abdishakur Hasan, Adam LV and Danny York.
You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.