In this world, ten years ahead of its time in terms of technology, the internet has gradually become popularized and has become something for the masses.
The number of internet users has also begun to gradually increase, gradually taking away users from television.
At this time, television stations have already stepped down from their golden age.
A well-made drama used to be able to achieve a viewership rating of over forty percent.
But now, the benchmark for good dramas has dropped to around thirty-five percent. Of course, there may still occasionally be a masterpiece that reaches a forty percent viewership rating, but it's still not very useful.
This is the trend, something completely irreversible. Even if television stations try their best to compensate with higher quality productions, they cannot fully resist the tide of the times.
At this time, mobile internet has also begun to take shape, and it seems that some kind of standardization is currently underway. Internet access on mobile phones will also enter people's field of vision in the future.
Television stations now can be considered middle-aged, no longer in the glory of their youth, but still with some remaining power, supported by high-quality dramas and excellent variety shows.
However, recently, almost all television stations have experienced a noticeable decline in viewership.
This so-called noticeable decline is probably around one or two percent.
But don't underestimate this one or two percent; sometimes it can determine the future of a TV drama or variety show.
In the future, even a viewership rating of zero point something will be taken seriously by television stations for a long time, let alone this one or two percent.
If a decrease in viewership is caused by the emergence of a blockbuster drama or a popular variety show, then they can obviously accept it.
This is called peer competition, and losing to it is acceptable.
However, it's not just one television station experiencing a decline in viewership; the entire Japan has seen a decrease of one or two percent over the past six months.
This is a decline that has never been seen before.
In the future, the decline will definitely be even greater, but at least for now, it shouldn't be declining this quickly.
Television station personnel have started frantically searching for reasons, whether it's problems with dramas and variety shows or if the audience has become tired of the current types of television entertainment.
In the previous season's program arrangements, some television stations even started investing more money to shoot large-scale dramas, some tried their best to produce special effects dramas for children, and some television stations worked overtime to produce blockbuster variety shows to attract attention.
However, it had no effect.
The programs that suffered the most from the decline should be those specifically targeting men and children, which generally decreased by about three to four percent.
Most dramas targeting women, on the other hand, didn't experience as much of a decline.
Finally, they realized the seriousness of the situation.
It's not that they didn't do well enough; it's that suddenly, it seems the audience's attention has been diverted by something else.
This time they began to conduct serious research and ultimately came to a conclusion.
A product called the Famicom has taken over the television in households!
As soon as the head of the household comes home with their children, they immediately turn on the television to play games. As for those latest TV dramas, they can always rent DVDs to watch them later, but games must be played.
Compared to the slow buildup of TV dramas, the excitement brought by games is more immediate and intense. And most importantly, games don't require waiting for updates; you can play as long as you want, just like watching a full series of TV shows.
Not every household can afford to buy another TV just to play games, so game consoles have become regular fixtures in living rooms.
Sometimes when people gather, they also take them out to play together.
Wow, here we are, fighting tooth and nail for ratings, only to be suddenly snatched away by an outsider.
After most television stations came to this conclusion, they couldn't help but feel a bit resentful.
Ratings are their lifeblood; when competing internally within the television station, they can fight to the death, let alone with an external invader.
So on that day, anything related to electronic games in television stations was immediately removed.
Variety shows that promoted electronic games were canceled, and advertisements promoting electronic games were also canceled, even if it meant paying a breach of contract penalty.
If people come to our territory and we welcome them with smiles, providing them with ammunition and rations, it's simply humiliating.
That company called Gamestar Entertainment, put them directly on the blacklist, never let them appear in any of our TV programs or advertisements again.
As for Surai Electronics... that's another story.
Anyway, now the mainstream is the Famicom; Surai Electronics can't even get a seat on the bench.
Mainly because the playback and recording equipment of many television stations almost all come from Surai Electronics or its subsidiaries, and they're not easy to mess with...
When Takayuki heard this news, he was stunned for a while.
How did such a big black pot suddenly fall from the sky?
But it seems that the blame is not entirely unjust.
Indeed, he is currently the culprit causing the decline in viewership.
However, the general decline in viewership was only a matter of time. He just accelerated it a bit.
Television stations have long been entering their old age, and they still think that even if they enter middle age, they can still stand firm for seventy or eighty years. But in reality, the speed will increase every year, and in the end, many families' televisions will become mere decorations.
Even if they don't play games, the number of people in the future who actually watch TV for programs is rapidly decreasing.
Koichi Natsume, who is responsible for marketing and promotion, specifically went to Takayuki's office to report this matter: "President, many television stations have forcibly removed our advertisements. However, Tokyo Television Station has not made any response. They're just doing what they need to do. This morning's electronic game advertisement was still aired as usual."
"Hmm? Tokyo Television Station?"
Takayuki immediately remembered that television station with the quirky mascot, the one that would broadcast his programs every day without fail in the future, and eventually survive by airing cartoons.
It's really unconventional, but I like it. I like television stations that honor their promises and adhere to contractual agreements.
It seems that I can consider some kind of cooperation with Tokyo Television Station in the future; the thought processes of that quirky television station are probably completely open to such invitations.
Takayuki said nonchalantly, "It's okay, if the TV ads can't be aired, then so be it. After all, that's not the main battleground anymore."
Television viewership is declining, television stations are unhappy that game consoles are taking away their viewership, they've cut off our promotional channels, and they really think I have no way to respond?
I've had my promotional channels forcibly cut off before.
Upon hearing Takayuki's words, Koichi Natsume also showed a strange smile.
So far, the ground promotion stage has never weakened, and the huge ground promotion team is now spread all over Japan.
This is also thanks to Masashi Ota.
With a bit of a regrettable past, it was easy for him to find a group of idle young people.
Young people also need money to go out and have fun, so naturally, they won't refuse job opportunities.
And most importantly, they can experience all the games of the Famicom up close for free. They think this job is so cool; now they feel that there is no job cooler than this, and they are even quite enthusiastic about promoting it.
"Not to mention the matter of television stations, has Surai Electronics shown any movement recently? They seem to have been quiet for more than two months now, right?"
After all, Surai Electronics is the first competitor. It's just that after they played their trump card in the first round, they suddenly quieted down, without even causing any ripples. It's like they're playing dead.
But he knows in his heart that such a company will never easily give up a huge market.
As long as they investigate carefully, they can now discover that electronic games are sweeping across Japan, showing a trend of becoming a completely new form of entertainment.
What's the best way to make money in this world?
It's entertainment.
Anything related to entertainment is the best way to make money.
Surai Electronics will definitely not give up.
"Now that you mention it, I've heard some news from acquaintances about Surai Electronics. They seem to be about to unleash a 'big move'."