[Chapter 777: Night...]
Therese, although she was just an ordinary housewife without much opinion, was not naive. From Eric's brief exchange of glances with her daughter, she sensed something was up. However, since Eric had promised her face-to-face, she figured someone of his stature -- though he seemed a bit young -- wouldn't have lied to them, right?
Since Eric agreed to let Miranda sign with the Disney Channel, Therese decided to address her top concern.
"So, Eric, what about Miranda staying in America?" she asked.
Eric replied, "Mrs. Kerr, if you're worried, you can absolutely stay in the U.S. to care for Miranda."
Therese shook her head. "That won't work. I have my job in Brisbane, and my husband and son need me. John and I hope that Miranda can attend a full-time boarding school. She can stay there as long as she's not filming."
"Mom, I don't want to go to boarding school," Miranda chimed in before Eric could respond, having no prior discussion with her parents about this. Plus, she thought it felt like being sentenced to prison.
Therese didn't lose her temper at her daughter's resistance; instead, she spoke gently, "Sweetheart, you're still a minor. Your father and I just can't leave you here alone in America without some supervision."
"Can't you get a temporary guardian? Then I could just go to a regular school," Miranda suggested, looking over at Eric.
Noticing Miranda's gaze, Therese quickly shook her head.
"No way," Therese said, her voice rising slightly, realizing it sounded a bit disrespectful, implying she didn't trust Eric -- though, to be fair, that was the truth.
After a pause, she added, "You're lucky to get this acting job. We can't trouble Eric any further."
Eric nodded in agreement. "According to federal regulations, I probably don't meet the qualifications to be your temporary guardian; I'm a single man after all."
Hearing Eric's refusal, Therese felt relieved and turned to her daughter. "See? You heard him."
"But I still don't want to go to boarding school! If I have to, I'd rather... I'd rather..." Miranda stammered, unable to vocalize her wish to return to Australia. Instead, she turned back to Eric. "Eric, even if you can't be my temporary guardian, you can help me find a suitable host family, right?"
Eric shrugged slightly. "That can be arranged, but it must have your parents' approval."
Miranda immediately stood up, walked over to Therese, and pouted, "Mom..."
Seeing the resigned look on Therese's face, Eric stood up. "I'll go check if dinner's ready. You two can talk it over."
....
It was unclear how the mother-daughter duo communicated, but during dinner, while Therese maintained that she needed her husband's approval, her attitude had softened significantly.
Miranda appeared ecstatic, like a little magpie having her wish granted. She chatted animatedly with Eric about everything under the sun, from falling off a horse at her grandmother's farm years ago to her recent experiences shooting for the cover of DOLLY magazine. Despite her young age, Miranda showed a knack for reading the room far better than her mother, sensing that Eric didn't mind her lively personality -- instead, he seemed quite intrigued.
Eric had seen many cases of the strong overshadowing the weak, notably the Murdoch family. This was the first time he observed a situation where a young girl like Miranda was far more assertive than her meek mother, Therese. It struck him as amusing.
After dinner, having heard Eric mention the private screening room in the villa, Miranda began pestering him for a look. After Eric agreed, she ditched her mother in the small living room to watch TV and dragged Eric out of the room.
After watching a movie, they discovered it was already past ten at night. The hotel where the mother and daughter were staying was in Burbank, near the Firefly Group headquarters, and was over forty kilometers away from the mansion. Though they wouldn't run into traffic at this hour, it would still take over an hour to return.
Despite how inappropriate it felt, Therese didn't insist when Eric offered to let them stay.
...
After arranging separate guest rooms for them, Eric retreated to his bedroom, showered, and leaned against the headboard, reading the latest project proposal for the premium cable channels he had picked up from the studio.
The cable channels partnering up were temporarily named FFM, which stood for Firefly-Fox-MGM, the initials of the three companies. If they didn't come up with a better name later, it would remain as is.
At that time, HBO's subscription count was nearing ten million. Even if it hadn't reached the peak of over forty million that Eric remembered, HBO still boasted a yearly revenue of over a billion dollars at the current subscription rate of $9.99 a month. This financial confidence was what allowed HBO in the original timeline to invest heavily in producing a wealth of quality original programming in the upcoming years, gradually solidifying its dominant position in the industry.
Given this reality, time was not on FFM's side in chasing HBO. Initially, Eric's plan was to mimic the "burning cash" strategy of new internet companies by investing heavily in high-impact, buzz-worthy original content while aggressively marketing it. The goal was to sacrifice profit in the early stages to rapidly accumulate a user base to compete with HBO.
However, as executives from the three companies discussed this plan, its shortcomings became evident. The cable channel they had planned to acquire under the Tele-Communications company had only 1.5 million subscribers -- about one-seventh of HBO's audience. With such a pitiful base, even an outstanding program couldn't create significant buzz in the short term.
Unlike basic cable channels, premium channels faced different circumstances. For example, Lifetime TV had dismal ratings initially, often attracting only a hundred thousand to a million viewers per show, yet it maintained a total user base of thirty to forty million. When breakthrough programs like America's Next Top Model and Project Runway aired, viewers could quickly change channels to watch, leading to an immediate bump in ratings.
Premium channels like HBO typically had only a few million subscribers. Even HBO, at that time, was still under the ten million mark. Due to high subscription fees and hardware limitations, audience numbers didn't rise easily; a long accumulation process was necessary -- this nearing ten million subscribers was a result of over twenty years of operation.
Since FFM's first goal was to increase its user base rapidly, the experienced Murdoch soon proposed a straightforward but effective suggestion: acquisition.
The Fox network, which had extended its reach across America, was the result of several frenzied acquisitions by News Corp in the 1980s.
Aside from HBO, many smaller premium cable channels aired similar content throughout North America.
These second and third-tier premium channels were primarily subsidiaries of cable operators. Thanks to their parent companies' resource advantages, these channels could attract their share of the pay-TV market with relatively low subscription prices.
Even at lower prices, these channels commanded a solid base of paying users. Acquiring and merging a few channels would significantly accelerate user accumulation compared to Eric's initial proposal.
As Eric read through the materials, he grabbed the remote and turned on the wall-mounted TV across from his bed, wanting to see what the premium channel, The Movie Channel, was like. Cablevision had shown interest in selling this cable channel, which had 900,000 users, but the asking price was a staggering $315 million -- negotiations would surely be a long and complicated process.
Finding The Movie Channel, Eric briefly glanced at a film that was playing. Disinterested, he shook his head after spotting two not-so-attractive blondes in revealing clothing dramatically running away from a killer. It was clearly a super low-budget horror flick, and he could guess it was modeled after the Scream franchise just from a glance.
The proportion of bad movies in Hollywood was indeed high. Given the vast market, independent production companies would invest tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce films that, even if they never made it to theaters, could initially be released on VHS and then sold for airing rights to channels like The Movie Channel. Selling foreign rights could also recover some funds. When all the numbers were crunched, profits were often still quite good.
...
Losing interest, Eric was about to change the channel when he heard a noise.
Knock knock knock--
Eric paused, realizing this wasn't just his imagination after he heard it again.
He glanced at the clock and found it was already half-past eleven.
Finding a pair of beach shorts in a nearby drawer, Eric headed to the door, opening it to find Miranda, who was standing in the hallway, shyly fiddling with her fingers.
Taking in his casual attire, the girl blushed but didn't back away. Gathering her courage, she said, "Eric, I can't sleep. Can I chat with you for a bit?"
Eric chuckled, "If your mom finds out you sneaked here in the middle of the night to 'chat' with me, she's going to go nuts."
"My mom usually sleeps deeply, she won't know," Miranda said, leaning forward. Eric had to step back to let her pass, and she entered without hesitation.
As soon as Miranda stepped into the bedroom, she noticed the screams coming from the TV. Taking a few glances, she turned back to Eric, a playful glint in her eyes. "So, Eric, you like watching this kind of movie, huh?"
Eric was too lazy to explain, casually shutting the door and walking to the bedside, placing the materials he had just read into the locked drawer. While he enjoyed the company of various women, he wasn't foolish enough to let his guard down completely.
Locking the drawer, Eric picked up a Stephen King horror novel from the bedside table and leaned against the headboard, glancing over at the girl curiously exploring his room.
Miranda was barefoot, not even wearing socks. She moved with the grace of a cat, still clad in her light sweater and jeans.
After peering at the twinkling lights of Malibu outside the north window for a moment, she made an impressed sound before turning back to Eric and casually asking, "Eric, why is this bed so big?"
Eric glanced up and joked, "So I can sleep with a lot of women."
Miranda laughed and boldly climbed onto the bed, leaning beside him and looking up. "Are you trying to kick me out?"
Eric didn't bother lifting his head this time. Flipping a page in his book, he asked, "Why would you say that?"
"Come on, you know why," she teased.
Eric replied, "If I really wanted to, you would already be out the door."
Another laugh escaped Miranda. After a moment, she added, "Eric, I want to take a shower."
Eric was curious about what she was planning, nodding. "Sure, the bathroom is right over there."
"But I don't have pajamas," she replied.
"You can wear mine," he suggested.
"But you're not wearing pajamas either!" Miranda countered, poking his chest playfully with her cool fingertip.
Eric grabbed his white shirt he had worn during the day. "Here, wear this."
Miranda took it, swaying it lightly in her hands. She looked up at Eric and, seeing his nonchalant attitude, wrinkled her nose slightly before hopping off the bed and heading to the bathroom.
Hearing the door close behind her, Eric shrugged.
Having dealt with many women over the years, their various attitudes didn't surprise him much anymore. Miranda's behavior reminded him of that one little minx who relentlessly pursued him back in the day.
Thinking about Drew, he found himself reminiscing about the experiences of these past years.
Step by step, he had already lost count of how many women had been in and out of his life. His mindset had also evolved -- from initially being brimming with youthful exuberance to a more laid-back approach to life.
Previously, he had always wished to gather every woman he liked around him, but that desire was slowly fading.
Eric realized that he wasn't suited to the life envisioned by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, where one was eternally surrounded by women. Deep down, he was a more solitary person who favored peace. He didn't need many women around -- one or two were sufficient. Once affection faded, parting ways was the natural order.
Maybe Drew had been the one who truly understood him; while she would have preferred to be by his side always, she had never insisted on it. Instead, she had been like a little housekeeper, managing all the essentials of his daily life.
*****
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