Chapter 223： Waves open

"Friends" received the celebration party the next day, Murdoch could not wait to use the news group's media, released the news that the firefly will buy Fox TV network, but also said that not only "Friends" will continue to broadcast on Fox TV, both sides There will also be closer cooperation.

When the news came out, most of the media attitudes that had been pessimistic about whether Fox could keep the "Friends" under the guise of the three major TV stations immediately changed 180 degrees, and they began to express their optimistic about the development prospects of Fox TV.

Not to mention that the fireflies revealed by Murdoch will work more closely with Fox TV. Only Fox TV has saved the series of "The Friends" series, and Fox can seize the opportunity to make More sophisticated TV programs to cultivate a loyal audience, then its position in the fourth place in the North American television industry will be unbreakable, even through years of development, more than the original three major TV stations are not impossible. Affected by this good news, Fox TV's original market value of less than one billion US dollars rose rapidly.

The transfer of shares in the TV network was not completed overnight. After the release of the news on the Fox TV network, the three major TV stations not only did not give up the "Friends", but the contact with Eric was more frequent.

Among them, because of the merger with the Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation in 1985, the abc that had been eager to turn over for several consecutive years and even wanted to turn over, even opened the conditions for the shareholding. However, cec Tom Murphy of abc TV only got the board of directors. % of the share transfer authorization, although the value of this 3% of the shares is more than twice the value of Fox TV's 10% shares, but Eric has no heart, because to get the 3% of the shares, according to abc has been losing money until In the history of Disney's acquisitions, it is impossible to receive any dividends for several years. Instead, it will consume a large sum of money from fireflies. Moreover, this 3% stake is not likely to give Eric the right to speak. So between the booming fox and the muddy abc, as long as the IQ is a bit normal. I know what choices to make.

On the evening of September 10th, under the laughter of the "Friends" audience and the close attention of other TV companies. "Friends" ushered in the second week of playback. Two hours later, Nielsen released the ratings statistics for the first time. The average number of viewers in the third and fourth episodes of Friends was 24.6 million, and the highest ratings still reached 29 million.

The three major TV stations saw this data and began to analyze the success factors of "Friends". Finally, they found that this TV series can get the high broadcast ratings in addition to the humorous plots and lines. The most important thing is that the first two episodes were directed by Eric. Of course, perhaps there have been film directors who have been involved in the production of TV dramas before, but it must be that those film directors are underestimated. When there is no way, in the case of fame, no film director will be 'self-deprecating' I went to shoot TV dramas. Therefore, Eric, who has achieved great success in previous films, personally directed TV dramas. This gimmick has aroused the audience’s strong curiosity. They want to see Eric, who has made a series of box office miracles. What kind of TV series will be produced by the director. The quality of "Friends" itself has reached the expectations of the audience. So together, this scene comedy is now hot.

Understand this, the three major TV stations began to shoot almost simultaneously. For a time, Steven Spielberg, Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton and many other big Hollywood directors have received high-priced invitations. The three major TV stations even open as long as they can Hanging a name on some episodes is a willingness to pay millions of dollars.

Under the powerful money offensive, although most of the directors refused because of all kinds of scruples, but no one tried it, and the result was very good. Some American TV dramas with the name of the Hollywood director have exceeded the ratings expectations. Therefore, in the next few years, the famous film directors will be invited to direct the first two episodes of the American TV series. A rapid trend has formed. A US drama was broadcast, and if there was no famous Hollywood director, it would be famous in the town. The audience will feel that the level of this TV series is not high, and the ratings will not be good.

Of course, these are things that happened later.

After the second week of "Friends" was broadcast, some people discovered that the news about "Friends" in the TV programs outside Fox TV was almost completely gone, even those entertainment talk shows that like to take current events to tease. People seem to have never heard of "Friends."

Obviously, this is a statement made by the three major TV stations that Eric has refused to win.

However, this kind of 'blocking' has not caused any harm to Friends. Don't forget that Fox TV stands behind News Group and can publicize this TV series from paper media to TV media. Although the three major TV stations control most of the TV media in North America, they are still pure TV networks, and they have not been merged by the media group. Therefore, there are few newspapers and magazines involved. In this era, the word-of-mouth communication of a TV series, newspapers and magazines also occupied a major boost.

Although Fox's competitors have not forgotten to publish some attacks on Friends in newspapers that they can influence, such as slamming "Friends", too many topics are not suitable for broadcast on public television, but none of them What a big impact. Because the more heavyweight newspapers have maintained a reputation for "Friends".

Eric is now sitting in the office reading a piece of news about Friends in the Los Angeles Times.

"According to Nielsen data analysts, the second week of "Friends" has removed about 70% of the unstable audience, and the average number of viewers of this sitcom will remain at around 22 million, which will undoubtedly become this year. The TV drama category is the king of ratings.

According to sources, the average advertising revenue of Friends has reached 3 million US dollars. Therefore, this TV series will bring in more than 70 million US dollars in revenue. Although we don’t know the specific sharing scheme between Firefly and Fox TV, with the strong style of Eric Williams, the advertising share of Friends will definitely reach the highest level in the industry. It’s just that Fox’s first round of play can bring nearly $30 million in revenue to fireflies.

What is even more surprising is that the copyright of Friends is exclusive to fireflies. Then, the transfer of rights and the release of video tapes in this sitcom will bring more than three times the income of the first round of advertising, but this is The total investment of sitcoms is less than 5 million US dollars. Eric Williams, the 'mixed boy' who is in the storm in Hollywood, proves to the world that he can not only shine in the film, but also in the field of TV drama. .

At the time of this article, the author has been thinking about whether Eric Williams is going to extend his tentacles to the music field, because in several films he directed, the soundtrack is clearly hung in the column. The name of Ke Williams, "The silent voice" in the "Dark War" bus, I don't know how many fans are so intoxicated, Tom Cruise and Brooke. Also because of this music, it is called the most beautiful film of the year by the media. The ceo of the major record companies, look at the three major TV stations that are now in turmoil, the lessons of the past, why not send the invitation to Eric Williams before other people take it? ”

After reading the article "Los Angeles Times", Eric thought for a moment, when he first filmed "Feng Yue Qiao Jia", because of the famous pop band Roxette combined a song, Eric had produced a singer to intervene. The plan of the recording industry. The 1990s is the last glorious era of the world's recording industry. As long as the record companies have several singers, the profits are no less than the film company or TV station. Even if the recording industry has completely declined 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.

I wrote and painted a few strokes on the memo next to me. Eric was about to read the next newspaper, and the office door was ringing: "Mr. Williams, Miss Murdoch is here."

Eric snorted, wearing a blue and white tartan plaid shirt and dark jeans, and Elizabeth Murdoch, carrying a dark blue lady's bag, slammed in, rudely sitting opposite Eric. Next, still the look of the big sly, it seems that Eric’s strong kiss that night did not affect her.

I took the bag and put it on my lap. Elizabeth glanced at the title of the Los Angeles Times in front of Eric. She dismissed the small mouth: "I don't think you are so narcissistic, even secretly hiding in the office to see others touting. your essay."

Eric didn't care about the irony in the girl's tone. If he was just a film director, of course he couldn't hear anything from the window and shoot the movie. But he is also the chairman of a film company, and it is necessary to keep enough attention to the industry news. Because this time is too busy, Eric can only let the assistants help me sort out some of the more important news. Every day, the company comes to the company and looks at it in a hurry. (To be continued)