Volume 4: White Devil Chapter 198 He died? !
While on his way to be a judge for the casting audition for Stephen's new film, Tommy receives a call from Earl Rush.
The results of BT TV’s paid audience survey are finally out. As a free TV network with no regional flagship TV stations and all cooperative TV stations, its performance is very good.
The ratings for "Searching for Daddy America" are 4.7.
"Nigger Boss" had a viewership rating of 3.9.
According to the Nielsen ratings, which is 1% for every 1.5 million viewers, 7.05 million people have watched BT's "American Daddy", and 5.85 million people have watched Tommy's crime drama "Nigger Boss" specifically for black people.
This kind of ratings may seem insignificant in the United States, a country with a population of 240 million, but in fact, the three major television networks now know the name of BT TV.
Of course, some people in the industry had noticed the establishment of BT before, such as Jamie Crosby of FOX. But after learning that BT TV Network did not have its own flagship TV station, they all regarded it as a joke. They thought the founder was definitely an outsider to set up such a TV network where all the TV stations under it were franchised. It can only wait for it to close down.
But now, in their eyes, although Tommy is still a business idiot, he is not a TV layman, because BT TV's programs are well-produced and each one is full of gimmicks.
The two shows, "American Daddy" and "Nigger Boss", are broadcast during prime time, which means that when they are broadcast, they have to compete with the signature programs of the three major TV networks and FOX TV for ratings.
The ratings for CBS's programs in the same time period were 14.3, NBC's programs in the same time period were 14, ABC's programs in the same time period were 17.5, and FOX's programs in the same time period were 15.9.
If we only make this comparison, BT TV is definitely a small player. What really made the television industry notice the existence of BT TV was the late night time slot.
"Wife Swap Game" had a viewership rating of 12.3, and "Almighty Gun King" had a viewership rating of 9.1, both exceeding 9.
CBS is 6.7 at the same time, NBC is 7.1 at the same time, ABC is 8.1 at the same time, and FOX is 8.6 at the same time.
The low late-night ratings for CBS and NBC are mainly due to the fact that their audiences tend to be middle-aged and older viewers, who usually go to bed after watching prime-time programs.
Before FOX was established, ABC was the king of the late-night time slot. In contrast to the two major television networks, ABC made many optimizations to its late-night programs for young people who like to stay up late. For example, it often played some marginal youth romance movies late at night to provide benefits to American teenagers whose parents were asleep and who did not dare to secretly subscribe to small movie channels.
This also allowed it to maintain a late-night ratings of over 9% before the establishment of FOX. However, with the establishment of FOX, ABC was immediately knocked off the late-night throne because FOX was even more unscrupulous. ABC only broadcast some marginal youth romance movies?
FOX directly broadcasts a movie that accidentally contains nude scenes due to "careless editing."
The FCC has been issuing fines to FOX for its careless editing for years, but FOX insists on paying the fine rather than keep young people's eyes fixed on its own channel. To put it in popular terms, FOX is the typical LZ good guy in the eyes of American teenagers.
Such shameless behavior has also earned FOX the honorary titles of "immoral television network", "R-rated television network", "television network prohibited for minors" and so on in the United States.
And now, the throne of the late-night slot has been replaced, and a new king has ascended the throne by stepping on the corpse of the old one?
Moreover, BT TV seems to have a completely different style from FOX. FOX TV follows the principle of showing young people what they want to see, such as love, sex, kissing and so on.
BT, on the other hand, focuses more on voyeurism and teenage fantasies. In the show "Wife Swapping Game", although the two heroines are of black and white race, their figures and looks are outstanding enough to definitely satisfy many young people's fantasies about mature women, and it is also easier for them to fantasize about what will happen between them and such a mature and beautiful woman after she moves into their home.
"The Almighty Gun Modifier" is a popular science program broadcast late at night. It is even more popular than FOX's "Temptation of Love" which claims to help young people understand the world of two people. This surprised many people and also made them very upset. Why didn't they think of coming up with such a popular science program about guns to improve young people's hands-on ability?
Most importantly, BT's two late-night programs have not violated any rules, unlike FOX, which needs to pay fines regularly, because BT's programs do not expose any nudity and do not have any bad tendencies. All viewers think that these two programs have bad tendencies. BT has ten thousand reasons to tell them that it is just your own imagination. Our original intention in producing the two programs was very pure.
"Wife Swap Game" is an ordinary family reality show that shows the audience a family life that is different from before through the appearance of new mothers.
"The Almighty Gun Modifier" claims that in order to improve the family's self-defense capabilities, it has invited a special firearms expert to provide guidance on how to increase the power of common old firearms so that housewives or the elderly can feel safer when they are alone at home.
The whole world knows that it is impossible for housewives and the elderly to get up in the middle of the night to watch such a popular science program. This is a small weapons class specially opened for young people, and it can also collect advertising fees from arms dealers or gun stores.
"If a criminal is wearing protective equipment comparable to a bulletproof vest, how can we scare him off with a pistol?" This is the first episode of "The Almighty Gun King", and the host introduced the topic at the beginning of the show.
It can be summed up in one sentence, simple and concise, but absolutely practical. It just tells the studious audience how to use a pistol to deal with the police who are causing trouble in bulletproof vests.
Moreover, the latest issue of American Television Observer magazine published an article by television critic David Fannie commenting on FOX TV, in which a paragraph specifically mentioned the recently launched BT TV network:
"Whether it is political inclination or program style, FOX TV has been criticized by the conservative industry. It is different from the three major TV networks and strives to attract young audiences with vulgarity, excitement and personality, trying to make itself be labeled as anti-traditional among young audiences. Everyone knows that young people in our country are eager to be labeled as anti-traditional. They will support those who are condemned and try those who are forbidden."
"FOX realized that they had the key to ratings by attracting the attention of young people. Although the ratings in most time periods are still somewhat behind the three major TV networks, everyone believes that with this key, it is only a matter of time before FOX becomes the fourth largest TV network in the United States."
"Because the three major TV networks cannot abandon their own style and audience to blindly block FOX TV. They keep making harsh remarks and criticizing FOX at industry conferences, but they cannot really cause a blow to FOX in terms of ratings."
"Before I finished writing this article, I saw a recording of a new BT TV network. As the name suggests, this network mainly targets black people. First of all, I want to give my opinion. It is only a matter of time before this network goes out of business. There are big problems in its management and business operations, which are not discussed in this review. My opinion is that if it can last for a while, it is likely to greatly delay FOX's speed in becoming the fourth largest TV network, because a large part of its audience overlaps with FOX, which is the existence that can really deal a blow to FOX. In addition, BT's method of further segmenting its audience also provides the three major TV networks with a new competitive landscape in the TV industry, which is to slowly divide FOX's ratings."
"In my opinion, BT is smarter because viewers cannot criticize its programs for being vulgar from a legal perspective. It won't receive FCC fines like FOX every week, but I find its programs more exciting than FOX's."
"If the style of NBC is gorgeous and gentle, the style of CBS is traditional and profound, the style of ABC is interesting and innovative, and the style of FOX is vulgar and spicy, then the style label of BT, which has just been launched and is destined to be short-lived, is sharp and shameless."
"Having one more shameless industry competitor is not a bad thing for the three major TV networks, at least not now that they are helpless in the face of FOX."
Tommy sat in the back seat of the car, listening to Earl Rush excitedly talking about the news he had collected from BT TV.
Earl Rush had reasons to be excited. Although he knew clearly that he was just a passer-by in BT TV, if BT TV really grew stronger, sooner or later more professional people would come to take over and manage it. He, the black CEO, was only there to deal with Tommy for a while in the early stage because of his status and connections. When he found someone to take over, he would continue on the path of a politician, but by then, he would have the support of BT TV, a powerful weapon of public opinion.
"So, when are you going to acquire a few TV stations in major cities as your flagship stations?" Earl asked Tommy after he finished talking about the outside world's views on BT. "Some magazines also asked this question when they called to invite me for an interview."
But Tommy's answer the next second stunned him:
"BT TV has no plans to acquire or establish its own regional flagship TV station in the past two years."
"Are you crazy?" Earl Rush asked incredulously.
The fact that BT TV was able to gather more than a hundred partner TV stations in the United States to form the so-called BT TV Network does not mean that this TV network is really a TV network. At best, it is just a loosely cooperative alliance organization. Even if Earl is not an insider, he understands that if it wants to stabilize the TV network structure, BT TV must have at least five or six major cities with its own subsidiary TV stations as flagship TV stations.
The role of these five or six flagship TV stations is to ensure that even if other cooperating TV stations in the region breach their contracts or terminate their cooperation, BT TV can still maintain a certain viewership rate in the local area and will not be completely driven out of the region.
The three major television networks and FOX all operate in this way. Not only do they wholly own several flagship television stations, they also hold shares in a dozen television stations with higher ratings and arrange their own professionals to operate and manage them. Finally, the bottom layer of the television network is the affiliated television stations that have cooperated and joined.
If Tommy does not follow this example and acquire several large TV stations as flagships, does not own a dozen TV stations to take over operations, but only relies on the current more than one hundred cooperative TV stations to maintain its business, then as the comments say, it will definitely close down.
First, BT TV stations have no idea about the advertising revenue of cooperative TV stations in various places. Even if the other party breaches the contract, BT may find it difficult to detect. For example, a TV station broadcasts BT's self-made programs, but secretly inserts advertisements accepted by its own TV station during the program, or even uses a yin-yang contract with advertisers in the region to bypass BT's profit sharing. For example, BT learns that the TV station collects 100,000 yuan in advertising fees, but the TV station privately signs another 1 million yuan contract with the advertiser. If BT cannot detect it, it can only share 100,000 yuan with the TV station, and 1 million yuan goes into the account of the cooperative TV station. If there is a TV station with its own shares in the local area and it understands the local advertising market, the cooperative TV station will not dare to do such tricks.
Second, the cooperating TV station falsifies the ratings. Once the contract is about to expire, the cooperating TV station will inevitably falsify the ratings in order to obtain the maximum benefit in the renewal negotiations. This is almost common knowledge in the industry. If BT owns a TV station near the other party, it can use its own ratings data to infer how much water there is in the data given by the other party, easily expose the other party's lies, and increase its confidence in negotiations. That is, I own my own TV station in this area. At worst, I will not renew the contract and then slowly look for partners. Anyway, even if the ratings decline, it is within an acceptable range.
Third, although it is unlikely to happen, if FOX or the three major TV networks really want to kill Tommy's BT TV Network, it will be very easy. They just need to reach an agreement with the more than 100 partner TV stations of BT TV Network. They don't need to refuse to renew the contract with all of them. As long as 30% of the partner TV stations refuse to renew the contract, it will be enough to cause a chain reaction, causing a large number of partner TV stations to start waiting and delaying the renewal of the contract. By then, no matter how wonderful the programs of BT TV Network are, the audience will not be able to watch them, and it will naturally close down.
"All my money has been invested in the news network, which requires a huge sum of money. So, I don't have much money to acquire TV stations recently." Tommy held Ottilia in one hand and the phone in the other, looking at the scenery outside the window and his girlfriend beside him, and said in a relaxed tone.
"Don't think I don't know, Tommy. I also have some connections in California. I heard that your friend Stephen is borrowing money for you from a bank under a California consortium through his family connections." When Earl heard Tommy say that he had no money, he immediately opened his mouth to expose him:
"You are not prepared to invest your own money. I don't care whether you are willing to pay or not, Tommy. I just want to say that BT TV must have its own TV station. Otherwise, all the cooperative TV stations will treat us as idiots and bargain with us. If competitors attack us, we will have no power to fight back."
"Earl..." Tommy laughed when he heard Earl's somewhat angry voice. "You are a lawyer. Don't get too into it. Don't really think of yourself as a TV industry practitioner. Those TV stations want to take advantage of you. It's up to them. I will continue to pay for self-made programs, purchased programs, and personnel expenses, but I will not use the money to acquire TV stations. I will just develop cooperative TV stations."
"Why?" Earl asked puzzled.
Tommy cleared his throat: "Because I'm not doing this to make money, I'm doing this to realize the value of life."
"There's a difference between realizing your life value and being an idiot in your industry, Tommy." Earl felt that Tommy's words were an insult to his intelligence as a lawyer.
"You are a black man, Earl, that's why I chose you. Don't forget. Don't let the temptation of money lose your heart. You must learn to resist temptation." Tommy didn't give an answer. He just said this and hung up the phone.
…
Taft Building, Vine Plaza, Hollywood.
It was not until Ottilia ran to see the stars on the street outside the main entrance of the Taft Building that Tommy took her arm and walked into the twelve-story building built in 1887.
In Tommy's mind, Stephen was definitely not a filmmaker, but he absolutely believed that to most people in Hollywood, Stephen must be a filmmaker, because this guy's company was located in the Taft Building, and small companies did not have the courage and strength to open an office here.
Since the Golden Age of American Cinema, all the well-known Hollywood production companies have set up offices in this building.
Ottilia went to see the stars left in Hollywood by Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn and other stars who walked out of the Taft Building. They were located just outside the main entrance of the Taft Building.
Regardless of whether Stephen is professional in filming movies, the posture he displays is very intimidating.
When Tommy and Otilia entered the "Made in Heaven" film company founded by Stephen, Zoe had already arrived. At this time, she and Stephen were in a creative studio chatting with the actors of the new film who were specially notified to communicate with the prototypes of the characters to ensure a deeper understanding of the roles they played.
There are only three actors here today, one man and two women. The man plays Tommy, and the women play Zoe and Ottilia.
Other actors had to make separate arrangements due to different schedules.
"Otilia, long time no see." Zoe saw Tommy and Otilia appear, stood up from her seat, walked over quickly and hugged Otilia, and spoke with surprise.
She had met Tommy before at David's wedding, but this was the first time Otilia had seen him since they had been apart at summer camp.
"You don't look much different. You're still as charming as you were back then." Zoe let go of Otilia and looked at the former teacher. She said with emotion, "Five years have left no trace on you, Otilia."
Otilia responded to Zoe happily: "You have changed a lot, Zoe. You were a delicate and quiet doll back then, but now you look like an independent woman, even though you are still beautiful and charming."
Stephen stood up lazily and introduced Tommy and Otilia to the three actors who had just stood up. "The ones who just came in are Tommy and Otilia. Yes, the protagonist Tommy and his instructor. What you are seeing now is a horrific plot that does not exist in the movie script. The high school student eventually lives happily with his female teacher. In order to avoid irritating the high school students, I promise not to put this plot on the big screen."
At this time, Tommy and Ottilia also walked towards the three actors who stood up.
The one walking in front was a young man with a dark brown porcupine head, wearing simple jeans and a T-shirt. He had a sunny and refreshing smile. He extended his hand to Tommy and Otilia and said, "Hello, I'm Matt Dillon. Call me Matt."
Tommy and Ottilia recognized each other without the other introducing themselves.
"Wow, Matt Dillon." Tommy stretched out his hand and shook it, saying in surprise, "I thought that guy Stephen would invite a star, but I didn't expect you to show up, and play Tommy Hawke? To be honest, the way I bullied those nerds in high school and my good friend Dennis lost his virginity were all inspired by your movie."
What Tommy said was absolutely true. Even though Tom Cruise is now very popular, many young men and women in their twenties and thirties still firmly believe that Matt Dillon is the real American young idol.
In the eyes of most young people, Tommy Cruise can only trick people into joining the army, while Matt Dillon will tell you what charm is.
Matt Dillon started making movies in 1979, mostly playing troubled teenagers who were considered very cool and fashionable by their peers. In the movies, he played pranks on his nerdy classmates, asked his beloved girl to go camping to find an opportunity to lose her virginity, and so on. These actions influenced a large number of his peers, such as Tommy, Dennis and Pam.
Even when Matt Dillon became famous with "The Godfather" in 1983, Tom Cruise could only play a minor role in that movie.
"It's not the first time I've heard that," Matt Dillon said with a laugh when he heard Tommy say he was influenced by the movie he starred in to bully his classmates.
The second blonde woman who came over was an old acquaintance of Tommy's. They had met each other openly before, Diane Lane.
Her hair was not as bright as Ottilia's, and it looked like she had dyed it recently.
"Diane Lane?" Ottilia shook hands with Diane in surprise: "Oh my God..."
She turned her head and looked at Stephen: "Stephen, thank you for inviting Diane Lane to play me, wow..."
Tommy didn't know that Stephen had hired Matt Dillon because he didn't care who played him in a bad movie, but he knew that Diane Lane would play Ottilia. It was simple. The price for her to participate in the play and make a lot of money from Stephen was to sign with Susan's agency.
So, she is considered to be Tommy's own person, and Tommy doesn't mind even if she is not as pretty as Ottilia.
Compared to Ottilia's face full of surprise when she saw her, Diane Lane's heart was full of sighs when she looked at the woman named Ottilia in front of her.
Tommy Hawke was giving this beautiful woman a blowjob while he was giving her a phone speech.
She thought that was the most bizarre and exaggerated thing that could ever happen to her, but it was not until today that she realized that shamelessness has no bottom line.
That asshole let himself be cast as his girlfriend in a movie.
When Diane Lane heard the news, her first reaction was that it would be great if there was a sequel. She wanted to see which woman played herself and gave Tommy a blowjob when the girlfriend she played called him.
It would be better to let the woman in front of me see it and let her know how shameless her boyfriend is.
Compared to Otilia's surprise words to Diane Lane, Tommy simply smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Ms. Lane." Then he turned his attention to the last woman.
That's the one he's focused on, Sandra Bullock, who plays Zoe Winters.
"Hello, I'm Tommy, Tommy Hawke." Tommy smiled and extended his hand to the woman in front of him.
Sandra Bullock smiled and held out her hand: "I'm Sandra Bullock, hello, Mr. Hawke."
After the greetings, everyone sat down and chatted about the script Stephen had written. Ottilia, Zoe and Stephen talked about many interesting things during the summer camp, and the three actors also raised some questions about the roles they played.
While Tommy was still thinking about how to chat with Sandra Bullock, she took advantage of Matt Dillon going to the bathroom and sat opposite him. She smiled and asked, "Mr. Hawke? Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course." Tommy sat up straight with some surprise, looked at the other party, and made a gesture of invitation.
Sandra Bullock glanced at Stephen, Zoe, Otilia and Diane Lane who were talking excitedly not far away, and whispered to Tommy, "Matt Dillon, Diane Lane, and other stars will also appear in the audition for this movie, so I specifically asked Mr. Stephen Bean why I was here. I mean, my resume is not competitive at all compared to those people."
"What did he say?" Tommy asked as he carefully polished the formed ice ball with an ice file.
Sandra observed Tommy's movements and said slowly, "I accidentally asked him the answer. He said that I was chosen by Tommy to play Zoe."
"He's so honest." Tommy exhaled, without denying it. He crushed the ice ball and put it in the glass. He then went to the mini bar to mix a cocktail and brought it to Ottilia. After finishing all this, he wiped his hands and sat back in front of Sandra Bullock:
"How is your father doing? Give him my regards."
When Sandra heard Tommy mention her father, she frowned slightly, and then said something that made Tommy's pupils tremble:
"He's dead."
