The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 566 Accident
There is a saying circulating on the Internet: Never praise Hunan Satellite TV in front of a Hunanese person.

Because you will most likely see a hint of pride on the other person's face, which will then turn into disgust, making you wonder if you said something wrong.

The root cause of this phenomenon is that Hunan Satellite TV’s strategic positioning has been adjusted in recent years.

When Hunan Television was first established, it took news as its foundation and launched many in-depth news programs including "Focus", "Economic News" and "Evening News".

Especially "Focus", its influence is so wide that it indirectly led to the birth of CCTV's "Focus Interview".

In addition, there are "Good to Talk About", "New Youth" and "Xiaoxiang Morning Light".
It criticizes current social ills and has a wide range of genres, and has been widely praised by the audience.

However, because the content repeatedly touched on minefields, it caused controversy and was criticized for "inappropriate guidance."

In addition, the economic benefits of such programs were too poor, and the TV station faced enormous financial pressure. It had to lose money to attract attention and could barely pay salaries, and it almost collapsed.

It coincided with the launch of the music talent shows "Super Boy" and "Super Girl" at the time, which were extremely popular and brought unprecedented advertising revenue to Hunan Satellite TV, prompting the TV station's top management to make strategic adjustments.

However, those once glorious news programs are now in a thankless situation and are seriously inconsistent with the new positioning of the TV station. After experiencing many turbulent adjustments, most of them cannot escape the fate of being discontinued.

Since then, Hunan Satellite TV has completely bid farewell to the basic concept of "news-based station".

Instead of producing in-depth news or high-quality content, they are determined to follow the "death by entertainment" route and pursue maximizing economic benefits.

Therefore, the Hunan people have complex feelings about it, which can be described in four words.

Love and hate mixed together.

In front of the main building of Hunan Satellite TV.

The sunlight fell on Mu Yong's bright smile. He walked out quickly with his hand half extended, and his enthusiasm seemed to be able to dispel the summer heat.

"Brother Lu!"

Lu Yuan was surprised. The person in front of him was now the deputy director, while he was just an actor with a small fortune. It wouldn't be necessary to do this.

"Brother Mu, why did you come down in person?" He hurried to meet him.

Mu Yong held his hand tightly, smiled gently, and said, "I thought you just got off the plane and didn't have time to eat lunch, so you don't have to run up and down. Just go and eat directly."

Lu Yuan nodded and saw that next to the main building of the TV station, there was an extremely inconspicuous building with people coming in and out of the door.

"Is that the cafeteria?"

"Yes!" Mu Yong looked over and saw that he was curious, so he explained: "Why, do you want to try it? The taste is not bad, but it is not as good as outside."

"In a previous interview, He Jiong mentioned to me that it tasted good. Why don't we have it here?" The weather was too hot and Lu Yuan had no appetite, so he simply decided to eat nearby.

"Okay, you have the final say!" Mu Yong led the way.

It’s just a few steps from the main building to the restaurant.

The two of them entered the cafeteria side by side. When they opened the door, a cool breeze blew in and there was a lot of noise. The cafeteria was crowded with people, all of whom were TV station employees with work badges on their chests.

"Let's go to the window to choose our dishes." Mu Yong called.

Lu Yuan followed him silently and looked around. The interior was spacious and bright, with simple and elegant decoration.

Through the glass partition, steamed dishes, buffets, noodles, etc. are served on the counter. There are many types and the selection can be said to be very sufficient.

The staff nearby noticed him and were a little surprised, but most of the employees were just surprised, as they had seen all kinds of stars.

On the contrary, the young people who had just entered the workplace had excitement and curiosity in their eyes and were whispering to each other.

"Look, isn't that Lu Yuan? Why is he here with the director?"

"Promotion for a new drama? Or a special show? He doesn't even appear on variety shows."

"Who cares? If I can get an autograph, I'll make a profit! Why don't you go ask and get me an autograph."

"I don't dare. The station manager will kill me. But I remember at the Magnolia Awards last month, he said he had accepted two TV series. The ratings of our station this year are not optimistic. Maybe the higher-ups want to call him in to save the day."

"I think what you said makes a lot of sense. Damn it, that's my seat!"

Lu Yuan and Mu Yong carried their food trays and walked towards the private room.

Mu Yong turned his head and asked, "Brother Lu, do you feel like you're back in school?"

Lu Yuan nodded, and then joked: "The overall layout is not much different from the school cafeteria, but there are also some differences."

"what?"

"Auntie's hands are very steady."

"Hahaha." Mu Yong laughed.

Entering the box, the two sat opposite each other, eating and talking.

Lu Yuan first picked up two small shrimps, which were fried in boiling water until crispy. The first bite was full of rich aroma and freshness.

I took another sip of the free soup, which contained large pieces of bones and a lighter broth.

He pursed his lips and thought it was okay overall.

Mu Yong was eating braised pork intestines, occasionally looking up at Lu Yuan, but he had other thoughts in his mind.

He came here today with a heavy responsibility.

Since abandoning news programs, variety shows have become the foundation of Hunan Satellite TV.

However, 2012 is already halfway through, but the satellite TV station's performance in the first half of the year was disastrous, and everyone in the station was under tremendous pressure.

Hunan Satellite TV is in great pain.
In the past, they fought CCTV with real swords and guns, and their younger brothers followed behind, calling him "big brother" mighty and "big brother heroic", and respectfully called him the leader and the person in charge.

As a result, who understands? Those little brothers who used to follow behind and act as atmosphere group have all turned out to be traitors, quietly eroding the market share of the leader.

Among them, two traitors stand out particularly, Jiangsu Satellite TV and Zhejiang Satellite TV.

In the past two years, Jiangsu Satellite TV has planned a blind date show called "If You Are the One".

After the show was broadcast, it completely overwhelmed Hunan TV's "Let's Date" which was broadcast at the same time in terms of popularity and ratings.

The advertising revenue brought by If You Are the One to Jiangsu Satellite TV was second only to Xinwen Lianbo and Focus Interview at its peak.

With this, Jiangsu Satellite TV has the possibility of surpassing Hunan TV.

Zhejiang Satellite TV has done just as well.

With a series of innovative variety shows, such as "I Love to Remember Lyrics", "Mic Heroes", "I'm the Judge", "Only by Working Hard Can You Win", "Extraordinary", and "Super Lead Singer Competition".
It has successfully ranked among the top three domestic satellite TV stations, and its momentum is so strong that it is eye-catching.

The rise of these two traitors has given other first-tier satellite TV stations the possibility of growth.

Why is CCTV first and Hunan second? I can do it too!
Therefore, those who had coveted Hunan Satellite TV's traffic in the past are now quietly accumulating strength, intending to get a piece of the pie in the variety show field.

Tianjin TV launched "You Are the One", Guizhou TV spent 5000 million to find good ideas, hoping to create a benchmark column, and Hubei TV spent a huge amount of money to invite South Korea's CJ Group to cooperate...

Variety shows of various types emerge in endlessly.

In such a situation where it was besieged from all sides, Hunan TV, which was once far ahead of its competitors, finally felt a little panic.

The house leak happened to rain overnight, and the ship was late and hit the wind again.

In July, Zhejiang Satellite TV took advantage of the opportunity and brought "The Voice of China" to ignite the entire summer in an instant.

How popular is “The Voice of China”?

Hunan Satellite TV's ratings suffered a cliff-like decline, and even the old variety show "Happy Camp" was not spared. Faced with such a predicament, Hunan Satellite TV took a two-pronged approach.

On the one hand, it has invested heavily in introducing the copyrights of popular variety shows, such as "The Big Variety Show", in an attempt to reverse the downward trend.

On the other hand, they are searching everywhere for hit TV series and movies in the hope of reviving the ratings.

However, in 2012 when the quality of TV dramas generally declined, finding good works was as difficult as panning for gold in the sand.

Just when Hunan Satellite TV was in a state of panic, that man appeared.

On the night of the Magnolia Award Ceremony, domestic television colleagues all received a piece of news.

Lu Yuan will return to the TV drama industry with a new drama.

The outside world knows nothing about the genre and subject matter of the new drama.

However, this does not hinder the market's pursuit. Major satellite TV stations have stated that they will spare no expense to win the first broadcasting rights, no matter how much it costs.

"Lurking", "Dwelling Narrowness", "Before the Dawn", "Snow Leopard", "The Unforgettable Number".
These impressive achievements have made Lu Yuan a synonym for ratings.

On the night when he won the Magnolia Award for Best Actor, Mu Yong called immediately in an attempt to get there first, but he didn't get a clear answer.

I thought the matter had come to nothing, but unexpectedly, the situation took a turn for the better and this person actually came to my door on his own initiative.

When he came here today, the station gave him instructions to find out what type of drama it is so that he could take advantage of it.

With this thought in mind, after hearing Lu Yuan's request, Mu Yong suddenly sighed and said, "Brother Lu, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you this time."

Lu Yuan frowned. Hunan Satellite TV’s sense of crisis seemed to be not as strong as that of Shanghai SMG.

The emergence of video websites is diverting some TV viewers, eroding TV stations' original channels, and even replacing the original TV stations' channels transmitted through cable networks.

User loss means lower ratings and lower advertising fees. This trend cannot be changed. Instead of holding on to the TV station, it is better to open up new tracks.

Mu Yong said: "You don't know the situation. Director Ouyang is about to retire. It's better to have less trouble at this time. We prefer a stable transition."

In fact, he had talked to the station director and realized that, apart from other considerations, the booming video website industry was not the best choice for the TV station.

Ratings have always been the foundation of Hunan Satellite TV.

Mu Yong continued to play the victim, but it wasn't really playing the victim because what he said was all true.

"Since the beginning of the year, the overall ratings of TV stations have fallen into a slump. Even the prime time on weekends, which used to be strong, has not been spared. The lowest ratings in May were ranked 5th in the country.

Last year we achieved a record of 33 billion in advertising bidding. If this trend continues this year, the bidding prospects in the second half of the year will be worrying.

To this end, the station even invited Director Wei, who had long since retired, to come back to give a speech to everyone to boost morale, but to what use was that.

At a meeting a few days ago, everyone generally believed that the decline in ratings was caused by the diversion of audiences by online live streaming.

If nothing unexpected happens, the network authorizations of all key programs including Happy Camp and Day Day Up may be cancelled next.”

What this means is that in order to gain ratings, Hunan Satellite TV will broadcast the show exclusively and will not distribute it to any other video website. If viewers want to watch the variety show, they can only stay in front of the TV and lock on Hunan Satellite TV.

As for reaching a strategic cooperation with PPS, it is impossible.

Lu Yuan was puzzled by this operation and said bluntly: "The audience of these variety shows are mostly college students, and they don't have TV at school, so they can only watch live broadcasts on the Internet. If this is the case, will it lose more young viewers like "Happy Camp"? "

Mu Yong understood the reasoning, but he could only smile bitterly and responded: "For now, we need to keep things stable."

Well, these are the constraints and limitations within the system, Lu Yuan couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

If it was Minister Ouyang a few years ago, he might have made drastic reforms, but he is going to retire in a few months.

Seeing Lu Yuan remained silent, Mu Yong was anxious. "Little brother, what's going on? Did I not explain it clearly enough?"
If there is no accident, it is an accident.

He coughed dryly and added: "Of course, if there are new projects that can successfully boost ratings, we will not rule out reconsidering this issue."

Lu Yuan glanced at him, and suddenly an idea came to his mind. He stared at the delicious food in front of him without saying a word.

After a while, he picked up a bullfrog, chewed it slowly, and praised: "It tastes good. No wonder Mr. He Jiong posted pictures of it on WeChat Moments many times."

Seeing this, Mu Yong came clean and stopped pretending: "Brother Lu, didn't you say last month that you were going to star in two TV series? Can you tell me more about it?"

Lu Yuan put down his chopsticks and corrected himself: "I never said I would definitely shoot two films. I originally said one to two, and one of them is still under consideration."

Mu Yong looked at him eagerly, waiting for what to say next.

Mu Yong was born in 57. Lu Yuan felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, so he turned around, took out a simplified version of the script and handed it to him.

Mu Yong was overjoyed and glanced at the cover, "My Love from the Star".

"This name has a connection with Hunan Satellite TV." He sighed and couldn't wait to turn to the first page.

Hundreds of years ago, a spaceship accidentally crashed from outer space into China during the Ming Dynasty, during which an alien walked out with extraordinary abilities and an immortal body.

When he first arrived on Earth, he met the woman he loved, but the ending was not good.

After the woman's death, he kept changing his identity on Earth, living a lonely and low-key life.

Time passed, hundreds of years later, he became a university professor.

One day, he met a national idol female star who was arrogant and reckless, and they became neighbors.

Strangers of men and women living next to each other become familiar with each other through repeated contacts.

The professor learned that the big star was frustrated in the workplace and helped her out of the haze. For various reasons, the female star fell in love with the alien professor and began to pursue him, but found that he was not omnipotent, at least he was not very good at playing games.

"."

Mu Yong put down the script and rubbed his eyes.

After the time-travel dramas such as "Startling by Each Step" became popular, various TV dramas that travel from ancient times to modern times and modern times to ancient times have emerged one after another. After a long time, the audience will inevitably become aesthetically fatigued.

The unique alien perspective of "My Love from the Star" instantly brightened his eyes.

Not only that, the heroine's character is also a highlight.

What do the audience imagine big stars to be like?

He is aloof in life, ignores others and gives people the impression that he is difficult to approach.

The heroine in the script is a national goddess who has hit rock bottom in her career, is carefree in life, and a bit crazy.

It satisfies the audience's voyeurism, and it turns out that big stars are similar to us in their real lives.

If I put myself in the shoes of the male protagonist, it would be enough for a big star to pursue me.

Put yourself in the shoes of the heroine. The hero is handsome, rich, has superpowers, is omnipotent but very kind. He always appears at the first moment when there is danger, giving you a strong sense of security.

Mu Yong judged in his heart that this drama would most likely become a hit. As the deputy director of the station, he was very confident in his vision for selecting dramas.

He looked at Lu Yuan, and asked with a hint of expectation in his eyes: "Are you acting in this drama?"

"No final decision has been made yet." Lu Yuan frowned slightly and kept it a secret.

Mu Yong nodded, and with an idea in mind, he said, "I'll talk to the station manager later."

"it is good!"

(End of this chapter)