Rebirth of Hong Kong's tycoons, shorting Eagle Sauce

In fact, the American people have always had a "prison break" plot.

After the release of "The Shawshank Redemption" last year, although the box office was not good, it has always been a hot contender for the Oscar.

Even if it eventually lost to "Forrest Gump" produced by Paramount, all these did not affect it from becoming a classic work sought after by the public.

"Forrest Gump" won more than 600 million global box office and won the Oscar, which can be said to be both famous and wealthy.

As a boss, Wang Lei felt sorry for Shawshank. Born at the wrong time, Forrest Gump had everything that the American people wanted to see, full of unrealistic optimism and the vain thinking of claiming to be the son of God.

Therefore, Wang Lei immediately contacted Columbia Pictures and was willing to buy out all the copyrights of Shawshank for $5 million.

The production cost was as high as 25 million, but only 30 million global box office was recovered.

In the competition for the Oscar, Shawshank also returned dismally.

Columbia Pictures, which suffered a great loss on this film, readily agreed to Wang Lei's offer.

What Columbia Pictures didn't know was that the real market for Shawshank was in home theaters.

Wang Lei made the film into videotapes and discs and put them into the rental market, and repeatedly took them out on Paramount TV to attract traffic.

In just a few months, in the videotape and disc rental market, Shawshank relied on its excellent quality to get back the investment cost of millions.

According to the rental giant, Shawshank will win the championship of the videotape rental ranking in 1995.

Before the broadcast of Prison Break, Shawshank was broadcast for free on Thursdays for a limited time, which not only attracted a wave of traffic to Paramount TV, but also promoted Prison Break.

Paramount made almost all possible preparations for the broadcast of Prison Break.

At this time, they could only sit in front of the TV and leave it to fate!

...

Everyone, including Wang Lei, underestimated the charm of "Prison Break" works.

Especially in the home theater market.

Wang Lei should have thought of this when Shawshank became the top of the video rental rankings in 1995.

If it doesn't sell well in paid theaters, it doesn't necessarily mean it won't sell well on TV.

"The ratings of the first episode of Prison Break dealt a heavy blow to the sequel of Friends" - TV Observer.

"The arrogant NBC finally got the lesson it deserved."

"It's not Friends' fault, it's because the opponent is too strong!"

When Wang Lei saw the ratings of the first episode of Prison Break, he was also shocked. It actually got a total rating of 21 million under the pressure of Friends 2 and Prison on Fire.

Friends 2 was greatly impacted. It was originally estimated to have a rating of 25 million, but it only got a rating of 20 million.

In the competition between the two, Friends 2 was actually at a disadvantage!

Seeing this result, Wang Lei was very happy.

"Okay, this is the result of the joint efforts of Paramount TV."

Thinking of this, Wang Lei told Qi Xiaona:

"Take out 2 million bonuses from the entertainment group's account. Every employee of Paramount TV should be rewarded!"

"And we will hold a celebration party and invite the actors of the three major crews to come and have fun."

Michael was happy to hear this, but he still had some doubts in his heart.

Because the last Olympic investment promotion conference, 2 billion was transferred to the account of the White Dragon Consortium. Wang's Real Estate is now the only source of income for Paramount TV, and the funds in the account are decreasing day by day.

Taking out 2 million bonuses is still a small matter, but the celebration party is a huge expense.

Inviting celebrities will definitely be a big deal, and the money for booking a hotel is a huge expense.

Wang Lei immediately saw the president's doubts, and he patted Michael on the shoulder:

"Don't worry about the money. Our investment promotion conference will be held in two days. The wool comes from the sheep. I believe that we are not the only ones who are most excited about the answers handed in by Paramount."

After the notice was passed down, the entire Paramount TV station was cheering and jumping for joy. The additional bonus made them love this honor-filled job.

The bonus is the boss's greatest recognition of their work.

Unlike Paramount's cheering and jumping for joy, the atmosphere at NBC TV station was a little scary.

It was originally a good card, but they played it like this.

Many people were full of complaints, especially the advertising sponsors behind Friends.

They were "fooled" into taking the expensive interstitial ads in the second season because they saw the ratings of the first season of Friends.

Now Friends has just broken 20 million viewers, which is far from their expectations.

The 20 million viewership is a compliment to NBC. Many of these viewers did not finish watching the show and switched to the TV show during the commercials.After the prison break, he never came back.

So their advertising exposure was very bleak.

Advertisers are not all stupid and rich idiots. They have attached many clauses to the contract.

If the ratings of Friends 2 do not meet the standards, they have the right to ask NBC TV to give corresponding compensation.

In front of the financial sponsor, the previously strong NBC president lowered his head like a yesterday's flower, and his arrogance was gone.

"What else do you have to say? Give me your money back!"

The president of NBC took out an internal report and said:

"I hope you will give our TV station another chance. The failure of the first episode does not mean that Friends 2 is a complete failure.

After investigation, we found that the reason why the audience flocked to watch Prison Break was entirely influenced by Wang Lei's so-called internal letter.

I believe the quality of Friends 2 will win back these deceived audiences."

"Humph, NBC can't afford to lose? Your whole body, except for your tough mouth, your fists are soft. You hit Paramount with a heavy punch, but it didn't hurt you at all, and you were covered in blood. ”

Faced with the sarcasm of the sponsor, the president of NBC's eyelids twitched. He was insulted, but he still said:

"We will not admit defeat. This is also the noble quality of our NBC. I hope you can give Friends 2 another chance to prove itself."

"Opportunity? Then who will compensate our brand for the loss?

If you don't want to return the money, you can immediately move Friends 2 to another time slot, otherwise we have the right to stop Friends 2!"

"Yes, we have the right to stop Friends 2 until you compromise!"

Faced with the pressure from the sponsor, the president of NBC had a headache.

Moving Friends 2 to another time slot would not be a disguised admission that NBC had lost in this ratings competition?

In his opinion, the ratings of the two are very different. Excluding external influences, Friends 2 can still turn defeat into victory with its excellent quality.

But facing the threat of suspension from the sponsors, he could only compromise:

"Okay, as you wish, we will move Friends 2 to a different time slot to avoid the spotlight for now."

The sponsors all smiled with satisfaction:

"That's right, this way, the ratings of Friends 2 will return to normal, which is a good thing for all three parties. Isn't it good for everyone to make money together in harmony?"

The president of NBC heard the deep meaning behind the words. Are these guys trying to sponsor Paramount's Prison Break at the same time?