Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 498 Complementary Relationships
As predicted by Zhu Tong, director of the comprehensive channel, "A Bite of China" caused a great sensation in the industry after being screened at the Beijing Film Academy's Outstanding Graduation Works Exhibition for Directing Department.

Documentaries have existed for so many years, but their basic format has hardly changed, and they already have a fixed pattern.

It's not that no one is thinking about innovation; the key is that innovation is not an easy thing, especially for documentaries that strive for "truthfulness."

Although director Cao Yang's documentary only changed the narrative style, this change, combined with advanced filming technology, undoubtedly represents a revolutionary expansion and innovation for the documentary genre.

Since it is a disruptive innovation, its impact on the industry will certainly be sensational.

The airing of "A Bite of China" on the main channel certainly didn't happen without warning.

Starting in early July, the channel not only ran extensive advertisements, but also provided program previews after each episode of "My Brother is Shunliu".

The gist is that at 20:49 on July 6th, the large-scale food documentary "A Bite of China" by renowned international director Cao Yang will begin airing.

This has left many people who are familiar with "My Brother is Shunliu" wondering, since the series was supposed to end on July 7th.
Does this mean the finale will air on the 6th?

But after airing one episode on the 6th, there were still three episodes left. How did it become the finale? Was it re-edited?

This left many people completely confused.

However, even without knowing why, many viewers who liked the TV series were mentally prepared to watch the "final" episode on time.

After all, with such a wonderful drama, the ending should be satisfying and make people feel relaxed, right?
That's for sure. Even our humble lives are about to surrender. That's definitely how it is.

Revenge when there is a grudge, and revenge when there is a grudge.

When Cao Yang's fans learned that his graduation project would be broadcast on CCTV-1 on the 6th, they were all eager to watch it.

In short, both those who enjoy watching TV and many young people who don't want to watch TV want to tune in to the general channel on the evening of the 6th.

Jing Tian took three days off from the film crew. Except for the first night when he stayed at school, he spent the remaining two nights with Cao Yang.

After watching "A Bite of China," Kan Qingzi and Shuangzi thought Cao Yang was amazing.

Jing Tian, ​​however, personally experienced Cao Yang's prowess once again through his actions.

This is something that Kan Qingzi and Shuangzi cannot deeply understand.

On the 6th, "My Brother is Shunliu" came to its "finale".

When Shunliu suddenly disappeared, Chen Dalei realized the seriousness of the situation and sent Hanlin to Niuwan Town. Only then did he learn that Shunliu had stayed at his post to ambush Shiyuan and had witnessed the tragic fate of his sister's family.

Shunliu's heart is filled with nothing but revenge. He wants to find Sakata, who abused his sister, and kill Sakata with his own hands to avenge his sister.

Meanwhile, Emperor Taizu issued an edict announcing the complete surrender of the Japanese army! The eight-year War of Resistance against Japan had ended; we had won…

It really does look like the grand finale.

Although it's heartbreaking to witness her sister's tragic fate firsthand, everything seems to be perfect as long as Shunliu kills her enemy before Xiao Rizi is deported back to China.

Viewers who liked the TV series before are waiting for Shunliu to get his revenge.

I haven't watched much of this TV series; I'm just a fan of Cao Yang from "A Bite of China." I've watched most of the episodes and am also waiting for Shunliu to get his revenge...

The TV series also saw its biggest increase in viewership since its premiere.

The average viewership of dramas in the prime time slot on CCTV's main channel is about 5%-6%, but the viewership of "My Brother is Shunliu" in this episode, which is before episode 23 aired, was almost 7%.

Although it's only slightly higher than the average ratings of prime-time dramas in the same period, it's still the second highest-rated drama of the year, second only to the opening drama "Going West".

And the peak viewership of episode 23, whether by coincidence or not, reached an astonishing 22.21%, nearly 23%.

what is this concept?

The prime-time drama series "Going West" on the main channel was an instant hit upon its premiere. The first three episodes all achieved a viewership rating of over 10%, and the entire series had an average viewership rating of 9.6%.

Looking at CCTV's major dramas over the past decade alone, this achievement breaks the viewership record for the opening drama of the year since 2002.

In 99, a major drama called "Yongzheng Dynasty" was released at the beginning of the year, achieving a record high average viewership rating of 14%.

In 01, there was another TV series called "The Grand Mansion Gate", which achieved an average viewership rating of 15.01%.

"Going West" is the highest-rated drama of the year since "Yongzheng Dynasty". Its peak rating was 19 episodes, with a peak single-episode rating of 16.77%.

The highest single-episode viewership rating for "Yongzheng Dynasty" was 16.71, achieved in episode 37, which was slightly lower than the peak viewership rating for "Going West".

However, the peak viewership rating for a single episode of "The Grand Mansion Gate" was 17.74%, the highest peak viewership rating in the past ten years.

Today, this viewership peak was broken.

Furthermore, the peak value of 17.74% was pushed directly to 22.21%!

The directors and supervisors of the general channel were all stunned when they learned the numbers.

They once wondered if the peak viewership was a mistake.

The staff told them that they had checked it several times and it was correct; this was the number, and the peak viewership was 22.21%.

Furthermore, the average viewership of episode 23 of "My Brother is Shunliu" broke the show's viewership record, reaching 14.02%.

The leaders were stunned once again.

Before this, the average viewership rating of "My Brother is Shunliu" was just a little short of 7%. How did this episode's average viewership rating jump to 14.02%?

What's even more alarming is the peak viewership of 22.21%. How many years has it been since CCTV reached that figure?
"What about 'A Bite of China'? What were the ratings for the first episode?"

Zhu Tong was momentarily confused and quickly asked the staff.

"14.71%, the average viewership rating for the first episode was 14.71%, and the peak was 18.93%."

The staff member looked at the statistics again and said.

Then there was another silence.

It's not that the directors and supervisors were dissatisfied that the peak viewership of the first episode of "A Bite of China" was lower than that of the "explosive" "My Brother is Shunliu".

It's clear that the viewership of the episode "My Brother is Shunliu" was an exception. One reason is that many viewers thought it was the finale and only watched it. Another reason is obviously the influence of "A Bite of China".

It's perfectly normal that the peak viewership of the first episode of "A Bite of China" was lower than that of "My Brother is Shunliu".

Because the original viewers of "Shunliu" saw that episode 23 was not the finale, they wondered if there would be a 24th episode today, so they continued watching.

So, when you add in all those people waiting for "A Bite of China," the peak viewership of "A Bite of China" is not much different from the peak viewership of "Shunliu" episode 23.

However, the 14.71% viewership rating of the first episode of "A Bite of China" illustrates a very important point—very few viewers who followed from "Shunliu" left; almost all of them stayed! Combined with viewers who specifically waited to watch "A Bite of China," this is why the first episode of "A Bite of China" achieved a 14.71% viewership rating.

"Is this the kind of achievement a documentary can make?"

During a meeting of several senior executives at the general channel, someone couldn't help but mutter to themselves.

It's no wonder he said such a thing.

For most documentaries, a 1% viewership rating would be considered a blockbuster.

Even Zhu Tong, who was in charge of this matter, was also deeply moved: Although I don't understand it either, I am greatly shocked!
"Gentlemen, um..."

Seeing the staff member's hesitant expression, Zhu Tong couldn't help but ask, "Is there anything else?"

Since the leader asked, the staff member said, somewhat unsure of how to express himself, "Well, the internet is full of criticism right now, everyone's criticizing it, criticizing 'Shunliu' and 'A Bite of China'."

"what?"

The leaders all looked at each other in bewilderment.

It's not that I don't understand, it's just that the world is changing too fast.

With such high viewership and such a high retention rate, why is everyone criticizing it?

Oh no, are the ratings going to plummet tonight?

Zhu Tong returned to his office and specifically went online to take a look.

Goodness, the staff were being conservative. This isn't just a rant about "Shunliu" and "A Bite of China"; the main channel has also been getting its fair share of criticism.

Look at this one with the most likes...

Damn it, they actually said the leaders of the general channel are idiots!

And this one... well, Zhu Tong thinks it's better not to read this one aloud. Let's see how netizens are criticizing "Shunliu" first.

"Greetings to the director and screenwriter of 'Shunliu' and their entire family. The beginning was so good, but what did you show me in episode 23? I have a bad feeling that Shunliu is going to die!"
I was wondering why those idiots on the main channel showed me "A Bite of China" after episode 23. Did they think I was too depressed watching it and wanted to show me some delicious food so I could have a good meal and calm down?

Okay, okay, okay, is this how you play it? I fucking…

"I was looking forward to watching 'A Bite of China,' but after watching half an episode of 'Shunliu,' I can only say I'm glad I didn't watch the earlier episodes. They were too depressing. Were the first twenty-odd episodes like that too? The director and screenwriter are complete idiots!"

"I've been following 'Shunliu' the whole time, and I thought today was the finale, but it turns out it wasn't. Today's episode was indeed a bit depressing, unlike the slightly humorous feel of the earlier episodes. I wonder what will happen next."

I originally wanted to criticize CCTV and Cao Yang. I was enjoying two episodes of "Shunliu," but they cut it down to one! And they used that time to broadcast a documentary!

Even if this documentary is directed by Cao Yang, I'm ready to criticize it!
However, after watching a bit with a critical eye, it turned out to be surprisingly good!
Holy crap, this is a documentary! When did documentaries become something I can watch with such enjoyment?
Finally, I still want to criticize Cao Yang. Why only show one episode of such a great documentary? "Shunliu" only aired one episode, "A Bite of China" only aired one episode too—it's simply not enough! CCTV is…

Zhu Tong read a lot of comments, almost all of which were negative, either criticizing "Shunliu" or CCTV, and of course, some criticizing "A Bite of China".

However, the criticism of "A Bite of China" was somewhat unexpected. It wasn't that "A Bite of China" was bad; most of the criticism was that it took up airtime from another episode of "Shunliu".

This made Zhu Tong a little worried about tonight's ratings.

Will the ratings for "Shunliu" and "A Bite of China" both plummet?

Regardless of whether the ratings for "Shunliu" and "A Bite of China" will soar tonight, there is no doubt that "Shunliu," along with "A Bite of China," has become a hot topic of discussion, drawing more attention to the TV series and "A Bite of China."

In the evening, another episode of "Shunliu" and another episode of "A Bite of China" will be broadcast.

Just like yesterday, this episode of "Shunliu" is different from the lightheartedness of the previous episodes and is more depressing.

Lotus found Shunliu, but in the blink of an eye, Shunliu disappeared. Lotus rushed home excitedly, only to be told by Uncle Song that Lotus's parents had been killed by the Japanese army two years ago. Lotus was devastated.

Shunliu only learned from the cheering crowd that the Japanese had surrendered, and that they should not attack the surrendered Japanese.

The surrender ceremony of the 55th Division to the Japanese army was underway. Shunliu had found an ambush point, and just as he was aiming at Sakata, he saw Hanlin in the crowd. He lost his chance to shoot, but was spotted by the Kuomintang and chased after...

Then, the second episode of "A Bite of China" aired.

The next day, while waiting for the ratings data, Zhu Tong noticed that everyone seemed to have slept poorly. He yawned first, and then, as if it were contagious, almost everyone yawned.

When the staff brought over the freshly released viewership data, everyone fell silent again.

Then, I don't know who started clapping first, but the applause lasted for quite a while throughout the small conference room.

Yesterday, the ratings for "Shunliu" not only did not decline, but actually increased slightly, especially the peak ratings, which were nearly two percentage points higher than the day before.

The viewership of "A Bite of China" not only increased as well, but its peak viewership also caught up.

Steady!

However, several senior executives from various channels had a lot of questions in their minds: why did the ratings of "Shunliu" not drop despite being criticized so much online?

Do today's audiences really like this kind of thing? Do they enjoy being tortured?

How about next time, we specially commission a TV series where the main character is tortured to the point of death?
Of course, there are more people criticizing "Shunliu" online today than yesterday, and the criticism is much fiercer.

Furthermore, a theory has been circulating online that CCTV may have felt the later parts of "Shunliu" were too heart-wrenching, so they specially aired Cao Yang's food documentary, which is extremely uplifting, after "Shunliu".

CCTV actually had good intentions!

Of course, jokes aside, it's clear to anyone with a discerning eye that "Shunliu" capitalized on Cao Yang's immense popularity and influence, especially since "Like Father, Like Son" is still showing in theaters.

With its existing foundation and the added criticism that went viral, "Shunliu" successfully maintained its viewership.

After more than two weeks in theaters, "Like Father, Like Son" has grossed 2.75 million yuan at the box office.

With the added buzz from the popularity of "A Bite of China," industry insiders are optimistic that it will break the box office record of "Assembly."

There are many reasons for the extraordinary viewership and widespread popularity of "A Bite of China".

Cao Yang is a director, which is the fundamental basis for his success.

The high quality and engaging content of "A Bite of China" is the main reason why it retains its audience.

In addition, there is the impact of "Like Father, Like Son" still being shown in theaters.

Furthermore, the existing audience base of "Shunliu" was one of the reasons why "A Bite of China" was able to achieve such high ratings from the very beginning.

Amidst this fervor, Cao Yang boarded a plane to Los Angeles.

(End of this chapter)