Hong Kong Storm: The King of Jobs

Chapter 661, Section 251: The Meeting
(Thanks to the boy who loves reading historical novels for his support! With your support, I will definitely work hard to update this month!)
Zhao Shaojie was good at making girls happy, and he made Secretary Fang beam with joy, dressing up in a flamboyant manner.

Taking this opportunity, he quickly asked, "Secretary Fang, what brings Miss Fang to call me over?"

The "Fang" in Secretary Fang and the "Fang" in Miss Fang are not coincidental; they are relatives. Since Miss Fang entered TVB and gained real power, the Fang family also returned from Southeast Asia. Miss Fang bought a tenement building for each of her older brother and sister.

Ms. Fang's siblings of the same generation are all unambitious, but they are all honest people. They work at Ms. Fang's company and receive their salaries on time every month, and they are all very satisfied.

Surrounding Miss Fang are all members of the Fang family from a generation younger than her. Even the least accomplished among them have attended academy, know English, and can use computers.

But like other wealthy families, Miss Fang's younger relatives have all learned the proper etiquette and do not call her "aunt" but uniformly address her as Miss Fang, even in private.

Secretary Fang pressed the elevator open button, didn't respond, but invited Zhao Shaojie into the elevator. After the elevator doors closed, she said, "Not only Miss Fang, but Young Master Ming is also here."

"Speak softly. Young Master Ming and Miss Fang are arguing fiercely and are very angry. Don't get caught in the crossfire."

"Oh, right! Miss Zhang Manxin is here too. Miss Fang wanted to talk to you about something, about the renewal of AKB boxing matches."

Having received many small gifts from Zhao Shaojie over the years, it was only natural to reciprocate by giving this talented young man a reminder at this time.

After being reminded by Secretary Fang, Zhao Shaojie understood the situation, and the two stopped talking about business and started chatting about romance and nature.

The elevator arrived at the top floor, which is the office area for senior TVB staff. Ms. Fang has a place on the top floor because she holds the title of Chairman's Assistant.

Upon reaching the top floor, Secretary Fang's face hardened into a professional, fake smile. She led Zhao Shaojie to Miss Fang's office, knocked on the door, and went inside.

"Miss Fang, Young Master Ming, Director Zhao has arrived!"

"I'll go make some coffee first."

After dropping Zhao Shaojie off, Secretary Fang quickly slipped away, making an excuse to make coffee.

"John, it's been a long time. Come and sit down."

Shaw Brothers' eldest son, Shaw Wai-ming, had been living with his mother in Singapore until recently when he returned to Hong Kong to take over the business at Shaw Brothers and TVB.

Because of Zhao Shaojie's uncle, the group interacted occasionally, but it was mostly just a casual relationship involving playing ball and going to nightclubs.

The entire Shaw family had long ago chosen their future path: Singapore. The Shaw family owns more than a dozen real estate and construction companies in Singapore, and most of their descendants identify as Singaporeans, with very few even coming to Hong Kong.

Because of the hostile relationship between Uncle Shao and his first wife, his relationship with his eldest and third daughters, eldest son and youngest son was also very average. There were even rumors that none of his four children attended his birthday banquet, which made Uncle Shao lose face.

However, Miss Fang did not go either, because the birthday party was organized by Uncle Shao's new girlfriend, and she did not want to join in the fun.

"Young Master Ming, it's been a long time. I've been wanting to ask you for golf advice lately. I'm always having problems with my swing, so I really need to ask you for some pointers."

"Miss Fang."

"Full of joy!"

He greeted Ming Shao first, then Miss Fang, and finally Zhang Manxin. After seeing Miss Fang nod, Zhao Shaojie greeted Zhang Manxin again and sat down next to Ming Shao.

Every action in the workplace has a deeper meaning. Zhao Shaojie sitting next to Ming Shao was a way of making a statement.

Of course, Zhao Shaojie had no choice but to express his opinion, because Ms. Fang was a woman, and women are naturally not interested in sports. Even if she went to great lengths to get in touch with her, she would not be able to obtain any resources.

Nobody wants to do something that results in a loss.

Ms. Fang, sitting in the boss's chair, was a shrewd person among shrewd people. She knew the deeper meaning behind Zhao Shaojie's actions, but she didn't care. This was just a business deal. The success or failure of a business deal was related to profits, not to choices.

"Director Zhao, your program team has been doing well lately. Advertising revenue is soaring, and the AKB boxing match is doing very well. These are the latest ratings, which are already comparable to several popular TV dramas."

"make persistent efforts!"

Everyone who was supposed to come had arrived. Ms. Fang pressed the pen in her hand and then threw it onto the table.

She was very satisfied with the performance of the sports program team. The investment was small and the program expenses were low, but it brought in three to five times more advertisers, which directly boosted the advertising department's performance this year.

Ms. Fang turned her gaze to Zhang Manxin, who was sitting to the side. Zhang Manxin was a rising star in the TVB hosting industry. In fact, Zhang Manxin had a very good track record before, and her midnight programming had better ratings than many morning programs.

If it weren't for the unexpected turn of events at the AKB boxing match, she would have arranged a new program for Cheung Man-sum, allowing this rising star among TVB hosts to step up and take the lead.

Unexpectedly, by a twist of fate, AKB boxing matches made this lucky little guy famous.

Zhang Manxin's entanglement with Wen Sishao has come to an end, and there haven't been any rumors about her dating recently. She's probably preparing to focus on her career.

Ms. Fang has a few good positions available recently, which would be a good opportunity for Zhang Manxin.

"It's all thanks to everyone!" "Ms. Fang, in the end, it's the boxing match that's so attractive. Ms. Fang, next year is the Moscow Olympics, and starting this September is the warm-up period for the Olympics."

"In February of the same year, the Lake Placid Winter Olympics were also held. The Hong Kong Sports Association has indicated that Hong Kong will send representatives to participate in both the Summer and Winter Olympics."

“Swimming, tennis, cricket, and wrestling will all send athletes to represent Hong Kong.”

"This is wonderful news! We can't miss it!"

Zhao Shaojie first exchanged pleasantries, then immediately shifted the topic to the Winter and Summer Olympics. Although there were still more than ten months to go, it was necessary to rent signal transmission vehicles and arrange for reporters and hosts who were fluent in English and knowledgeable about sports to go to the host cities.

These are all very tedious tasks. The main problem is that the production team has no operating funds at all, and the finance department must approve the funding plan.

"We'll talk about the Olympics later; we have other things to discuss today."

"I've called everyone here today for another important matter."

"Our contract with AKB48 is about to expire. We can only broadcast a maximum of 15 shows live and 30 shows on rebroadcast. Once that number is up, we will have to discuss a new contract."

"Everyone knows AKB48 very well, and I'd like to hear your thoughts."

The earliest Winter Olympics will be in February next year, which is still eleven months away. It's too early to say anything!

It's better to wait until everything is foolproof before making a move.

TVB currently has no rivals in the Hong Kong television industry. Neither ATV, nor Hong Kong Chinese Online, nor even CTV, which has filed for bankruptcy liquidation, have the strength to compete with TVB.

Since there are no competitors, TVB is the only option for the Chief Secretary. There's no reason to make arrangements in advance and waste funds.

Wait a minute, when the Provincial Administration Commission gets impatient, they will naturally increase the subsidies by 10% or 20%.

Ms. Fang has focused her offensive on AKB48, as everyone enjoys exciting matches, as evidenced by the recent viewership ratings.

TVB currently has 1.7 million viewers, 150,000 viewers in Macau, 190,000 viewers in Malaysia, and 80,000 viewers in Singapore.

The first week's viewership for the AKB48 opening ceremony battle was astonishing, reaching a staggering 38% from the entire Southeast Asia region, including Macau and Hong Kong.

This is without much pre-launch hype, and the completion rate is also very high, maintaining at 22%.

Then came the first month's viewership data. Throughout February, during the New Year holiday, AKB's several key matches all achieved 41 points.

It even broke the opening week box office record of last year's top-rated drama, "Struggle," becoming the new ratings champion.

It's worth noting that the drama "Struggle" featured popular young actor Chow Yun-fat and Hong Kong goddess Angie Chiu, making them instant stars. This modern drama, which was the talk of the town, helped TVB completely suppress the recovery momentum of RTV.

The TV hotline is now receiving calls every day from people asking TVB to make the AKB boxing match a regular program and broadcast it during prime time.

While viewership ratings are one factor, the real key factor in bringing this small meeting to fruition was the overwhelming demand from advertisers.

It’s no good to be early!
Merchants are all about profit and reluctant to part ways.

Ms. Fang only cares about performance. If you can't even survive in the present, then no matter how good the future is, it has nothing to do with you.

A year is too far away, a month is too far away, even a week is too far away. Being able to plan the next three days well already makes you a prodigy.

Seeing that the topic had shifted to AKB48, Zhao Shaojie had no choice but to shut up. He glanced at Ming Shao beside him, wanting to know what the young master was thinking.

TVB is now controlled by two companies: the Shao family and the Li family. However, the Li family's ambitions lie elsewhere. As long as the massive annual shareholder dividends, stock dividends, and operating dividends go into the Li family foundation, the Li family's descendants will have prestigious and high-paying positions.

If Li Ershao can dump the security costs and various living expenses on TVB, he won't interfere with TVB's operations too much.

Uncle Shaw is now old, and his core group consists of seasoned veterans and stubborn old men. They all support Ming Shao becoming a director and taking over TVB and Shaw Brothers.

"Of course, we'll renew the contract and buy the broadcasting rights for another year. AKB48 has no other choice, since no one but TVB can provide AKB48 with enough exposure."

Ming Shao did not hesitate. He believed that he should start negotiations with AKB Company as soon as possible to purchase AKB Company's broadcasting rights for the next three to five years at the lowest possible cost, so as to keep the cost of the broadcasting rights as low as possible.

Such top-level sporting events, over time, will develop a fixed audience and may even form a subculture. This kind of sporting atmosphere exists in the United States, across the ocean.

Baseball, rugby, basketball, and ice hockey all have established consumer groups and attract regular sports advertisers to TVB.

TVB's advertising revenue is currently completely unhealthy, consisting entirely of real estate developers and department stores, and even clothing brands. Fast-moving consumer goods brands are scarce, and even British American Tobacco is unwilling to advertise on TVB.

(End of this chapter)