Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 345 Premiere Breaking One
"It doesn't count this time! The entire show's postponement was an unexpected factor, so it can't be considered my loss."

"To win without fighting is the ultimate victory." Meng Bai leaned back in the comfortable chair and said to the phone in front of him, "When we made the bet before, we only said whoever had the highest ratings would win. We didn't say that it wouldn't count if something went wrong."

"...Our drama hasn't even been aired yet, so who knows what the ratings are?" Li Qin said aggrievedly on the other end of the line.

She had just heard the news of Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace being withdrawn two days ago, and she didn't take it too seriously. After all, she had already received her salary, and her role was only a supporting one, so it was not her turn to worry about any problems.

But unexpectedly, Meng Bai insisted that this was called "winning without fighting" and asked her to fulfill the previous bet.

"How about this, I'll give you another new chance." Meng Bai said calmly.

Li Qin asked suspiciously: "What opportunity?"

"Since it's been withdrawn, it will definitely be aired again later. I can extend the bet until after your show starts airing. But the number of bets has to be increased to two."

Meng Bai said in a sincere tone: "Think about it, although the stakes are higher, your returns are also higher. If you lose, then owing two or three is not much different; but if you win, then the previous demand you owed is not only a purchase and sale, but I will also owe you one in return. Think about it carefully, isn't it a good deal?"

"Ah, this... huh?"

Li Qin felt that something was not right in the calculation, but she couldn't tell what the problem was.

After hesitating for a while, she finally agreed, feeling that there was indeed no trap.

After hanging up the phone, Meng Bai laughed secretly.

There is nothing wrong with the bet itself. The real trick lies in the judgment at that time.

If you can't compare the highest data, then compare the average data. If you can't compare the average, then compare the single episode. If you can't compare the single episode, then compare the online broadcast volume... Anyway, just use your own advantages to compare with the opponent's weaknesses.

As for how to convince Li Qin to agree...she still owes me a request.

One for one is meaningless, but one for two is very profitable.

Thinking of the girl's resentful expression at that time, Meng Bai couldn't help but laugh in his heart.

In fact, since the incident on Blue Island, no matter what Meng Bai wanted to do, as long as it was not too excessive, Li Qin would not refuse.

But Meng Bai just liked to see this girl looking reluctant but having to agree.

Alas, I am indeed a pervert.

After feeling remorseful for half a second, Meng Bai put the matter aside and browsed through the broadcast information of the New Year's dramas of several satellite TV stations that had just been sent by the Film and Television Department.

Because Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace and Win the World were withdrawn at the last minute, Dragon TV and Jiangsu TV had to find new dramas to replace them. It just so happened that Mr. Love, starring Jin Dong, was broadcasted by these two TV stations, so it was brought out as a replacement.

Jin Dong's reputation in the past two years has not been very good. First, his "culture veteran cadre" persona failed, and since "Ode to Joy" he has been repeating the fixed role of "workplace elite", and the audience is somewhat aesthetically fatigued.

However, although his acting style has been criticized, his status as an "idol of middle-aged women" has not been shaken at all. This group of people happens to be the main audience of TV dramas, so his ability to "resist dramas" is still very strong.

Mr. Love was the first of the four "New Year's dramas" to be aired. The ratings of the first broadcast on Dragon TV and Jiangsu TV were 1.0 and 0.5 respectively. Although it declined slightly in the next two days, it quickly stabilized and rebounded. The highest ratings slowly stabilized at around 1.2, and increased every day.

The audience's evaluation was average, and the score was just passing. To use the comment with the highest number of likes as an example:

[As soon as I saw the lead actor Jin Dong, I roughly understood the plot of this drama. It was still the familiar formula and the familiar taste, unchanged. ]

Immediately following the broadcast of "Mr. Love" are Mango TV's "The Legend of Phoenix" and Zhejiang TV's "Moscow Operation".

These two dramas were aired on the same day, but the data trends are very different.

"The Phoenix Prisoner" scored 0.98 as soon as it was broadcast, thanks to the blessing of the "Yu Zheng" reputation and the ratings base of Mango TV. It can be said to be a "good start".

But after only one day of broadcast, the female lead Guan Xiaotong's "sewing machine hairstyle" and "whistle spirit-possessed" voice were criticized and became a hot search. Soon after, various outrageous plots received a lot of negative reviews. The crew and the TV station didn't care at first, after all, "Yu Zheng dramas" have always taken the black and red route. The more people scold, the higher the popularity.

However, these people forget one thing, that is, they were able to gain popularity in this way in the past because there were only so many platforms and few dramas to watch. Even if the audience didn't like it, they could still be patient and make do with it.

But things are different now. Not to mention the online dramas that have become very popular, even the short videos that were just used to kill time in previous years have become popular this year.

For the audience, it's just a way to kill time. Instead of wasting your IQ by watching your bad drama, it's better to watch beautiful women dancing or "Xiao Shuai Xiao Mei vs. Foboler".

"The Legend of Phoenix" aired two episodes in a row on the first day of its premiere. The ratings for the first half of the first episode were still maintained at 0.9, but by the end of the second episode, it had dropped to around 0.4.

For a first-tier TV station like Mango TV, a prime-time rating of 0.4 is a very bad result. If it were another producer, it is possible that they would directly cancel the show.

Yu Zheng was obviously anxious, and he posted four short articles on Weibo the next day, exposing information, selling misery, complaining, and shifting the blame, while calling on his artists and connections in the circle to help promote the event.

It actually worked. The data in the following days rose slightly, barely maintaining around 0.7. Although it was not good, at least it was not cut off.

In comparison, the performance of "Moscow Operation" is very stable - stably poor.

The first episode had a viewership rating of less than 0.4, and has remained around 0.5 since then, jumping back and forth between "barely able to be broadcast" and "cancelled and replaced by another drama."

Because the drama was initially promoted as "the original cast of "Yuzui", but the male lead was changed from Zhang Yishan to Xia Yu.

This kind of operation really confused the audience. They didn't know whether the producers could not afford Zhang Yishan or they were deliberately making a joke.

Looking at the performance and statistics of the three dramas on the screen, Meng Bai couldn't help but wonder whether "The Legend of Chusen" and "Moscow Operation" had paid the "ratings deposit" to the TV station.

If I paid it, it would be a waste of money.

Of course, it is also possible that the TV station deliberately manipulates the ratings. In this way, they can collect the deposit on one side and reduce the purchase price on the other side, which is a win-win situation for both sides.

But no matter what the TV station does, these two dramas are no longer a threat.

Meng Bai continued to browse backwards and finally came to the statistics of "Peace Hotel".

Because it had to accommodate CCTV's many temporary program arrangements during the Spring Festival, "Peace Hotel" was the last of the several dramas to be aired, with only three episodes aired to date.

Compared with the other three dramas, "Peace Hotel" had the highest ratings for its first broadcast, breaking 1 right from the start.

Not to mention the arc, even CCTV didn’t expect it. Because the last drama that took over the show, “The Matchmaker”, only had a rating of 1.05 in the last episode.

Generally speaking, the ratings for the first broadcast of a new drama are usually slightly lower than those of the previous drama.

After all, the original audience who followed the show have left, and new audiences have not yet replaced them.

Therefore, CCTV believes that the premiere score of "Peace Hotel" will be considered a success as long as it is no less than 0.9.

Unexpectedly, this new drama perfectly carried forward the basic foundation left by the previous ones and broke the first place right after it was released.

Don’t underestimate this 0.1 difference, it can mean millions of dollars in advertising fees. Especially for a large platform like CCTV, every bit of growth in performance represents a sky-high advertising revenue.

This is obviously good news for both ArcLight and CCTV.

But after all, it was only the first broadcast, and the example of a high opening and a low closing had just happened, so no one dared to take it lightly.

Whether this drama will be a success or failure depends on its subsequent developments.

(End of this chapter)