After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 554 Free Mode Comes to the Rescue

Dong Lan didn't understand this at all.

How can it be free?
"Producing a TV program is very difficult. Many programs only make a meager profit by transferring rebroadcast rights. If the copyright were transferred for free, their own interests would suffer huge losses!"

Dong Lan is very ambitious and has the demeanor of a strong woman.

Once we got down to business, we forgot about the fact that we were not wearing a towel underneath our clothes and the awkwardness we had experienced earlier.

Zhou Haoran looked at Hu Xiaochen and asked, "What do you think?"

"Free..." Hu Xiaochen pondered. Having followed his master for so long, he had indeed learned a lot. "There are no free goods in this world. What is nominally free actually hides the real payment mechanism under the guise of free."

Zhou Haoran gave a thumbs up, "Great!"

Hu Xiaochen pursed his lips, quite pleased, and analyzed, "In the 'City Playlist' program, there are actually only two payers. One is Red Star TV, and the other is the local cultural and tourism department. If we don't consider Red Star TV, then the one who actually pays is the local cultural and tourism department."

“Hmm…” Dong Lan blinked a few times before suddenly realizing, “For local cultural and tourism organizations, what they need is influence and publicity. If the ‘City Playlist’ has a stronger publicity attribute, the local government will spend more money.”

Zhou Haoran nodded and said, "For this first phase, the local government only contributed 500 million yuan, which is several million less than I expected. A very important reason is that they don't understand the national influence of 'City Playlist.' Therefore, the first few phases must create a sensation. Only when dozens of TV stations across the country are broadcasting it, forming a large-scale network effect, can we attract the attention of more local governments and encourage them to register more actively and enthusiastically. Only then can the event funding be increased."

Hu Xiaochen said, "Free is the fastest and best way to roll out 'City Playlist' nationwide!"

Dong Lan chuckled and said, "Good songs can be listened to a hundred times without getting tired of them, which means that even if you've seen or heard a singer perform live, it will still be attractive when it's broadcast on TV. That guarantees high ratings for reruns."

The present era is different from that of twenty or thirty years from now.

These days, songs have a huge appeal.

Singers are more popular than film and television stars.

A very important reason is that in the Internet age, information is transparent, songs can be listened to online at will, and you can watch any kind of music video you want.

The song's mystique has vanished.

That's different now.

If you want to listen to songs, you have to spend money to buy cassette tapes!

The cassette tapes only contained sound, no visuals, so you couldn't see the singers' presence. If you wanted to see a live performance, you had to watch TV. Singers, especially pop singers and top-tier singers, often captivated audiences and had very high viewership ratings.

The "City Playlist" program invites a dozen or twenty singers to participate each time...

For television stations, this is a guarantee of high viewership!

Even if it costs money, we should buy the rebroadcast rights!

If it were free, dozens or even hundreds of TV stations across the country would likely approach the "City Playlist" program team and actively seek cooperation.

This is truly phenomenal!
Even though the ratings of "City Playlist" are not as high as those of variety shows like "Happy Camp" and "Everyone's Art", its influence on the whole society and its role at all levels have far exceeded the positioning of a program.

Television stations from all over the country came to our door.

This naturally became the biggest political achievement of Hongxingtai!
"City Playlist" was actually produced by Tangren Media, and the copyright belongs to Tangren Media. This means that the greater the political achievements brought by "City Playlist," the stronger the control over Red Star TV.

This will become Zhou Haoran's real product of influence.

Zhou Haoran slowly said, "That's only one aspect. Once the influence of 'City Playlist' is established, when we go to different places to do planning, in addition to the local cultural and tourism departments providing funding, local businesses will also follow suit. Businesses value economic benefits, and the wider the reach of 'City Playlist,' the higher the sponsorship fees from businesses will be."

Dong Lan said with great shock: "So this program doesn't need to rely on selling copyrights to make a little money. Instead, it uses the promotion channels of national television stations to help us get more sponsorship funds from local cultural and tourism enterprises."

Zhou Haoran said, "Therefore, we must highlight local information. The copyright can be given away for free, but local TV stations are not allowed to cut any local cultural and tourism promotional content in the 'City Playlist,' especially speeches by local leaders, which must be broadcast in their entirety."

"Yes, yes, the leader's speech is the most important!"

Hu Xiaochen looked solemn.

Zhou Haoran nodded. "If we follow this line of thinking, the business model will work. Piracy is rampant now, and the profits of film and television products are being severely eroded. To combat piracy, it's actually very simple: just make it free. If the legitimate content is free, who would watch pirated versions?"

"The official version is free..." Hu Xiaochen smiled, "Actually, it's not truly free. It's like the wool comes from the sheep but the dog pays for it. We need to add advertising effects to the official content. The official version is free, but you still have to watch ads, is that what you mean?"

"Yup!"

Zhou Haoran had seen this far too many times.

While both are streaming services, HBO and Netflix abroad started with paid subscriptions, while iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video in China all started by offering free services. If the roles were reversed, both would fail.

Different social realities inevitably give rise to different business models.

Dong Lan was very clever and immediately came up with a further idea. Her eyes lit up, and she was as excited as if she had just experienced a passionate lovemaking session: "I understand, I understand everything."

"Editor-in-Chief Dong, what do you understand?"

Hu Xiaochen mischievously pulled on her bath towel, instantly exposing her completely naked.

Dong Lan was quite composed. She had already gone through what happened last night, so these little tantrums didn't matter anymore. While wrapping herself in a bath towel, she pondered and said, "I've found a way to save many of our station's variety shows!"

"Oh?" Zhou Haoran was somewhat surprised.

Hu Xiaochen was also taken aback; she really hadn't thought much of it.

Dong Lan slowly said, "President Tang Shiyi used to work at the Lifestyle Channel and created the program 'Family Matters.' But it seems that the program isn't doing well now; revenue is declining, and there's even a risk of it being canceled. I can see she's quite disappointed, after all, it's a program she created from scratch. Now I've thought of a solution."

"Is it free?"

Hu Xiaochen also came from the show "Family Matters" and has a deep affection for the program.

Dong Lan said, "If 'Family Matters' doesn't get banned, it needs to generate better revenue. Selling the copyright is too difficult; many local channels are poor and can't even afford the 20 yuan annual copyright fee. If we give away 'Family Matters' and a number of other variety shows for free, many local channels that lack content will definitely be willing to take them over!"

Hu Xiaochen's beautiful eyes sparkled. "A free transfer is fine, but there's one additional condition. The commercials inserted in the program cannot be cut; they must be broadcast exactly as they were!"

"Yes, increase exposure to increase advertising revenue, and get advertisers to pay the copyright fees for the rebroadcast!"

Dong Lan was also a good student and quickly learned to apply what she had learned to other situations.

Zhou Haoran was also very happy and laughed, "Editor-in-Chief Dong, you really are leadership material. You've found a way for many of the struggling programs in our unit to survive! If this path is successfully followed, you won't just be the deputy director of the Arts and Entertainment Center of Red Star TV, you could be the director of the Arts and Entertainment Center of Red Star TV! If you're going for a higher rank, you might even become a deputy director-general!"

That's a joke; it's practically impossible for someone to become a deputy director-general.

This level represents a formal state cadre, requiring examination and appointment by the higher-level organization department.

In Hongxingtai, those below the division chief level are not considered by rank.

Even if Dong Lan is promoted, at most she will be a division chief, and only in name; in reality, she will only have the待遇 (treatment/benefits) of a division chief. It's like many senior colonels in art troupes—they have nominal rank and benefits, but not real positions.

"I finally understand why Xiao Chen calls you Master."

Dong Lan had beautiful features, and her gaze towards Zhou Haoran was gentle and charming, filled with admiration and respect.

After finishing his breakfast, Zhou Haoran said casually, "The master leads you through the door, but the cultivation is up to you."

Dong Lan smiled and said, "I also want to become an apprentice."

"no!"

Hu Xiaochen flatly rejected it.

"what?"

Dong Lan was stunned, not understanding.

Hu Xiaochen said, "There are conditions for becoming an apprentice. You've been married and have children, so that won't work."

"Oh..." Dong Lan nodded slightly. She knew that she was no match for Hu Xiaochen, so she cautiously suggested, "Zhou Tai, we already did that last night, so how about... I'll be your lover from now on, okay?"

It has come to this anyway.

There's nothing to be embarrassed about anymore.

Hu Xiaochen, who was present, said the same thing.

"That's it..."

Zhou Haoran pondered for a moment.

Dong Lan bit her lip and said, "I want to maintain a long-term relationship with you."

Hu Xiaochen inwardly scoffed, then slightly raised his chin, "I'm going to the scene. You two... there's no one else here. You two can chat slowly."

After Hu Xiaochen left, Dong Lan breathed a sigh of relief and became even more proactive.

She sat down next to Zhou Haoran, took his arm, and said earnestly, "I drank too much last night, I didn't even... Now it's okay, let me give it a try. If you think it's good, we can keep it up long-term. If you think I'm not serving you well enough, then we can go back to how it was before, okay?"

As she spoke, Dong Lan stood up.

Gently pull the bath towel.

"How was it? I think I'm doing alright."

Dong Lan is like a secluded orchid in a valley, speaking very gently.

Zhou Haoran nodded, stood up, opened his arms, and waited for her to help him undress.

You can tell just by looking at this Editor-in-Chief Dong's physique.

It's top-notch!

If He Jin can be rated as first-class, then Dong Lan is definitely top-notch.

(End of this chapter)