Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

Along with the approval came a notification.

Zhao Ping'an was summoned to the leader's office.

"Comrade Ping An, your report on establishing a television station has been approved." The leader got straight to the point.

Zhao Ping'an nodded, waiting for what was to come.

The leader, however, first inquired about the radio.

Zhao Ping'an reported the facts truthfully.

Radios are now basically commonplace, and their price has dropped from several hundred yuan to twenty or thirty yuan.

Ordinary people can generally afford it. Radio broadcasts cover the entire country, and the publicity effect is very good.

The leader then asked about the television.

Zhao Ping'an answered fluently.

"The production line for color picture tubes has been built, allowing us to skip black and white televisions and directly produce color televisions in one step."

It has now started selling to the outside world, with 98% of the products sold overseas, and the domestic price is between 200 and 300 yuan.

The next step is to leverage the industrial cluster effect of large-scale production within one or two years to reduce the price to around 100 yuan, making it affordable for working-class and farming families.

After listening, the leader remained silent for a while, and then asked a question.

"Comrade Ping An, we already have radio, why do we need television?"

Zhao Ping'an waited silently for a while, organizing his thoughts.

"Leader, propaganda requires 'seeing is believing'."

Many things are better seen than heard.

Ordinary people can see on television the railways I built, the dams I constructed, and the factories I erected.

That sense of pride can't be felt just by listening to the radio.

"Learning is the same. You use your eyes to read, and your ears to listen to the radio."

Television allows you to use both your eyes and ears, making learning faster. Showing agricultural techniques and popular science information once is more effective than broadcasting it ten times.

"There's also the issue of government orders reaching rural areas. Radio can explain policies, but sometimes it's better to show a short video than to talk about them for a long time."

Ordinary people can understand it at a glance and remember it after hearing it once.

Legal education needs this even more. Simply reading legal provisions aloud on the radio won't make them memorable for ordinary people.

But if it's filmed as a case study and acted out as a story, people can understand it and will naturally follow instructions.

The leader nodded.

"So what are you planning to broadcast?"

Zhao Ping'an was prepared, after all, the report had already been submitted, and Zhao Ping'an hadn't hired a ghostwriter to write it.

"I've been working on four channels."

"The first is the news and general information channel, which broadcasts national events, policy announcements, and domestic and international news."

"The second is the agricultural science popularization channel, which is dedicated to promoting improved varieties, agricultural technology, and the prevention and control of diseases and pests."

Farmers need this most; showing it on TV once is more effective than a technician making a hundred trips to the countryside.

"The third is the Culture and Education Channel, which includes popular science, literacy teaching, and cultural programs."

To support literacy campaigns and compulsory education.

"The fourth is the legal channel." Zhao Ping'an paused.

"In conjunction with the 'Clean Houses' campaign, we will broadcast legal information, policy interpretations, and stories of outstanding workers."

After listening, the leader nodded, and his expression showed approval.

After a while, the leader continued to ask, "Then how will the signal be transmitted to all parts of the country? It can't just be broadcast in Beijing, can it?"

Zhao Ping'an walked to the map hanging on the wall.

"Sir, let's proceed in two steps. We'll focus on terrestrial wireless coverage, supplemented by satellite."

"For terrestrial wireless communication, we are using a new technology called DTMB."

A large city can build a transmission tower, over 100 meters high, with a coverage radius of 30 kilometers, covering the entire urban area and suburbs.

If a station is built in a high-altitude area, above 1,000 meters, the coverage radius can reach 50 kilometers.

"At the township level, auxiliary stations are built with a radius of 15 kilometers. At the village level, supplementary stations are built with a radius of 10 kilometers."

A three-tiered network can cover densely populated areas completely. It's similar to the walkie-talkie and command relay vehicle system used in our military.

The leader suddenly interrupted Zhao Ping'an and asked a practical question.

"The signal is there, but you need electricity to watch. How's the rural power grid construction going?"

Zhao Ping'an was prepared.

"Sir, first of all, our power plant has enough power generation capacity; the electricity generated is more than enough for urban and industrial use."

Rural areas currently lack power grids, so power lines have to run along the roads.

Last year we repaired 300,000 kilometers of village roads, connecting approximately 300,000 villages.

These villages account for about one-tenth of all natural villages in the country. These villages received electricity along with roads.

He gestured on the map.

"Prioritize the northern regions, with a plan to build roads and provide electricity to 80% to 85% of the northern villages within three years."

Nationwide, approximately 60% of villages will have access to electricity within three years.

Television coverage will proceed at this pace—villages that have gained electricity...

We plan to provide the village committee with a television so that residents can watch TV programs together every evening.

Within three years, more than 60% of the population will be able to watch television.

"Within five years, we aim to cover more than 80% of the country's population with electrified villages."

Television coverage has been increased accordingly, enabling more than 80% of the population to watch television.

Those truly remote mountainous areas and places temporarily without electricity are not included in the first batch of targets.

We'll talk about it once the infrastructure is in place.

The leader nodded in agreement.

Zhao Pingan then pointed to several important cities on the map and continued the previous topic.

"We plan to first build main stations in a series of major cities and provincial capitals, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Harbin, Jilin, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Nanjing."

Within the urban area, the network will be further densified with spacing of eight kilometers to ensure signal quality.

Intercity communication uses single-frequency network technology, with multiple transmission towers transmitting synchronously on the same frequency.

Nationwide, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 main stations are needed in counties and above, and 10,000 to 20,000 auxiliary stations in townships.

There are tens of thousands of village-level repair stations.

As mentioned earlier, we plan to proceed with this work as the highways are built and the power grid is upgraded.

The leader silently looked at the map without saying a word.

Zhao Pingan continued:

"At the same time, we have another plan, which is to rely on satellites to transmit television signals, also known as satellite television."

Regarding the satellites, the current plan for the Northwest region is to launch one every three months.

Zhao Pingan took out a form:

"The second satellite, expected to launch this month, is a communications test satellite to verify television broadcasting technology."

The third, fourth, and fifth satellites were military satellites.

The sixth satellite, planned for launch in the second half of next year, is a geostationary orbit communication test satellite, laying the foundation for nationwide coverage.

After the geostationary orbit satellite is officially launched, direct broadcast satellites will be used to solve the problems in remote mountainous areas, old forest areas, and areas where ground towers cannot be built. There is a matching satellite signal receiver.

After listening, the leader nodded.

"Comrade Ping An, your approach is correct. We should manage roads, electricity, and propaganda all at the same time, without letting them fall into disjointedness."

After talking for a while, the leader finally made his statement.

"Comrade Ping An, I agree with your plan."

You'll take the lead on the TV station project, coordinating with several departments including industry, transportation, electricity, publicity, and broadcasting.

The satellite launch plan is progressing concurrently. Get the framework up and running as quickly as possible; as you mentioned in your report, our propaganda efforts are desperately needed right now.

Zhao Pingan stood up.

"Yes, mission accomplished."

After leaving the leader's office, Zhao Ping'an returned to his own office.

There are already more than a dozen planning boards hanging on the wall.

Northwest development, railways and highways, water conservancy projects, foreign trade expansion, talent recruitment... and now there's another area to explore.

Television station and network construction.

He stood in front of the board for a while.

I picked up the phone and called Lao Xu.

"Old Xu, I hope you've been working hard these past few days."

I need to sort things out at the TV station these next few days; we'll meet up later.

Old Xu's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Okay, don't worry."

Zhao Pingan hung up the phone and returned to his desk.

Maps, satellite launch schedules, and channel planning schemes were spread out on the table.

He picked up a pen and wrote a line on the planning board: a wonderful yet urgent task.

In three years, 60% of the population started watching television.