The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chen Pingsheng returned to Tencent Entertainment.

There are quite a few newly signed female artists here, some of whom are still in training, while others have already gained some fame.

Big-name celebrities rarely stay at the company; they're either filming or doing commercial performances everywhere.

After receiving his instructions, Bai Xin simply found someone else to talk to the person in charge of that TV station.

This time is different; it's entirely for the purpose of collecting evidence.

Even if they speak with great sincerity and guarantee that the TV series will have good ratings.

The purchasing manager of the TV station remained completely unmoved.

His meaning was very clear: if they wanted the show to air on their channel, they would have to buy viewership ratings from the person he designated.

This so-called "buying viewership ratings" doesn't actually involve getting more people to watch through advertising.

They simply bribed the TV station to create fake data. The benefit of fake data is obvious: it's shown to advertisers.

In addition, this kind of fake data can create a false sense of excitement online, which means it doesn't matter how many people are watching it.

TV stations make money off advertisers, and they use fake data to increase advertising revenue.

Those who want to get broadcast on their TV station also have to pay money to buy fake ratings.

This has created a huge industrial chain.

Bai Xin knew about this matter a long time ago, but at that time, Chen Pingsheng was in charge of Tencent Entertainment. He had good relationships with bigwigs such as BAT and many retired big shots in Beijing.

Coupled with his tough style, every film produced by Tencent Pictures becomes a hit.

So you'll basically never encounter something like that.

Later, he went on to take charge of other projects, and Tencent Entertainment also invested in quite a few unprofitable TV series.

After losing his prestigious reputation and handing over Tengying Entertainment to others, Chen Pingsheng gradually began to target his company.

After all, the TV station takes money from everyone else but not from you, which makes others uncomfortable!

The person who came to investigate and collect evidence this time is named Yang Zilong. He is a director and has been with Tencent Pictures for almost three years.

He only filmed three TV series in total, two of which lost money. He finally managed to create a good work that moved him.

As a result, it was suppressed by the local TV station.

He really wanted to say, "Brother, have you considered my feelings? I've already lost money on two films. If this one doesn't make money either, I won't even have a place to stay at Tencent Film Studio."

No other place would want a bumbling director like me.

To be honest, for someone like him who has been an assistant director for over ten years, Tengying has already been incredibly kind to give him three chances.

If he loses money again this time, he will be labeled as a money-loser in the industry.

So, it's either you die or I die.

Secretary Bai said that it's absolutely impossible to buy fake viewership ratings.

It's even more impossible to get the copyright back; the contract has already been signed.

When to broadcast is up to the TV station.

If he can't secure broadcast time, then he'll have no choice but to fire everyone in charge of this matter.

Anyway, the big boss will always bail him out in the end, so what's there to be afraid of?

Yang Zilong thought that collecting evidence would be troublesome, but it turned out that the other party didn't care at all.

To be frank, it's impossible to broadcast without spending money.

Even if it airs, it won't earn advertising revenue.

However, after spending 800,000 yuan per episode to buy fake ratings, the benefits are very obvious, at least guaranteeing a spot in the top five.

I'm not talking about the top five for the year, but the top five for this month.

They even bluntly stated that all the top-rated TV dramas buy fake ratings.

We should treat everyone equally.

Yang Zilong's evidence collection process went exceptionally smoothly. After he returned, Bai Xin immediately arranged for him to meet the big boss.

Yang Zilong was somewhat excited; he had been here for three years and hadn't really seen the big boss yet.

It's clear he's not doing very well.

Chen Pingsheng was having tea in his top-floor office, casually glancing at Tengying Entertainment's financial data for the year.

Many big-budget TV dramas were unable to air, and several movies lost money. This year's situation is significantly worse than last year's.

After Yang Zilong came in, he handed the recording pen he had obtained to Chen Pingsheng.

"Uncle, isn't this evidence enough?"

"it should be OK."

Chen Pingsheng said, "Make several copies of it, and first report it to the station director there. If you don't hear anything in three days, take it to the Broadcasting and Television Bureau."

Local television stations are mostly privately owned businesses and managed by the State Administration of Radio and Television. If that doesn't work, then you'll have to go to Beijing.

Actually, there is an even faster way, which is to create a huge buzz online.

This approach is also the least desirable, as it can easily provoke dissatisfaction from some important figures.

Especially for large companies like theirs, people might think they are deliberately manipulating public opinion.

It has a certain tendency to force the emperor to resign.

Chen Pingsheng would rather find someone to handle the matter than expose it online like this.

That would be blatantly offending someone.

If that still doesn't work, Chen Pingsheng looked at Yang Zilong.

You've already caused the company to lose tens of millions; it's time for you to sacrifice yourself.

Individuals can use online public opinion to report or hype things up, but large companies absolutely cannot.

Yang Zilong went to the station director immediately, the evidence was very clear.

They also told him that they would deal with it seriously.

He was quite happy, but three days later there was no further news; he was simply told to wait for updates.

He went to the broadcasting station and received the same reply.

It will be dealt with seriously, but we'll have to wait.

A week passed and there was still no news, so he went to the capital again.

It still disappeared without a trace.

Yang Zilong ran until he was numb, and this is the result.

He decided to go back to Bai Xin and ask her for the boss's opinion.

If the big boss were willing to step in, this kind of thing would be easily resolved.

Why should a small-time director like him run around like this?

Bai Xin really wanted to tell him, "What the hell are you thinking?"
If the uncle is so free, what use are we people?

Tencent Group is not just Tencent Entertainment; it has seven or eight listed companies with a market value of over 10 billion yuan.

You want Uncle Chen to handle such a small matter? You might not be afraid of being scolded, but I am.

Seeing his state, Bai Xin had no choice but to resort to a little self-sacrifice.

There was a case in Guangdong where a real estate company tried to demolish a family ancestral hall, but the family simply drew lots to decide who would be the first to be demolished.

Whoever draws this "death sign" must go and kill that real estate tycoon.

The rest of his wife, children, parents, and so on were all supported by other members of the family.

It must be said that this family was quite united, and no real estate developer dared to demolish their property later on.

The situation is now clear: it is Yang Zilong's turn to bravely stand up for justice and become a beacon of righteousness.

Regardless of the final outcome, it will definitely be difficult for him to survive in the entertainment industry.

And that will inevitably be the case.

Tengying Group can exert its influence behind the scenes, but it must never reveal the identity of its big boss.

Some things are just that wonderful.

Bai Xin arranged for him to give a speech at the university to expose the whole thing.

I also took some short videos and uploaded them online.

After the story gains traction online, they will then contact some of their peers to speak out on the matter together.

Regardless of the outcome, the person who asked them for money will definitely be forced to step down or even go to jail.

It's inevitable that he'll offend some beneficiaries as a result, and Yang Zilong will have to bear their anger.

You bumbling director, you didn't make any money from your films, yet you ended up becoming a beacon of justice in the entertainment industry.

That's pretty good.

Bai Xin actually knew that if Uncle Chen were to do this kind of thing, he would only need to say a word.

But he can't do it, for a simple reason: it doesn't fit his current status.

When the group needs to sacrifice some people, then those sacrifices are necessary.

After Yang Zilong finishes this job, he definitely can no longer stay at Tengying Group.

And the person responsible for expelling him must not be Chen Pingsheng.

It could only be someone else; Yang Zilong had to be the scapegoat.

(End of this chapter)