Chinese Entertainment: Starting from 1996

Chapter 516: A Gamble and a Explosion
Faced with the 100 million yuan offer from Xiangnan TV, although Beijing TV and Zhejiang TV were a little surprised, they did not back down.

This also made them realize that there was no trial involved in the battle for "The Voice of China" variety show, and everyone showed their skills right from the start.

Beijing Satellite TV directly increased its bid based on the 100 million yuan offered by Xiangnan Satellite TV and offered 120 million yuan.

Seeing that Beijing Satellite TV was determined to win, Dragon TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV were the first to withdraw from the competition.

It's not that they can't come up with 120 million, but using so much money to buy a variety show seems a bit too expensive.

If it succeeds, it will be fine, but if it fails, the leadership of the two TV stations will be criticized.

After careful consideration, they felt the risk was a bit high.

What's more, they have cards to play, so there is no need to take risks.

Although all the major TV stations have been commercialized, their leadership still has organization and levels. When there is a way out, their mentality is more to avoid mistakes rather than to achieve merit.

Faced with a 1.2 million yuan offer from Beijing TV, Xiangnan TV also announced that it would give up.

They do not have the same mentality as Dragon TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV. They can afford 1.2 million yuan.

Shonan TV gave up because they were more confident.

Of course, they are also optimistic about "The Voice of China" and think that the ratings of this variety show should be good, but they think that the offer of 100 million yuan is sincere enough.

They have money, but they won't be taken advantage of.

Moreover, judging from the competitive attitude of Beijing Satellite TV, if they continue to bid, they might be caught in a tense bidding vortex, which is obviously not in line with their style.

As the number one local satellite TV station, Shonan TV is often the stronger party. In the past, they were willing to spend money on purchasing TV dramas, but they would not spend money endlessly.

Just like the original "The Legend of Zhen Huan", after giving their highest bid, if they still can't get it, they will give up.

The same is true for the current "China's Good Voice". The price of 100 million is also their highest offer. Since they cannot get it, they also choose to give up.

What's more, Shonan TV is not afraid of competition in variety shows. Winning "The Voice of China" is just icing on the cake for them, and not winning it will not have much impact.

When Beijing Satellite TV saw that Hunan Satellite TV also withdrew, they couldn't help but feel relieved. They were really worried that Hunan Satellite TV would fight them to the death, and they really couldn't win the other side in terms of financial resources.

Their bottom line for "The Voice of China" is 1.2 million. Even if Hunan Satellite TV offers one million more, they will have to give up.

Spending 120 million to purchase a variety show shows the leadership of the TV station is very bold, as this is almost the majority of the available funds of their TV station.

As three TV stations have withdrawn from the competition one after another, the only competitor left is Zhejiang Satellite TV.

However, after hearing the offer from Beijing TV, Zhejiang TV remained very quiet and remained silent for more than a week.

At the beginning, Jiahe also thought that Zhejiang Satellite TV was deterred by the offer of 120 million yuan, and felt a little regretful about it.

After all, if Zhejiang Satellite TV and Beijing Satellite TV were to compete head-on, Jiahe might be able to earn tens of millions more.

However, the price of 1.2 million also surprised the management of Golden Harvest.

This was the first time that Golden Harvest produced a variety show, and unexpectedly it made a huge profit.

Although the group approved a budget of 100 million yuan for Golden Harvest Productions this time, they didn't even use half of it.

Apart from the 24 million yuan in salary for the four mentors, the remaining expenses mainly include two aspects: the layout of the venue and the labor costs.

The labor costs won’t be high, and the entire season won’t cost more than five million.

On the contrary, the layout of the venue costs more, while other things are relatively okay, mainly the four rotatable stools for the instructors to sit on.

This needs to be custom-made. One stool costs one or two million, and four cost seven or eight million.

Then there were the stage lights, sound systems, etc. Since this was Golden Harvest’s first time, all needed to be purchased and the stage built.

This stage must not only be built but also be maintained well. It will not be used just once and may need to be used many times in the future.

Therefore, the construction of the stage also cost a lot, a total of nearly 10 million.

This is also because Golden Harvest is rich and powerful. They spent 10 million on a small stage. If the venue was not too small, this stage would be more than enough for holding concerts.

Fortunately, the venue is free, otherwise we would have to pay a considerable amount of venue rental fees.

Because this stage is not a one-time thing, it is of course best to build it on your own territory.

Li Wei of Golden Harvest Productions originally wanted to find a place in the Sina Building that was large enough to build a stage, but when he thought about the future development plan of the Sina Group, he realized that the entire building might not be big enough for them.

Both Jiahe Group and Zhoushan Literature may have to relocate in the future to make room for Sina Group, so Li Wei's proposal was rejected by Liu Zhou.

The final stage was set up in Hangzhou, at the Golden Harvest Film and Television City which was still under construction.

Now, after more than a year of construction, with sufficient funds, China's infrastructure will never disappoint people. At present, not only has the three connections and one leveling been completed, but several studios have also been built.

The stage for "The Voice of China" is located in one of the small studios that have been built.

According to the budget, the total cost of producing the first season of "The Voice of China" is 45 million yuan, and then 5 million yuan will be set aside as a reserve fund in case of any accidents.

Therefore, when Beijing Satellite TV offered 1.2 million yuan to package the first season of "The Voice of China", Golden Harvest Group was very satisfied.

It's not just a matter of making 70 million yuan, there's also the program sponsorship and other sponsorships, which also represent a lot of money.

According to conservative estimates, Golden Harvest can make at least 100 million yuan in profit from this.

No one at Golden Harvest expected that the first variety show they produced would make so much money, including Liu Zhou.

Although he is confident about "The Voice of China", Golden Harvest has never proven itself on variety shows after all.

He felt that it would be good enough if "The Voice of China" could earn 300 to 400 million in the first season, and the second season would be the time to make big money.

But he didn't expect that the major satellite TV stations would have so much confidence in Golden Harvest. It seems that the Golden Harvest brand is now more valuable than he imagined.

Jiahe was very satisfied with the offer of 120 million yuan. Seeing that Zhejiang Satellite TV had not responded yet, they thought they were going to give up and prepared to sign a contract with Beijing Satellite TV.

After all, the broadcasting platform cannot be delayed forever. The broadcast time has been confirmed in the summer vacation. The earlier it is confirmed, the more time there will be for promotion. At this time, Beijing Satellite TV also felt that Zhejiang Satellite TV might give up as well, and was happily preparing to sign a contract with Golden Harvest Production, but they were obviously too happy too early.

After being silent for more than a week, Zhejiang Satellite TV suddenly made its own offer of 50 million plus half of the advertising revenue, which was a huge investment.

You have to know that advertising revenue is the core interest of a TV station. Now almost no TV station will share it with others, even those second- and third-tier TV stations with low ratings.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for those who have just debuted or become a little famous after being reborn to bet with TV stations or theater companies. They will tell you to get out of here as far as possible.

Even for the current Golden Harvest, the theater chains would not agree to bet against each other on their movies and TV series. When "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was so popular and the competition was so fierce, the major TV stations did not say that they would share the advertising revenue.

In order to compete for a variety show like "The Voice of China", Zhejiang Satellite TV is actually willing to give out half of its advertising revenue, which is something no one expected.

Regarding Zhejiang Satellite TV's offer, it was now the turn of Jiahe and Beijing Satellite TV to remain silent.

Beijing Satellite TV did not expect that Zhejiang Satellite TV would be so determined and courageous. Although this seems to reduce the risk, it is a break from convention.

With this precedent, there may be a second or third time in the future, and it is their own core interests that will be damaged.

No wonder Zhejiang Satellite TV remained silent for so long. I didn’t expect that they were discussing such a big thing.

Beijing Satellite TV was helpless about this and did not have the determination to make them catch up with them.

They are willing to put out 1.2 million yuan in funds, but are unwilling and afraid to use up the advertising revenue.

Now it depends on Golden Harvest’s attitude: whether to take the money and settle the matter, or to gamble on whether “The Voice of China” can become a big hit.

To be honest, Zhang Zhao was also very distressed about this, and finally reported it to Liu Zhou.

One is profit sharing, the other is a buyout. For Liu Zhou, there is almost no need to hesitate. He will definitely sign a contract with Zhejiang Satellite TV.

For ordinary companies, they would definitely want to lock in profits, but for a large company of the size of Golden Harvest, they have the confidence to take a gamble.

Since Zhejiang Satellite TV has such great courage, Golden Harvest Group will certainly not be timid.

What's more, Liu Zhou knew very well that "The Voice of China" would be a big hit, so this bet was a sure win for him, so there was nothing he dared not to bet on.

And this involves not only temporary interests, but also huge interests in the subsequent seasons.

Since you have already offered a share of advertising revenue in the first season, after the show becomes popular, you cannot offer lower terms than this for the second, third and subsequent seasons.

If you refuse, I believe other TV stations will be willing to offer better conditions after seeing that the program does not involve any risks.

After all, you have broken this convention, so we won’t feel any burden in sharing the advertising revenue.

Moreover, if a TV station wants to rely on variety shows to retain fans and increase its influence, there must be continuity. By then, Jiahe will also have the initiative and will not be afraid that Zhejiang Satellite TV will not offer better conditions.

So under Liu Zhou's instructions, Golden Harvest Productions signed a contract with Zhejiang Satellite TV.

Both parties attach great importance to "The Voice of China". After all, if the program becomes popular, it will mean that Zhejiang Satellite TV has won the bet and will not have to worry about being criticized or targeted by its peers.

For Golden Harvest, if the show becomes popular, it means they can make more money.

Having dealt with so many TV stations, Golden Harvest is very clear about how much money a TV station can make from advertising fees if it encounters a hit TV series.

"The Legend of Zhen Huan" was bought by Zhejiang Satellite TV and Jiangsu Satellite TV for nearly 200 million yuan, setting a record for TV drama transactions at the time.

But the two companies did not lose anything. During the broadcast period of "The Legend of Zhen Huan", their advertising revenue not only recovered the cost, but also made more than 100 million yuan.

Both are first-tier satellite TV stations. They don’t worry about not having customers, but they worry about not having good programs or TV series.

Therefore, if "The Voice of China" also becomes a big hit, then the advertising revenue will definitely not be small. At least for Golden Harvest, it will not be considered at a loss if it can get at least 70 million.

Liu Zhou is quite confident about this. Although Zhejiang Satellite TV has not yet fully risen, it is also a first-tier TV station second only to Hunan Satellite TV.

"The Voice of China" lasts for two months. Although it is only broadcast once a week, Liu Zhou conservatively estimates that it can receive at least 200 million yuan in advertising fees.

By this calculation, the guaranteed revenue that Golden Harvest received from the TV station is 150 million, which is already a huge profit of 100 million.

Together with the title sponsor and three sponsors of "The Voice of China", the total revenue was more than 50 million.

Golden Harvest is also far ahead of domestic film and television companies in terms of commercial operations and maintains cooperation with many large companies.

So when "The Voice of China" was soliciting investment, many companies responded and participated out of their trust in Golden Harvest.

For example, in the competition for title sponsorship, there are three companies: Wanglaoji, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.

At this time, Wanglaoji and Jiaduobao had not yet separated, so the Jiaduobao Group did not need to spend a lot of effort to promote the Jiaduobao brand. Currently, Wanglaoji is a well-known trademark.

Therefore, they were not so courageous during the competition and were eliminated first. In the end, Pepsi defeated Coca-Cola and won the naming rights of the program for 30 million yuan.

Liu Zhou could only say that Pepsi made a lot of money, and they would know how much the 30 million was worth after the show was aired.

He couldn't ask for more money. After all, the sponsorship fee of 2007 million was not low. The sponsorship fee of the popular "Happy Boy" in was less than million.

Unlike in later generations, the sponsorship fees of those popular variety shows, even online variety shows, are no less than 100 million yuan.

In addition to the title sponsor, Golden Harvest also selected three sponsors, and received a total of 24 million.

This was also due to Golden Harvest's restraint. Thinking that this was still the first season and the time to build word of mouth was right, they did not dare to run too many advertisements and only chose three.

Therefore, before "The Voice of China" even started airing, it had actually recovered all its costs, and the transaction price with the TV station was all profit.

In order to increase the ratings of the program, and because both parties share common interests, Jiahe and Zhejiang Satellite TV did their best to promote the program before it was aired.

With the joint efforts of both parties, the publicity effect is still very good. In addition, the quality of the program itself is also quite high. The ratings exploded after the first episode was broadcast.

It ranked first in ratings during the same period, ranked in the top three in Baidu's all-day search index, and the number of people discussing related topics on Weibo exceeded 700 million. "The Voice of China" was on the top hot searches on Weibo in hours, and even the Weibo fans of the four mentors increased by nearly one million.

After seeing this data, Jiahe and Zhejiang Satellite TV both understood that this program was a sure success.

(End of this chapter)