Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 612 Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors
The saying goes, "If you employ someone, don't doubt them; if you don't trust them, don't employ them."

Since he decided to hand over "The Voice of China" to Guo Xiaohua, Zhang Chen really gave her room to perform.

The budget has been allocated; the rest is up to her.

Guo Xiaohua truly did not disappoint Zhang Chen, and even more so, she did not let down Dong Jianqiang's endorsement of her, and she really got the business up and running in a short period of time.

Zhang Chen went to see her twice and found that she was indeed a talented person; she arranged her work in an orderly manner.

Then Zhang Chen and Dong Jianqiang flew to Hangzhou.

Although PPTV is backing "The Voice of China", it would be ideal if there were a dedicated streaming platform.

The influence of streaming media is ultimately less than that of satellite TV.

Zhang Chen chose Zhejiang TV as the broadcasting platform for "The Voice of China".

The original "The Voice of China" program was hosted by Zhejiang TV, so Zhejiang TV is the most likely to pay for it in this timeline. Zhang Chen's first target is naturally Zhejiang TV. If they can't reach an agreement, they will consider other TV stations.

On the plane, Dong Jianqiang tilted his head and said, "I don't understand~"

"What don't you understand?"

"I don't understand how you could be so sure that Zhejiang TV would be interested in 'The Voice of China'?"

"Because the leaders of Zhejiang TV do not want to be subordinate to others."

They have actually been learning from Hunan TV. In their early years, they collaborated with Hunan TV on "Super Girl," which was later banned.

They learned from Hunan TV and started producing their own variety shows, I think it was called "I Am a Judge," which ran for two seasons. However, the results were disappointing, and the ratings were so-so.

Now, they should have realized the gap between themselves and Hunan TV. Relying on self-produced content, it will be difficult to catch up. So, there's only one way left.

"Buy outside programs?"

"Yes~"

Dong Jianqiang's supporting role was perfectly timed and executed with excellent timing.

To his surprise, the other person pursed their lips, and he then realized that he might have let something slip when he was bragging last time.

Last time, when I asked him to poach those people from Canxing Entertainment, I confidently promised that as long as I said I could lead them to victory against Mango TV, those people would immediately bow down and worship me.

As it turned out, Tian Ming didn't think much of his small temple.

Oh dear, this seems a bit embarrassing.

Dong Jianqiang seemed to realize that his boss had seen his earlier grumbling, and quickly tried to cover it up: "I was actually just curious why we didn't choose Beijing TV. Logically speaking, we have a better relationship with Beijing TV, and the possibility of reaching a cooperation agreement is greater."

Zhang Chen found another opportunity to show off, holding up a finger and shaking it: "You're wrong. If we chose Beijing TV, we definitely couldn't cooperate."

"why?"

"Because Beijing TV is located in Beijing, their political sensitivity is too high. For the leaders of Beijing TV, making the TV station outstanding is not the most important thing. The most important thing is not to make mistakes."

"The Voice of China" is an innovative program, and innovation means that no one has done it before, which is risky, so Beijing TV certainly wouldn't dare to try it.

After Zhang Chen's analysis, Dong Jianqiang felt that it made a lot of sense.

So you chose Zhejiang TV?

"It's not just Zhejiang TV, but also Dragon TV and Jiangsu TV. These three are considered among the better-performing satellite TV channels, second only to Hunan TV. They're the kind of channels that, with a little more effort, could become the top channel. Do you think they'd miss an opportunity to dethrone the leading channel?"

In the realm of satellite TV, Hunan TV is truly the most aware of potential threats in China.

Before satellite TV, everyone was a local station, with the behemoth CCTV overhead.

After establishing its satellite TV channel, Hunan TV was the first to seek innovation and change.

They were the first to target the program towards young people, a risk many wouldn't dare to take at the time, but Hunan TV did!
Later, Hunan TV succeeded, and other TV stations could only follow in its footsteps. Zhejiang TV only became a first-tier TV station that could rival Hunan TV after it bought "The Voice of China" and "Running Man".

It was precisely based on this point that Zhang Chen was confident in selling the program to Zhejiang TV.

It's good to be unwilling to admit defeat; only by being unwilling to admit defeat can you have the courage to fight.

The group arrived in Hangzhou, but did not go to the TV station immediately. They had arranged to meet the other party the next day, so they could have a good night's rest.

The next morning, the two set off for the television station, where they were received by the deputy director, Zhou Yuqiang.

"Director Zhang Chen, I'm so sorry, Director Zhong originally planned to personally receive you, but the Optoelectronics department had a last-minute notice about a meeting he had to attend, so he had to miss it. However, before he left, he entrusted me with the full responsibility for this collaboration."

Zhou Yuqiang quickly apologized, saying that Zhang Chen was, after all, the top director in China, and since he had come to the TV station in person to discuss cooperation, the station director should have personally received him.

However, things didn't go as planned.

"It's okay, work is important, I understand~"

Zhou Yuqiang, Chen An, and their group led Zhang Chen and his companion to a conference room. After some pleasantries, everyone took their seats.

Chen An is the director of Zhejiang TV, responsible for the station's specific business operations.

In terms of position, she is equivalent to Zhong Lifang of Star Entertainment.

"Director Zhang, we talked on the phone before, and you mentioned that there's a show that can beat 'Super Boy'. Could you tell us more about it?"

The one asking the question was Zhou Yuqiang.

"Your station has a very pragmatic work style!"

Zhang Chen originally thought there would be a long, rambling introduction, but Zhejiang TV got straight to the point right away.

"Haha, Zhejiang TV definitely deserves Director Zhang's praise on this point!"

After Zhou Yuqiang finished speaking, the cadres from Zhejiang TV all laughed, clearly proud of this.

"Then I won't waste everyone's time. Now I will officially begin my explanation. I believe that through my explanation, everyone will be able to resonate with it."

While Zhang Chen was speaking, his staff had already set up their laptops, and the first slide of the PPT was projected onto the screen.

Upon seeing Zhang Chen like this, the group from Zhejiang TV unconsciously straightened their posture and listened attentively.

Despite being media professionals, Zhang Chen is China's top director, and he boasts a multitude of accolades.

Now that a living person is standing in front of them, and they are being asked to explain the plan, everyone is filled with anticipation.

"Welcome welcome~"

Zhou Yuqiang clapped first, and the others followed suit.

"Thank you~"

Zhang Chen waved his hand and began to explain.

"Distinguished leaders, before we begin our explanation, let's analyze our competitor, namely Hunan TV."

What is Hunan TV's core audience?
I think it's "Happy Camp".

"Happy Camp" has captured the hearts of a large number of young viewers. Hunan TV's rise to prominence is due to its grasp of entertainment and young people, who have become the foundation of Hunan TV.

The foundation of "Super Girl" is actually these young people. Hunan TV also pushed entertainment to its peak because of "Super Girl", and even surpassed the influence of CCTV at one point.

However, they also faced opposition from the public, which is why the State Administration of Radio and Television issued a ban on "Super Girl".

This year they changed the format to "Super Boy," but it's impossible to replicate the success of "Super Girl" back then.

However, the prospects for talent shows remain bright, and this format will never go out of style.

Just yesterday, they were ordinary people, just average classmates, ordinary neighbors, or any of the ordinary people around us. Suddenly, they became famous all over the world because of a successful talent show? That's the charm of talent shows.

The talent show planned by Star Entertainment is called "The Voice of China." It's different from existing talent show formats. Let me explain in detail..."

Zhang Chen spoke more and more fluently, with an air of commanding authority and passionate writing, while the Zhejiang TV leaders in the audience listened with great interest.

These leaders are not ignorant about variety shows; on the contrary, many of them have quite a bit of experience with them.

They understood much of what Zhang Chen was talking about, but even though they clearly understood, they always had a sudden realization when he talked about certain details.

Zhang Chen spent more than forty minutes explaining the entire format of "The Voice of China," and everyone seemed to have a new understanding of what "talent show" really meant.

So, talent shows can be done like this?

Now, everyone's gaze towards Zhang Chen changed.

No wonder he's a renowned director; he's got real talent.

"Director Zhang, I understand your program now. The concept of 'not judging heroes by their appearance, but by their voices' is really great and very professional."

This one sentence alone is infinitely more sophisticated than "Super Girl".

There's also the design of the judges; "Super Girl" uses professional creators and music company owners.

I think the idea of ​​using A-list singers on "The Voice of China" is absolutely brilliant.

For the average viewer, they don't know any professional songwriters, but they do know the top singers.

In comparison, comments from top-tier singers are more convincing.

But I also have a question: in your competition format, whether a contestant advances is entirely decided by the judges. This essentially cuts off the interaction between the contestants and the audience. How then can you guarantee the show's popularity?

The question was asked by Chen An, who hit the nail on the head, immediately pointing out the biggest difference between the formats of "The Voice of China" and "Super Girl".

Good question!

Zhang Chen is just waiting for you to ask.

"I have my reasons for doing this. As I've repeatedly emphasized, the first principle of 'The Voice of China' must be fairness. No one can use underhanded tactics, and no one can manipulate things behind the scenes."
This competition format is designed to solve this problem.

Public voting is too easy to become a breeding ground for shady dealings. Although this format can increase participation and give the audience the feeling of nurturing a star, it may involve illegal fundraising and cause social antagonism. Many people, whether they know each other or not, have conflicts just because of who to vote for. This is the main reason why the State Administration of Radio and Television banned "Super Girl".

In light of the above, I believe the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

Furthermore, I firmly believe in entrusting professional matters to professionals.

Instead of cultivating the thrill of stardom, we guide the audience to judge quality by voice and rank performance by ability. We truly use professional standards to find the best voices – that's what makes a true star.

clap clap clap...

Deputy Director Zhou led the applause, swayed by Zhang Chen's words.

"Director Zhang, you just said that even if 'Super Girl' declines, it will still be popular this year. So, can 'The Voice of China,' which you're making, beat 'Super Girl'? What if it can't?"

Zhang Chen had thought about this question countless times in his mind, and he had already figured out how to answer it.

"In the early stages of the show, we definitely can't beat 'Super Girl', but I believe that in no more than ten episodes, we can achieve the same level of popularity and viewership as 'Super Girl'."

Zhang Chen gave a conservative figure.

"Oh, you're so sure? What if it can't be done?"

Deputy Director Zhou seemed to be joking, but he also seemed to be putting Zhang Chen in a difficult position.

"That's easy to do, we have a pre-arranged plan..."

Zhang Chen opened another PowerPoint presentation.

"Did everyone see that?"
We can sign a performance-based agreement with the streaming platform.

If the ratings for "The Voice of China" are below 0.5%, I will pay Zhejiang TV 100 million yuan per episode for airing, which is equivalent to us buying an advertising slot.

If the viewership rating reaches between 0.5% and 1%, Zhejiang TV will not have to pay a single penny for program acquisition; you can broadcast it for free, and even have the right to remove the program from the air.

If a program's viewership rating exceeds 1%, then we will pay according to the tiered program purchase price shown in this table.

In other words, you can create an entertainment program that can compete with Hunan TV without losing anything at all. Why not do it?

Zhang Chen's plan stunned everyone; no one expected him to take such a big gamble.

This is tantamount to covering for the TV station; is he stupid, or is he overconfident?

The fact that people don't believe the country's top director is a fool shows they have confidence.

"But Director Zhang, if we follow your plan, it means that Zhejiang TV won't need to participate in the production of this program; we'll just be buying a program?"

Chen An immediately noticed something unusual about it.

"Yes."

"What about the naming rights and advertising fees? Who pays for those?" Chen An continued to ask.

"The format of 'The Voice' is production and broadcasting separation. We produce the program independently and bear all the risks on our own, so naturally the rewards need to be more generous..."

However, we can discuss the specifics further, but the general principles will certainly be roughly the same…

Zhang Chen immediately said 91, which the other party definitely wouldn't agree to.

The TV station is used to being domineering; it's impossible for whatever you say to go along with it.

However, Zhang Chen wasn't worried. The bait he had offered was too tempting. The TV station wouldn't take a single penny of risk and would get a program for free.

If they succeed, they defeat Hunan TV; if they fail, they suffer no loss. No TV station can refuse them.

They had never seen Zhang Chen use this tactic before, so they didn't dare to make a decision rashly. Zhou Yuqiang decided to use delaying tactics:
"We need to study this carefully. We haven't encountered this approach before, so we need to consider it cautiously. Of course, I personally prefer cooperation in principle, but there are some differences of opinion among us, and this requires a process of reaching a consensus..."

"Okay, no problem. Cooperation certainly won't happen overnight."

Zhang Chen expressed his understanding.

"How about we leave it at that for today? I'll leave you a copy of the contract and the proposal. I'm sorry I didn't get to see Director Cheng today, could you please pass on my message?"

"No problem, no problem."

"Alright, then we'll take our leave. We happen to be taking the train today, and we need to go to Dragon TV and Jiangsu TV. Let's keep in touch!"

Zhang Chen made as if to take his leave, but Deputy Director Zhou suddenly stopped him.

"Director Zhang, please wait a moment. You just mentioned going to Dragon TV and Jiangsu TV. Is that also for this program?"

“Yes.” Zhang Chen nodded.

"That's not a good idea. We haven't even reached a decision yet, and you're already selling to three different companies?"

"It's not like we're selling to three different companies; we're still in the initial stages of discussion, aren't we?"

"What if all three of us like this show?"

"Simple, the highest bidder wins. We've taken such a big risk producing this show, we definitely want to maximize our profits!"

Deputy Director Zhou was speechless for a moment. He had never seen a famous director talk about making money so matter-of-factly, and he didn't know how to refute it.

……

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(End of this chapter)