Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 614 Zhang Chen Clarifies the Questions
The Hunan Broadcasting Program Production Base is located in the Golden Eagle Film and Television Cultural City, Kaifu District, Hunan Province. Many well-known programs are recorded here, including "Day Day Up", "Happy Camp", "Hello, Saturday", "Beat the Thorns", "Riding the Waves", as well as Hunan TV's New Year's Eve Gala and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Golden Eagle Festival.

"Alright, that concludes today's recording. Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Hurry up and change your clothes; we're going to eat soon!"

After each recording of "Day Day Up", Wang Han would treat the other new hosts to dinner, which gradually seemed to become a tradition.

Today, "Day Day Up" has become one of Hunan TV's flagship programs. As a star host, Wang Han has gained both fame and fortune, so he needs to take good care of the team.

Media professionals are masters of interpersonal relationships. As soon as Wang Han finished speaking, a chorus of "Thank you, Brother Han" immediately rang out around him, and several young hosts rushed backstage to change their clothes.

"Sister Zhang, let's go together! It's your favorite spicy crayfish!"

Wang Han invited Zhang Yibei, the producer of "Day Day Up".

"Great, I haven't had this in ages."

Upon hearing that it was spicy crayfish, Zhang Yibei's face lit up with a smile. Spicy crayfish is a dish that almost no woman can resist.

"Let's go!" The group and several vehicles drove out of the base.

The recording of the show ended close to midnight, and most shops had already closed, but the shops near the production base of the show were still open, because they were doing business with these people.

The group arrived at a restaurant with practiced ease, parked their car, and greeted the owner familiarly as soon as they entered: "Boss, three large portions, extra spicy, please!"

People from Hunan love spicy food; they can't live without it.

The boss greeted us with a smile, "Have a seat, it'll be ready in a minute~"

Soon the sound of stir-frying filled the kitchen, followed a moment later by a shout: "Coming!"

Three large portions of spicy crayfish were served. The bright red crayfish were coated in broth, and the aroma of the special spices filled the air, making everyone's mouths water.

"Don't just stand there, let's eat!"

Wang Han took action, and the other young people followed suit.

As Oudi peeled the shrimp heads and sucked out the broth, he thought to himself, "Why did they have to order the extra spicy one? This Taiwanese guy can't handle it."

Taiwan also has spicy crayfish, but it just doesn't taste as good as the ones on the mainland.

They had barely started their business when a familiar voice rang out from the doorway: "Boss, three large portions of spicy crayfish!"

He Jiong, followed by the people from "Happy Camp".

Hey, you guys are here too!

Upon entering, He Jiong also spotted Wang Han and his group.

"Please sit here, please sit here. You've come at the perfect time, just in time to eat!"

The crew from "Day Day Up" immediately cleaned up the mess and pushed the two tables together.

"You guys just finished recording too?"

"Yeah, I was hungry after filming the show, and I thought of spicy crayfish. I didn't expect everyone to have the same idea!"

Both programs are Hunan TV's flagship programs. Although they are competitors, their relationship is still acceptable, and there is no tension as rumored.

The two groups sat together, peeling shrimp and chatting.

The more people there are, the more lively it is. At this time of day, there is no worry about running into fans. The group is enjoying their meal in the lobby.

Qian Feng scooped a shrimp out of the soup; it was a bit hot, so he prepared to let it cool down. Unexpectedly, Oudi snatched it away, and Qian Feng immediately protested. Meanwhile, Xie Na and Du Haitao were also arguing fiercely.

Wang Han, He Jiong, and Zhang Yibei were chatting: "I heard Marco resigned?"

"Yes, he's gone to Starry Sky Entertainment now. Starry Sky Entertainment just established a variety show department, and Marco and his wife are going there to be in charge of a program."

Zhang Yibei is the planner of "Day Day Up". She also planned another program called "Yue Ce Yue Kai Xin" before, which was hosted by Ma Ke. The two have a very good relationship.

"I've heard about it too. Starry Sky Entertainment has been making some big moves lately, I heard they're poaching talent everywhere!"

"Didn't they contact you?" He Jiong winked.

"Even if you contact me, I can't go. 'Day Day Up' is doing so well. Wouldn't it be like losing the big picture for a small gain if I went?"

Zhang Yibei smiled but didn't say anything. Star Entertainment might not have really contacted Wang Han, but they did contact her.

General Manager Dong Jianqiang called her personally, wanting to poach her, but she refused.

Just like Wang Han said, "Day Day Up" is doing very well, only a fool would leave at this time.

"By the way, Sister Zhang, I heard that you're on the shortlist for Best Producer this year. Our show 'Day Day Up' is so popular, I think you're definitely a shoo-in for Best Host at the end of the year!"

In terms of age, Wang Han is actually older than Zhang Yibei, but that doesn't stop him from calling her "Sister Fang".

"It's uncertain, we'll see when the time comes."

Zhang Yibei also felt that it was almost certain, but since it hadn't been announced yet, she certainly couldn't reveal it, lest she appear smug and self-satisfied.

Moreover, the people from "Happy Camp" were sitting right next to us.

At that moment, the conversation of the people next to me reached my ears.

Tian Yuan: "I heard that Xingchen Entertainment launched two programs at once, in cooperation with Jiangsu Satellite TV and Zhejiang Satellite TV respectively. They're really rolling in money..."

Du Haitao: "They are indeed very wealthy. I heard that the singing competition program they collaborated on with Zhejiang TV had an investment of over 5000 million yuan..."

The usually lively Oudi gasped in astonishment: "So much? You mainlanders are really rich!"

In his opinion, people here are really foolish and rich.

The variety shows they produce aren't very good, but they're really willing to spend money.

In Taiwan, the cost of a variety show is generally NT$20 to NT$30 per episode, which is about RMB 5 to 6.

Even the wildly popular show "Kangxi Lai Le" only cost 50 New Taiwan Dollars, or 10 RMB.

However, the budgets for variety shows in mainland China can reach tens of millions of yuan. Take "Day Day Up," which he is on, for example. The cost of each episode is at least ten times that of "Kangxi Lai Le."

There's really no comparison.

Odie wondered if he should try his luck at Star Entertainment.

He earns less than 1 RMB per episode from "Day Day Up," but his salary there might be higher.

Oudi took it to heart, listening to the group talk about Star Entertainment, and occasionally asking a couple of questions.

In his opinion, the mainland is really too low-class; the variety shows and the hosts are not relaxed at all.

He was just a nobody in Taiwan, but after coming here, he quickly rose to the position of second host and his popularity soared.

In mainland China today, when it comes to the most well-known Taiwanese hosts, Wu Zongxian is definitely number one, and Oudi is number two.

……

Capital
In the middle of the night, the lights were still on in Zhang Chen's office, and several people were talking about something.

"Lifang, Xiaowei, the company's focus going forward is on variety shows. Old Dong will be in charge, and you two will work together."

Zhong Lifang and Chen Xiaowei nodded. They had both learned suddenly that the company was going to produce a variety show, but since it was Zhang Chen's decision, they would definitely support it unconditionally.

However, the two of them were somewhat puzzled. Zhong Lifang said, "Why do we have to do variety shows, and so many at once?"

Zhang Chen initially had three variety shows booked: *The Voice of China*, *If You Are the One*, and *Happy Comedians*. But now it's not just three; *Where Are We Going, Dad?*, *I Am a Singer*, *Running Man*, and more have been added…

There was no other way; these were all phenomenal variety shows that Zhang Chen had thought of in the past two days, and many of them would be released next year, so he had to reserve his spot in advance.

Not only that, Zhang Chen also plans to produce shows like "Dancing in the Universe," "Chinese Idol," and "China's Got Talent."

"Because variety shows can effectively complement our other resources."

Seeing the puzzled looks on the faces of the three people opposite him, Zhang Chen decided to break it down and explain it to them in detail today.

"First of all, variety shows are very profitable. I think everyone knows how much money Hunan TV's 'Super Girl' made. Compared to movies, they are more controllable, have shorter production cycles, and can be replicated continuously..."

Once a variety show becomes popular, especially a phenomenon, it can drive upstream and downstream industries and related developments, which can generate huge profits.

To give a simple example, if we host an outdoor variety show, and the show becomes popular, then every time we host it, the location becomes a hot spot.

If we decide to film at Starry Sky Park, then after the show airs, Starry Sky Park will immediately become a popular online destination.

Not only does the show make money itself, but it can also leverage its popularity to increase Starry Night Paradise's revenue.

At that time, all the popular tourist attractions will be begging us to film there, just like Wanda, which is no longer just a simple commercial complex; it has a driving effect.

In addition, variety shows can also make people famous.

We can use our own people for the host and guests.

To give a simple example, let me say I'm making a movie and I've cast a newcomer.

What if a newcomer lacks appeal? Simple, let them appear on popular variety shows, and their popularity will skyrocket.

This is equivalent to variety shows and movies complementing each other.

The same principle applies to television.

For example, if we produce a show where has-been singers compete against each other, would the audience like to watch it?

Celebrities gain exposure, audiences get up close and personal with them, and even hassle-free stars might experience a career revival through the show. How much profit is involved?

As soon as Zhang Chen shared his opinion, Zhong Lifang's eyes lit up.

Star Entertainment does not appear to have a talent agency business, but people in the industry know that Shijiu Culture is Star Entertainment's talent agency department.

The method proposed by Zhang Chen is essentially Shijiu Culture's biggest asset.

With the support of variety shows, Wang Jinghua's talents, whether newcomers or established stars, never have to worry about exposure.

"And Xiaowei, here, phenomenal variety shows can increase traffic and brand awareness on video websites, but I won't go into details about that."

I was just saying, Weibo is a tool that naturally complements variety shows. Popular variety shows can provide a constant stream of topics for Weibo, and the popularity of Weibo, in turn, can support variety shows.

When Zhang Chen spoke, Chen Xiaowei realized it too. She had even figured out the specifics: use Weibo to generate buzz for the variety show, making it popular in the shortest time possible, and then the show could generate a continuous stream of topics.
From this perspective, a good variety show can not only bring high returns, but also connect all the resources in Zhang Chen's hands.

"How do we need to cooperate?" The two had completely grasped Zhang Chen's idea.

"We need to hire, we need to hire a lot of people, we only want top talent!"

Zhang Chen was thinking further ahead.

In the early stages, we can rely on Zhang Chen's foresight, but if we want to go far, we still need to rely on the team.

He had to cultivate his own team, using early variety shows to nurture it.

By then, he will have good programs, a mature creative and production team, and funds. Only in this way will he have the capital to continue to eat into the huge cake of variety shows after he has exhausted his savings.

As they chatted, the group started talking about the dating show "If You Are the One" from a couple of days ago.

Jiangsu TV is much more sophisticated than Zhejiang TV.

For "If You Are the One," Star Entertainment also adopted the same performance-based agreement as Zhejiang TV: viewership ratings below 1% would be free, below 2% would be free of charge, and above 2% would be shared with advertising revenue based on a percentage.

Zhejiang TV was initially swayed by this guaranteed minimum return bet and obediently signed it. However, when it came to Jiangsu TV, they generously stated that they did not need a guaranteed minimum return.

Since we're making a TV show, we should share the risks.

Ultimately, both parties agreed to continue the practice of separating pre-recorded and live-streamed content, but the revenue would be split equally between them.

Has both courage and vision.
They dare to fight and gamble even more than Zhejiang TV!

The two parties reached a cooperation agreement and made no attempt to hide it, announcing the news directly to the public.

The industry already knew about it; Zhejiang TV had been making a big fuss about it, and various TV stations had been poaching talent to varying degrees.

There's no way around it; producing variety shows requires just too much manpower.

For a show like "The Voice of China," the number of people involved must be around two or three hundred.

With so many people, it's impossible to hire them all.

The usual practice is to use one's own people for core positions, such as producers, directors, and cinematographers.

The remaining work is outsourced, but these are usually long-term collaborations.

Professionalism is absolutely essential in the production of variety shows.

Putting everything else aside, being a subtitling group is no easy job.

A simple shot can become hilarious with a good subtitle team, accompanied by humorous commentary and interpretation. Its importance is almost no less than that of the director, and a good subtitle team can even double the effect.

Since Zhang Chen has decided to incubate his own team, not as a one-off deal, there are many things he needs to consider.

Program development, risk assessment, on-site coordination, editing and post-production...

Zhang Chen got carried away and realized it was already past midnight, so he quickly ended the meeting and went home to rest.

He doesn't want to be a capitalist.

Chen Xiaowei and Zhong Lifang did not leave, so Dong Jianqiang asked:

"Director Zhang, I still need to learn from you. I roughly understood your analysis of 'The Voice of China' the other day, but I still don't understand what's so good about 'If You Are the One'~"
I put myself in their shoes. Imagine myself, a man standing on stage, with 24 female guests looking at me like I'm merchandise. How embarrassing!

"Wrong, that's precisely what makes this show so appealing."

Let me put it this way: making variety shows is essentially about exploring human nature.

Shows like "Happy Camp" actually explore the gossipy side of human nature, bringing celebrities into the lives of ordinary people.

Competitive variety shows exploit the human tendency for people to enjoy seeing someone's career skyrocket.

"If You Are the One" is actually about gossip, specifically gossip about love and human nature.

Why is the element of romance so enduring in TV dramas? Because people love to watch them. The same goes for "If You Are the One." Since viewers can't witness a long and romantic love story, we compress that long process into just over ten minutes.

You like me, and I like you; that's love.

You like me, I like him, that's the regret.

We live in a patriarchal society where men choose women. If we reverse that and let women choose men, it will definitely resonate with female viewers, who are the main audience for television. So I ask you, wouldn't you like watching a program like this?

Chen Xiaowei and Zhong Lifang's eyes were already shining: "Picking men? I love to watch, I must watch, I absolutely have to watch!"

(End of this chapter)