Age of Legends

Chapter 314 I can’t help myself
Wu Yue arrived exceptionally early in the morning. She was keeping an eye on Jiang Rong's program. She had initially thought that Jiang Rong's program had been relegated to a less popular time slot and had even been temporarily suspended, supposedly due to a revamp. However, Wu Yue knew that without commercials and viewership, it was merely a desperate attempt to maintain a semblance of a decent ending.

Upon hearing that Jiang Rong's show had been revamped and was airing, she didn't even go to see Liu Qi that day. Instead, she rushed back early to check on things. But after watching the whole thing, she had this feeling: why is Jiang Rong's show of such poor quality?!

Wu Yue, after all, considered herself a content creator, so industry professionals could immediately see the complete transformation of Jiang Rong's program with just one glance. After watching it in one go, she was completely overwhelmed because it was so good. So, early the next morning, she anxiously rushed to the station and found the duty room to inquire about the situation after last night's broadcast.

“A viewer who works in the television industry called and said that the editing was excellent! He urged us to maintain this level, saying that the provincial station hadn’t produced such a good program in many years.”

"Some viewers asked for the show's address, saying they wanted to visit the group at the single apartment. They wanted to find Yang Xiaole and Chen Xingrui..."

"Last night was definitely not like usual. Usually, the broadcasts are quiet after they finish, but last night it was really lively."

As Wu Yue entered the administration building, someone called out, "Advertising department, hurry up and get to the conference room for a meeting! Hurry up!"

Wu Yue grabbed the man who had run away without paying. "What's going on? Can't you watch where you're going? Can't you see there are people here?" She was used to being domineering and always scolded her subordinates directly. After giving the man a disdainful look, she asked, "What meeting did Director Zhang call you for?"

The man, of course, knew Wu Yue's name and said, "With the sudden surge in advertisers contacting us for the next issue of 'The Seven-Day Agreement,' Director Zhang is raising prices!"

Wu Yue was taken aback. "How much did you mention?"

"Regular inserts cost 15,000. Product placement starts at 100,000. Naming rights aren't available yet; they say they'll wait for the ratings. If they're high, they'll quote 500,000!" The man said this and turned to leave.

When he turned the corner, he looked back at Wu Yue's pale face and felt a sense of satisfaction. Seeing Wu Yue's undisguised disappointment reminded him of her previous arrogance, and he spat inwardly.

Serves you right! Serves you right for being so arrogant.

On a provincial TV station's prime-time program, a 15-second commercial break costs 15000 yuan, and that's for a well-known program. For less popular programs like Jiang Rong's, the price is only 500 to 2000 yuan per commercial break.

Don't think it's too little; having even one is good enough!

Sponsorship of advertisements or program titles generally costs between several hundred thousand and over a million yuan per year.

Special sponsorship and title sponsorship can range from 5 to over 30 yuan, depending on the program's popularity.

After Wu Yue won the role in "The Golden Mediator", the special sponsorship she signed was only 35 yuan.

Now, with "The Seven-Day Agreement," Director Zhang isn't afraid of getting rich quick and dares to aim for 50?
When Meng Lihui arrived at work, Wu Yue rushed to her office and was immediately annoyed. "Auntie, everyone's talking about Jiang Rong! The advertising department is even discussing raising the advertising fees for her show! Has someone actually made an offer?"

Meng Lihui spoke slowly and gently: "Don't be in a hurry. Whether a show can survive or not can't be determined by just one or two days of excitement. Wait a few more episodes and you'll know."

Meng Lihui genuinely didn't care. She didn't have time to properly watch Jiang Rong's program; a quick glance was enough. She had skimmed the script when it was submitted, but of course, she didn't look at the specific content. Since the program was already scheduled, Jiang Rong was just completing the follow-up work according to the production contract signed with the provincial TV station. Meng Lihui knew very well that unless it was during prime time with high viewership, it was like a movie not getting a release date—what kind of splash could you possibly make? Yes, there were always those suddenly popular dramas or programs. But in all her years in the industry, how many of those could she find?
Putting aside the fact that Jiang Rong's first show became a hit was pure luck; she simply found a captivating format. But now that Wu Yue has taken over, Jiang Rong is essentially rendered useless. Can she possibly create another show that can turn things around from adversity anytime soon?

This is just too unbelievable! How could it be possible!
So Meng Lihui is genuinely not worried. "You have plenty of opportunities, I have resources, and a strong background. How could she possibly compare to you? It's just the lingering warmth from before."

Wu Yue was immediately persuaded and calmed down.

"I knew it! In the end, Jiang Rong just used my popularity to ride on my coattails!"

……

Morning of the third day.

In the conference room of the provincial TV station building, a faxed copy of the viewership monitoring data had just arrived. Several colleagues in charge of the data had barely concealed their excitement.

"The data from last night to the day before yesterday has been compiled. 'The Seven-Day Agreement' has an average viewership rating of 1.8, with a peak of 2.4!"

Someone almost shouted it out.

It's worth noting that for a program in this time slot, a score of 0.6 is considered quite good, and even slightly competitive programs rarely exceed 1.0.

"The Seven-Day Pact" saw its ratings double or triple. "What does this mean? It means the provincial TV station won the ratings championship for this time slot, and it even ranked among the top in the national ratings for the same time slot!"

The young people in the data team lowered their voices, but their excitement was still palpable: "Now the advertising department might be able to do whatever it wants..."

……

When Wu Yue pushed open the door to the conference room, she happened to overhear people whispering excitedly.

Her heart skipped a beat, and her fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the folder in her hand.

"Master Wu has arrived."

The group quickly suppressed their smiles, but the barely suppressed joy in their eyes was incredibly irritating to Wu Yue.

Wu Yue suppressed his unease and asked in a cold voice, "The data is out?"

"It's out..." The young man hesitated for a moment, but still handed over the printed paper.

Wu Yue glanced down at the scene and her face immediately turned ashen.

The numbers are so striking that there's no room for denial.

The average value is 1.8, and the peak value is 2.4.

This is no longer "relying on residual popularity," but a genuine new hit.

Wu Yue felt a throbbing pain in her temples and a ringing in her ears. She gritted her teeth, slammed the paper on the table, and turned to go to Meng Lihui's office.

Meng Lihui was sitting on the sofa making tea when she saw her storming in angrily. She raised an eyebrow and said, "What's wrong? Why are you in such a bad mood so early in the morning?"

Wu Yue's chest heaved with anger: "Auntie! The data is out! 'Seven Days' has an average viewership of 1.8 and a peak of 2.4! Isn't that a hit?!"

"Keep your voice down. Why are you getting angry with me here?" Meng Lihui asked slowly as the tea leaves floated slightly in the water. "Let me see," she said.

Wu Yue slammed the fax paper on the table. "The advertising department said yesterday they expected a bid of 500,000! Now that this is out, they're even more daring to ask for more. Jiang Rong... where did she get this luck?!"

Meng Lihui didn't speak, but looked down at the data, her eyes becoming somewhat deep.

Wu Yue was getting agitated: "Auntie! What should we do? If this continues, will my... my show be affected... our schedules, his... his schedules..."

Meng Lihui raised her hand, interrupting her impatience, her tone still calm: "What's the rush? I've already said, we can't tell yet, let's wait and see."

Then a phone call came in.

Meng Lihui answered the phone, hummed twice, and said, "I understand, I'll be right there."

hang up the phone.

Under Wu Yue's gaze, Meng Lihui said, "I'm going to a meeting. We'll talk about your matter later."

The call was from the station director. The program, which was in a previously unpopular time slot, had suddenly become a huge hit, with both critical acclaim and high ratings. The station couldn't afford to ignore it and immediately called people over to discuss it.

Meng Lihui had no choice but to be swayed by the situation.

(End of this chapter)