Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 338: Joining CCTV
After spending a few days chatting with Hou Hongliang, Fu Binxing and others, Meng Bai basically figured out the interest chain behind it.

In fact, there were reports of fake ratings as early as ten years ago. After entering the 10s, with the development of the film and television industry, related news broke every two years.

Even in 2015, the General Administration's Television Drama Department, in conjunction with CCTV, had all provincial and above television stations across the country sign a "Self-Discipline Convention," requiring that "TV drama purchase and sales contracts not include clauses that set prices or negotiate prices based on ratings and rankings," opposing the theory that ratings are the only thing that matters.

But signing is one thing, complying with it or not is another.

With the implementation of the "One TV Series, Two Stars" policy in 15, the TV drama industry has clearly seen an overproduction situation. With supply exceeding demand, TV stations naturally began to "bully customers".

As long as the production organization does not promise to guarantee the ratings, they will refuse to purchase the film, thereby forcing the producer to continue spending money to buy ratings.

Up to now, the entire market has basically formed a vicious cycle of "advertisers require TV stations to guarantee ratings when placing advertisements - TV stations require producers to purchase ratings - producers, in turn, require TV stations to pay high prices due to increased costs - TV stations raise advertising prices due to increased film purchasing costs."

"Producers have long suffered from TV stations' forced purchase of ratings, and now they are basically at the edge of their patience. If someone makes a call, I guess everyone will follow."

This is what Hou Hongliang said when he was chatting with Meng Bai, but he always felt that this brother was instigating Hu Guang to be the first to stand out.

In comparison, Guo Jingyu was very direct and started to curse the TV station directly.

"These people are just mosquitoes sucking blood from our production company. Sometimes I really want to dig out all the dirty things they do under the table for everyone to see!"

Looking at Guo Jingyu slamming the table and cursing, Meng Bai couldn't help but smile. It must be said that this guy is also a man of temperament.

Seeing that the other party finally stopped talking, Meng Bai said, "It seems that the production companies have indeed been suffering from the TV stations for a long time. Director Guo might as well make a call, and then everyone will follow."

Guo Jingyu glanced at him, sighed and smiled bitterly: "Brother Meng, it's easy for you to say this, but it's really not easy to do. There are so many people under you who rely on you for food, who would be willing to be the 'first bird' unless it is absolutely necessary."

This is actually the case in all walks of life. As long as they can still make ends meet, few people are willing to stand up.

After all, we are all smart people. It is hard to say whether the first one to come out can succeed, but it is certain that he will be the first to be killed as a warning to others.

"Brother Meng, how much did you ask for from us?" Guo Jingyu asked.

There was nothing to hide about this kind of thing, so Meng Bai replied directly: "50 per episode."

"That's not bad, this price is cheap." Guo Jingyu said: "Generally, the standard for satellite TV stations below the third tier is 30 to 40, and the second tier is 40 to 50. First-tier satellite TV stations like Oriental, Mango, and Zhejiang all cost more than or , and some can even reach nearly a million."

One hundred million to purchase the film, 9000 million to buy ratings, plus deferred payment and publicity costs, it is no joke that the producers "pay out of their own pockets to make the film."

It seems that Mango TV really gave Arc Light a discount. This thought suddenly flashed through Meng Bai's mind.

There was a story a long time ago. In order to better manage the slaves, the slave owner picked out a "slave leader", gave him better food and conditions, and gave him the right to supervise other slaves.

So in order to keep his position, the slave would supervise extra carefully, and other slaves would be jealous of his treatment and work harder in order to get the same "promotion".

In the end, only the slave owners benefited from the gains.

The current situation is very similar to this situation. The production companies have their own connections and channels, some get more money, some get less, and they are not united internally, let alone uniting to force the TV stations.

However, although Meng Bai didn't want Hu Guang to be the first to take action, he was not interested in being a slave or a "slave leader".

Returning to Arc Light, he went directly to Liu Jun's office.

"Stop the negotiations with the satellite TV stations."

Liu Jun was stunned and asked in confusion: "Why, you are not going to broadcast on TV but directly on the Internet?"

Actually, it is not impossible. It is difficult for online dramas to be broadcast on TV, but it is very easy for TV dramas to be broadcast online. The three major platforms now have a good relationship with Arclight, so if you want to broadcast online, just let us know.

The only pity is that as a result, ArcLight’s plan to enter the TV drama industry had to be interrupted.

"No, since we are shooting a TV series, let's follow the TV series." Meng Bai said. Seeing Liu Jun's puzzled expression, he smiled softly, leaned on the sofa and said: "Don't forget, in addition to these satellite TV stations, there is another more awesome TV station."

"You don't want to sell it to CCTV?"

"We have to admit that although CCTV also has many problems, at least it is not so blatantly disgusting."

Liu Jun took a deep breath. This was indeed a solution. Especially since Peace Hotel was a spy film, the subject matter was not sensitive and naturally there would be no censorship issues.

“But the price CCTV offers for purchasing films is much lower than that offered by major satellite TV stations,” Liu Jun reminded.

The price of the same drama sold to CCTV is generally only about 60% of that of satellite TV stations. In addition, CCTV is also very exclusive and basically broadcasts it exclusively.

"It's okay if it's lower. The bulk of the revenue still comes from the website anyway." Meng Bai said, "And if you take into account the money spent on buying ratings, the difference is actually not that big."

The satellite TV station offered 180 million per episode, minus 50 "ratings deposit", which is equivalent to 130 million.

The price that CCTV can offer is about one million. Taking into account CCTV's own ratings, it can save a lot of publicity and promotion costs. So in the end, the total revenue is only a few million.

Anyway, Meng Bai would rather earn less than a few million than use the money to "feed the dogs" and thus nourish the black industrial chain.

What's more, there is an invisible benefit to cooperating with CCTV, which is that it will give us more advantages in award selection in the future.

For ArcLight Pictures today, there is no shortage of funding, projects, and industry influence. The only thing missing is these official honors.

I didn’t have the opportunity to shoot a web drama before, but now that I have the opportunity to shoot a TV series, I can’t let it go.

After agreeing on the basic conditions for cooperation, Liu Jun began to contact CCTV to discuss cooperation.

Compared with satellite TV stations, CCTV is undoubtedly much larger and its attitude is more indifferent.

Fortunately, Arclight Films has been developing for so many years, and it has connections in the upper echelons. After sitting down and talking a few times, we were able to successfully reach a cooperation agreement.

And surprisingly, ArcLight's collaboration seems to have come at a good time.

CCTV has been facing an unfavorable situation in purchasing dramas in recent years. Firstly, the price of CCTV's drama purchases is not competitive, and many good dramas have been snatched away by satellite TV stations; secondly, the strength and voice of video websites in purchasing dramas have been increasing, which has also aggravated the difficulties faced by CCTV.

So after a long discussion, CCTV proposed "Five New Policies" and decided to start reforms from next year.

The specific contents include raising the purchase price of CCTV1 and CCTV8 and shortening the subsequent payment time. For dramas that have received good response after being broadcast on CCTV8, they can be upgraded to CCTV1 for broadcast, which is equivalent to a disguised "one drama, two stars".

The most important one is to strengthen cooperation with video websites and implement a "simultaneous broadcast on TV and the Internet" or even a "first online, then TV" system.

It can be said that each of these measures accurately hits the pain points of the film and television market. After implementation, it will definitely greatly enhance CCTV's competitiveness.

CCTV is still discussing the specific details of the reform, and ArcLight’s cooperation happens to be at this point.

The film purchasing department of Channel 8 said that if Arc Light agrees to broadcast the show after the Spring Festival next year, a contract can be signed in accordance with the reformed standards.

Meng Bai and the others would naturally agree, since there were only two months left before the Chinese New Year. Compared with the normal schedule, it was not much different.

As for the price of the film, CCTV offered 110 million per episode and promised that as long as the ratings were above the baseline, the balance would be paid within six months.

This condition can be said to be what Dachao Mengbai and his team had imagined before. Especially the latter, which is much more important than the extra one or more hundred thousand yuan for the film.

It can be said that it is a blessing in disguise. Although the price is not as high as that of the satellite TV station, this wave of cooperation is not a loss at all.

(End of this chapter)