Huayu has been doing one good deed a day since 2001

Chapter 193: Time Video Valuation: $8 Million [Subscribe]

After Lao Li and Da Meiyuan entered the office, he briefly sorted out his official business before making a phone call, "Are you ready?"

The call received a positive response.

Lao Li said decisively, "Time Video has officially launched its public beta test. In addition to movie and TV series channels, we can also allow users with fast internet speeds to watch videos online."

"We also welcome all netizens to upload their own short video works."

"If the advertising business is negotiated well, it can also make money."

"With both versions running both inside and outside the Great Firewall, the internet speed in Hong Kong and South Korea is faster than in mainland China."

Since October 2003, he has acquired the exclusive online broadcasting rights for a large number of old movies and classic TV series.

Naturally, this major project will not be ignored.

In another month, YouTube in the United States will be launched.

Time Video was definitely promoted earlier and its framework is much more mature.

In addition to the film and television section, there are a large number of genuine film and television resources.

It is also necessary for individual users to upload their own short videos.

This website was put together last summer, and the mainland team is currently living in the sixth-floor office building where Weibo moved out.

The wall is still being strengthened year by year.

Is the Hong Kong-House Bay version renting an office and then providing employee accommodation? This can be done by renting the office building purchased by Weibo.

Weibo is about to raise HK$50 billion and bring a wave of new properties to Hong Kong Island, which is still a sure profit in early 2005.

Da Meiyuan smiled as he put away his phone, "Then I can go back to my office and browse the internet and watch TV shows and movies?"

"Our company's 4M enterprise broadband feels pretty fast."

The Shiguang Media Building has been completed and is equipped with the highest standard of corporate broadband in Beijing.

Old Li nodded. "Big projects may burn money, but after the official launch, I will welcome anyone who wants to raise funds in advance."

Video websites really burn money.

So far, he has only allowed Shi Guang Renren to raise 10%.

360 Group only gave Zhou Hongyi 12% and did not accept any other financing.

But if IDG, Sequoia Capital, Shenzhen Capital Group and others come and want to join the video industry, he will welcome it.

Da Meiyu spoke some sweet words and ran back to tidy up her personal office and lounge on the 12th floor.

Others, including Jiang Shuying, Xiao Yangmi, Re Yizha, etc., had already completed a round of simple personal decoration and purchased various furniture and interior decorations.

Da Meiyu, who just returned from the Peninsula, has just started working.

With the launch of the Time Video website, it is of course difficult for countless users with slow internet speeds to watch videos online. What about those with fast internet speeds?
Just a few big stars promote it on Weibo.

Countless netizens inside and outside the Great Firewall rushed to the video website to watch the show.

Whether it is Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Water Margin, including the (Genesis) and (My Date with a Vampire) series in Hong Kong Bay.

There are also many old movies.

On the first day of its public beta, Time Video attracted millions of users who became immersed in the website for a long time.

This means there are millions of people from China, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand online at the same time!

The number of simple browsing exits will only increase.

The first brands to invest in advertising included Tsingtao Beer, Samsung, Nokia mobile phones, and then color TVs, refrigerators, shampoos, and so on.

Millions of users watch TV shows and movies online at the same time, with occasional commercials, so it’s definitely worth it.

This was the beta test period of the video website, and the professional CEOs they recruited went to the group to discuss cooperation, and gradually attracted tens of millions of advertising fees.

Many of them are commercials shot by popular young actors and actresses.

The popular American TV series (The Big Bang Theory) mainly promotes shampoo and lipstick advertisements endorsed by white beauties such as Blake Lively and Alexandra.

Many big-name advertisers pay advertising fees to Time Video.

If you pay Time Media endorsement fees, you will make a lot of money.

Around 1:20 p.m. on January th.

Lao Li was inspecting the status of each department at the sixth-floor office building headquarters of the video website when he received a text message from Mr. Han, the general manager of China Film Group.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Liu from Morningside Venture Capital wants to have a meal with you and meet you."

"If Mr. Li's video website needs venture capital, Lao Liu would also like to make friends with you. Lao Liu is from the Hunan Provincial Radio and Television."

“The connections within the system are pretty good.”

Li Wenyu was happy. People in the radio and television system were running faster than IDG.

However, Shenzhen Capital Group is still a state-owned enterprise in Shenzhen. It has contacted Lao Li many times in the past to invest in Renren or 360 Antivirus Group.

…………

It's around eight o'clock in the evening.

Old Li arrived at the underground parking lot of a big hotel. Da Meiyuan and Xiao Tong, who had been waiting there for a long time, were about to get out of the car to greet him.

In a car on the other side, Xiong Xiaoge ran over and said, "Mr. Li, your video website is finally out."

"Watching videos online is such a big, new platform. I heard you had dinner with Mr. Liu from Morningside Venture Capital?"

"If the radio and television industry steps in, and state-owned capital like Shenzhen Capital Group joins the effort, and I also run some errands, can we bring the internet into the era of cracking down on piracy sooner?"

When Lao Li was doing a roadshow during the Spring Festival in 04, he responded positively to the fact that he spent money in advance to stock up on copyrights, but he still needed to wait for a network environment.

I look forward to the day when piracy will be banned.

On the first day of the video's public beta, more than one million people were online simultaneously in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

This data is super awesome.

And all sorts of broadcasting, television, and state-owned venture capital firms are rushing in, regardless of what's happening outside.

Mainland China fights piracy?

Old Li smiled and passed out cigarettes. "I heard the higher-ups are going to clean up the internet this year. Operation Sword Net is a multi-departmental effort."

“I’m not sure if the first fire will spread to the film and television industry.”

The original trajectory did not involve him, and Jian Wang also became popular this year!

He spoke out in 04 and officially promoted the video website this year.

It will enter the field of pirated videos in advance.

The original trajectory was around 2009, when many irregular websites were blocked and major platforms rushed to give money to LeTV.

Of course, piracy can never be completely stopped. By 2025, it will be easy to download various film and television content.

However, if you arrive in advance without the copyright of the film or TV series, it will not be broadcast on other platforms.

Currently, the vast majority of users still have a model where registered users can watch many programs for free, which can gradually evolve into a model where users can watch programs for free for ten yuan a month after becoming a member.

The versions of Time Video inside and outside the Great Firewall have not yet promoted membership recharge.

This version does not require registration, so visitors can only watch the first episode of a TV series and cannot watch subsequent episodes.

Functions such as comment, reply and interaction have been opened on the TV series page.

Xiong Xiaoge took a deep breath and said, "One hundred million US dollars, I want 20% of the video website."

This gives Time Video a valuation of $5 million.

It is no secret inside and outside the circle that Lao Li spent hundreds of millions of dollars in advance.

The price he offered was much higher than the number Lao Li had heard at the dinner party before.

But YouTube was founded in 2005, and by October 06, Google had spent $10 billion on it, which was 16.5 billion RMB at the exchange rate at the time! Li Wenyu laughed and said, "Let's just give you $130 million. I'll give you 8000%. It's hard to say whether Operation Sword Net can protect copyright in time."

"If it's just the mainland market, $1 million would be too expensive. But if we add in users outside the Great Firewall, it's definitely worth it."

He welcomes capital.

It's just his own money, leaving aside the cost of purchasing the film copyright, the server and broadband fees are also not a small amount.

For example, in 2005, Penguin's total revenue was 14.26 billion yuan, and its net profit was 4.85 million yuan. Where did the expenses go?
Servers and broadband are not cheap.

Of course, the research and development of projects such as Penguin Tenpay and Paipai also requires money, including salary expenses for employees.

The price given by IDG Lao Xiong is sincere, and more importantly, this guy does not give random orders to interfere with the internal operations of the new group.

Old Bear puffed away as he spoke, "I still need to talk to headquarters and report back, but generally speaking, as long as President Li is willing to give in, there won't be a big problem."

"Your own valuation is $8 million? That's more expensive than we thought, but you didn't need the small sums in the early stages, Mr. Li. Who can easily get a big bargain now?"

"I estimate that if I negotiate with the headquarters, it will be 8000% of 10 million or 1.6% of 20 million. If this year's action can really burn the pirated movies and TV series, it will be a sure profit."

"I've also heard a lot about this. From Sequoia and SoftBank to Shenzhen Capital, everyone is waiting for Weibo's IPO to grab a piece of the action."

“SoftBank really wants to have a say in the platform!”

"Others are grabbing 2% to 3% and then sitting back and waiting for appreciation."

Lao Xiong also wants to pool 10% of the shares with Samsung to flow into the stock market. He still holds more than % of the shares, similar to the proportion of Pony Ma in Penguin.

This is definitely an investment return ratio that will make you a lot of money in just two years.

Li Wenyu nodded, "If it really does enter the market, then we'll follow the market."

He will hold 45% of the shares after the listing, and it seems that he will no longer have absolute say, but SoftBank will grab more than 10% and can ignore the other party's words.

With the cooperation of Lao Xiong and IDG, Lao Li can still make decisions easily.

I chatted with Lao Xiong for a while, and then the two of them separated.

Xiao Tong, wearing a hat and mask, came over and said, "Did you close another big deal? Boss, a lot of my Weibo followers are flooding my screen with comments."

"They were shouting about when the second season of (Squidward Games) would be filmed, and when the first season would be released on Time Video."

"Many people say that watching movies and TV shows on video websites is countless times more convenient than watching reruns on TV. You can freely advance the progress bar."

"This is ten times more convenient than buying a DVD and pressing fast forward and rewind."

Old Li was speechless. "This is indeed much more convenient."

Even in the king of period dramas, there is always some content that makes the audience want to fast forward.

The best representative is the yellow-haired Zheng Shengli in "In the Name of People".

But when traditional TV stations replay, you can't even drag the progress bar at will, let alone fast forward or rewind.

Did netizens discover this treasure progress bar on the first day of the release of Time Video? Normal.

It is also your free choice to choose which episode you like best.

For netizens in the mainland with fast internet speeds, they can easily discover the advantages of video websites.

It is also very interesting to discuss film reviews while watching TV series from a distance.

The barrage also depends on the development of web technology and the improvement of network speed.

As for the fact that Time Video is not online (Squid Game)? This is for sure, otherwise it would have affected the price of Squid Game's third to tenth rounds of film sales.

Even (You Who Came From the Stars) hasn’t come online yet.

Otherwise, European and American streaming media would not have spent 4 million US dollars and 6 million US dollars to buy out the ten-year copyrights of the entire series of Friends and The Big Bang Theory respectively.

A big explosion of 6 million dollars for ten years of copyright!

The global streaming rights of "The Big Bang Theory" are in the hands of Time Media.

The sitcom The Big Bang was launched on the first day, and it can snatch the users of Omi TV dramas from Omi TV.

Omi sold the broadcast rights for a few rounds, and that was money from Warner Bros. Television.

…………

January 1th, the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

With the release of a series of blockbusters, the screening schedule of "Perfect Strangers" has been greatly reduced.

Dong Li started running at the roadshow of Black Mask 3.

Pang Bing, the newly appointed CEO of Time, is still learning skills by appearing on various variety shows on Beijing TV and CCTV.

As soon as Mr. Li arrived at the media headquarters early in the morning, he received a report from his secretary.

Warner Bros. Pictures is willing to give (The Hangover) a higher share of the box office in the US and European theaters, and the bundling condition is that Warner and Time will co-produce (Dallas Buyers Club).

They have already negotiated with several famous actors, all of whom are white and have good acting skills.

Willing to lose weight for this leading actor and strive for the Oscar for Best Actor.

If Time Bros. is still willing to co-produce a film with Warner Bros. (Slumdog Millionaire), then the box office share they can get could be a few percentage points higher.

In this regard, Warner Bros. Television also visited the headquarters frequently to ask them to give the film department some dinner parties.

Because Warner Bros. Television sold the TV remake rights for "Dark Glory" at a normal price.

It's starting now (The Hangover), and if it's filmed quickly it could become a global hit during the 2005 summer season.

After thinking about it, Li Wenyu summoned Deng Xiaoping, Jin Dong, Wang Kai, Qin Lan, Wang Zuxian and Guan Zhilin.

Now it’s officially launched at the end of January (Hangover)?
It seemed that male actors like Deng Xiaoming, who had only received the script for a month, had basically lost their competitiveness with Huang Xiaoming.

Their English is still terrible!
Lao Li started a round of interviews and finally decided that Qin Lan would play the role of the younger sister of the second male lead in (The Hangover).

After he asked Qin Lan to stay, the others dispersed. Li Wenyu grabbed his phone and called Xiao Ming, "The Hangover project is progressing faster, so you're the second male lead."

"For now, let Warner Bros. Television coordinate the filming schedule for Big Bang Theory Season 2 with your schedule."

"They have one film department and one television department, so even though they are different organizations, coordination is easy."

Mr. Huang on the other end of the phone was so excited that he couldn't speak. He expressed his gratitude and thanks in various ways, and even the flattering Mr. Li became awkward.

After Li Wenyu hung up the phone, he said to Qin Lan, "You are going to the United States to film now. You don't have many scenes, but you have to let Alexandra go with you."

"Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll be kidnapped, or bribed or plotted against in some other way."

Qin Lan pointed at herself excitedly, "Me? Not really, Boss... I'm just a small fry, is it worth resorting to such tactics?"

Li Wenyu poured a cup of tea and smiled, "Why aren't you in a relationship? If you had a boyfriend, I probably wouldn't ask you for this kind of thing."

A lot is known to the outside world that Lao Li is a philandering tycoon.

Even if he led the team himself, he could only take Da Meiyu and Dong Li to places like Hong Kong and South Korea.

Even those who did not get on the train, such as Xiao Liu and Jiang Shuying, dare not go to the United States or Europe easily, otherwise they will be poisoned and threatened with various photos and videos.

The probability of them becoming pawns of other capitals' honey trap to deal with Lao Li is extremely high.

SoftBank and Judas, who at least want to hold more than 10% of Weibo's shares and influence the platform's voice, will definitely take action.

Even if she didn't become one of the Four Little Flowers, Qin Lan didn't get the title of the Four Beauties of Time.

Even if she goes to the United States without the help of Alexandra's wealthy family, she will most likely become a new target of capital.

Just as he said, Qin Lan has been single for almost three years since joining Shi Guang.

This is the debut of the second female lead from "You Who Came From the Stars"!

Qin Lan was numb for dozens of seconds, "How about you help me break the single status, boss? I'll just treat it as my first love and run away after two years?"

"I've never thought about this before. I've only heard Alexandra talk about it so much that I'm curious about how well you're doing, boss."

Li Wenyu, "..."

(End of this chapter)