The world begins with Hong Kong movies

Chapter 497 is too realistic! (Seeking monthly votes)
The inaugural "Fengmang Cup" arcade game competition has indeed attracted considerable controversy.

Looking at the group of teenagers participating in the competition, some so-called experts and scholars couldn't help but criticize them in the newspapers with great distress.

With the appeals from many students' parents, it did indeed spark a considerable discussion, which was not unexpected.

ATV's impromptu commentary program invited many students' parents and so-called education experts, who spoke quite rudely on the show, and Wu Feng naturally didn't get the better of them either.

Many rival media outlets saw this as a rare and legitimate opportunity to cause trouble for Wu Feng, and they naturally wouldn't miss it.

Then they swarmed in, and in newspapers and on television programs, all sorts of accusations and slanders were leveled against Wu Feng.

Those who don't know the situation might think that Wu Feng has become a pariah, someone everyone wants to beat.

In fact, the media voices that sided with them were also quite loud.

The first arcade game competition has achieved remarkable commercial success since its launch.

Although this competition mainly promoted the Ong-Bak series of games, other arcade games did not skimp on exposure resources.

Fighting games, casual games, fighting puzzle games, shooting puzzle games, airplane puzzle games, and so on, all of them are on display.

Many arcade games were only sold in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan due to insufficient promotion, and did not spread to Southeast Asia, let alone to Taiwan and other regions.

At most, they can add the Oceania market; Europe and America can only sell through Lin Dashao's channels, secretly.

Many arcade enthusiasts in Southeast Asia saw various arcade games they had never played before through ATV's live broadcasts, which naturally prompted nearby arcades to stock up on them.

The arcade owner, after considering the opinions of many gamers, found the main supplier and ordered the relevant finished arcade machines.

The first game competition had only just begun its live broadcast, and its influence had not yet fully spread, but orders were already starting to appear.

This is definitely a huge benefit for companies that own arcade game copyrights.

They naturally wouldn't allow too many criticisms against arcade game competitions to emerge in the market.

Wu Feng was somewhat amused and exasperated. His television and newspaper media outlets hadn't even put in any effort, yet the topic had already become a hot topic.

At this time, a group of gangsters who had made a name for themselves by playing arcade games and thus gained a stable income gave interviews, reminiscing about their past hardships.

Readers then realized that so many gangsters had earned a stable income by playing arcade games, thus reforming themselves and turning over a new leaf!
Surprised, I naturally wanted to find out how arcade games made money.

Then, they were surprised to find that the arcade game industry on Hong Kong Island had already reached a considerable scale.

I don't know if it's because of the influence of Garden Street, but many large entertainment centers with arcade machines, as well as small arcade game halls, often use a portion of their profits as prize money to hold arcade game competitions.

Hong Kong Island is urbanizing rapidly, and arcade game competitions between the 18 districts have become a regular occurrence, with major clashes happening every now and then.

This not only gave arcade game experts the opportunity to make money, but also served as advertising for the entertainment center, with quite good results.

Then there were arcade game competitions between streets, and even between arcades, which were also common occurrences.

The reporters carefully estimated the figures, and then they were shocked.

Hong Kong Island hosts over a hundred arcade game competitions of varying sizes every year, not even counting smaller ones organized in Macau and Taiwan. If you add in the arcade competitions held in Southeast Asia, some arcade game enthusiasts could easily work year-round without a break.

Although the prize money varies from competition to competition, it's enough for this period of time. At least you can eat your fill and have some surplus.

Playing arcade games in competitions is indeed a way to make money!
After these reports were published, the previously heated debates in the public sphere suddenly subsided.

Wu Feng also found it interesting!

Damn, Hong Kong people's obsession with money is truly ingrained; it's frighteningly realistic.

These public debates didn't really interest him much.

The reason for holding the arcade game competition, besides promoting the arcade games they own, is also to fill the program needs of ATV Sports Channel.

After all, it's satellite TV, with several channels running almost 24/7, requiring a considerable number of programs.

If it weren't for the short-term advertising contract worth HK$300 million signed earlier, Wu Feng would probably have had to bleed money to cover the losses.

With five satellite channels broadcasting programs 24 hours a day, the demand for programming is immense.

Most importantly, the cost of producing the show is not low!

Wu Feng currently has no plans to allow ATV to separate production and broadcasting to reduce the station's costs.

Once satellite TV viewership stabilizes, less important time slots can be purchased from external suppliers using a production-and-broadcast separation strategy.

The television station will retain enough staff for program and drama production to produce high-quality programs and dramas.

To become a large-scale television station with sufficient influence, Wu Feng believes it should have its own ecosystem.

It is a media matrix centered around a television station, surrounded by numerous film and television drama and variety show production companies, as well as other related companies.

If they really go this far, ATV's influence and strength alone will never be underestimated.

A negative example is the later-era wireless television station!
Since Uncle Siu and Fong Yee-wah left, TVB's situation has deteriorated year by year.

Originally, TVB's annual advertising revenue alone amounted to several billion Hong Kong dollars, but after 2020, the station found itself in a situation where its revenue could not cover its expenses.

Severely impacted by online videos and smartphones, it can only be said that its own foundation is not deep enough.

Otherwise, given TVB's status and influence in Hong Kong, transforming into an online media platform would be even easier than for Hunan TV in mainland China.

At this time, ATV's satellite sports channel not only broadcast the first arcade game competition, but also moved all kinds of entertainment game competitions that had been developed and matured in the Garden Street area to the sports channel for broadcast.

This caused quite a stir, giving many enthusiasts a great opportunity to express themselves and make money at the same time.

For example, the news that the American pool tournament, which is very popular on Garden Street, would be broadcast on ATV Sports Channel immediately attracted the attention of countless pool masters on Hong Kong Island.

(End of this chapter)