Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 324 Upgrading the Stage
"boss Zhang."

"Hello, Mr. Zhang."

From the moment Zhang Yan walked into the Tianjin TV station office building, people kept greeting him, and each one of them was genuinely kind, much more enthusiastic than when he met his department leaders.

After Tianjin TV went satellite, the second season of "I Am a Singer" and "New Dragon and Phoenix" were launched one after another, which also greatly boosted the TV station's advertising revenue.

Naturally, this is matched by increasingly generous bonuses.

Previously, backed by the Bright Food Group, the Bright Flour Mill was officially reorganized into the Bright Food Group at the end of last year. The TV station also gave out a lot of bonuses, but that was money earned from the tertiary industry. It was not as justifiable as the money earned by the TV station itself.
Therefore, Zhang Yan's popularity at the TV station is soaring.

Upon arriving at Ma Yuan's office upstairs, the secretary, seeing that Zhang Yan hadn't even asked what was wrong, simply pushed open the door and announced, "Director, Mr. Zhang is here."

Then they opened the round door and let Zhang Yan in.

Ma Yuan put down the documents in his hand, took off his reading glasses, and then sighed, "Playing continuously for 24 hours a day, this movie channel is really coming on strong."

After a period of trial broadcasts, the movie channel, which was taken over by the optoelectronics department, officially launched on April 8th. Moreover, thanks to its abundant film library, it started broadcasting 24 hours a day.

Zhang Yan spread his hands and said, "My original idea was to wait until CCTV and Beijing Film Studio were deadlocked before letting our station reap the benefits, but who knew that the optoelectronics department would directly get involved."

"Hey~"

Ma Yuan sighed and said, "Before, we competed with other stations, but now even the optoelectronics department has entered the fray—the station is now counting on your new ideas. So, what have you gained during these few days of seclusion?"

Instead of answering directly, Zhang Yan asked in return, "Sir, what shortcomings do you think our station still has after going satellite?"

"Is this..."

Ma Yuan had actually thought about this matter quite a bit before, and his conclusion was that the station was too short of talent. If there were a few more Zhang Yans, then Tianjin TV would have the confidence to launch a counterattack against CCTV.

But it's not easy to say this outright, otherwise it would be too hurtful to the directing department.

So Ma Yuan chose to abandon further thought and countered with a second question: "Which aspect do you think it is?"

"I think it's about style."

Zhang Yan said decisively, "Although our overall viewership ratings are not as high as CCTV's, we have firmly established ourselves in the second tier, and we are leading the second tier by a wide margin. It is basically impossible to make further breakthroughs in viewership ratings in the short term."

I think the most urgent task is to launch one or two programs similar to "Zhengda Variety Show" and "Variety Show Grand View" that are both entertaining and educational, high-end and classy, ​​and establish a unique brand effect for Tianjin TV before other provincial TV stations can broadcast them.

Ideally, it should have a certain political and cultural flavor, highlighting Tianjin's status as the second northern city and a political sub-center, which would garner more support from the city government.

Ma Yuan's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and he lightly slapped the table, saying, "That's why I said you have political awareness!"

He paused, then added regretfully, "The 'Chinese Poetry Competition' you organized before was actually quite suitable, it's a pity..."

Zhang Yan quickly interrupted, saying, "Our program this time will definitely be more grand and symbolic than 'Chinese Poetry Competition'!"

"is it?"

Ma Yuan sat up straight, full of anticipation: "Tell me about it."

"I named this new variety show 'National Treasure,' and the content will bring together seven provincial museums across the country, plus the National Museum of China and the Palace Museum, with each of the nine major museums presenting their own offerings..."

Zhang Yan basically copied the general structure of the later "National Treasure" program, but there were many differences in the specific details. It was not that he wanted to be innovative, but that he had only seen the short advertisement and was not familiar with many specific details.

Therefore, we can only fill in the gaps in our minds within the larger framework.

Fortunately, the format of "National Treasure" is not complicated. He relied on the framework and his imagination to recreate it in a way that was about 70-80% complete.

Ma Yuan became increasingly excited as he listened, eager to film the program immediately. While shows like "I Am a Singer" and "The New Dragon and Phoenix" guaranteed high ratings, their political significance couldn't compare to "National Treasure." And what the authorities valued most was precisely its political significance.

However, after listening to Zhang Yan's explanation, he became somewhat worried: "Xiao Zhang, your idea is excellent, but you know we've invested a lot of money in the August 1st Film and Television Base. We've only recently started to recover, and now someone is suggesting building new office buildings and dormitories..."

"Is our station going to build a new building too?"

"Isn't this all because you provoked them?"

Ma Yuan rolled his eyes at Zhang Yan: "Your Dream Building is so magnificent, who wouldn't be envious?"

Well, this has become my own fault again.

Building new buildings, especially dormitories, is something everyone wants, and this should absolutely not be stopped.

Zhang Yan thought for a moment and explained, "Actually, the budget needed to film 'National Treasure' is not as much as you think. First of all, this is also a way for us to advertise for the museum. We won't charge them advertising fees, but it shouldn't be a problem to ask them to help arrange the filming team's food and lodging, right?"

Then there's inviting big-name celebrities. If it's for other programs, like mentors and guests on "I Am a Singer," their appearance fees will definitely be high.

But our purpose is to promote traditional culture, and we will also give them the status of national treasure ambassadors. We can use the name of a public service film to let them appear on screen. Not only will it not cost us any money, but we might even be able to encourage them to donate money to the museum.

Then there's the advertising revenue. This is a national strategic asset, so the advertising fees certainly can't be charged at the usual rate.

After a pause, Zhang Yan added, "Also, our records are selling quite well this year. I'll have the company release the sales figures ahead of schedule, and I guarantee it won't delay the construction of the new office building and dormitory."

Listening to Zhang Yan's detailed list, the anticipated expenses were cut by about half, and Zhang Yan's offer to hand over the share in advance moved Ma Yuan deeply.

These days, most tertiary industries require subsidies from higher authorities. Very few companies, like Guangming Group, can actually give back to their superiors, let alone hand over profits in advance.

Moreover, even a parent company like Bright Food Group has to wrestle for a long time over handing over its share of profits, not to mention Dream Records is just a nominal entity.

Ma Yuan deliberately walked around from behind his desk, grabbed Zhang Yan's hand and shook it vigorously: "Little Zhang, if you didn't already have such a large business, I really wanted to bring you into the station. When I retire, the position of station director will definitely be yours!"

"Don't."

Zhang Yan laughed and said, "I'm still used to the free and easy life outside the system. If you think I did a good job, please do me the honor of having a few drinks at my wedding."

"Haha, of course, no problem!"

Perhaps they were talking about marriage.

After Zhang Yan and Ma Yuan finished studying "National Treasure," they received a call from home not long after they left, saying that they would be going to Tianjin to meet up with their son and future daughter-in-law in a while.

When are you two leaving?

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan quickly replied, "I'll send someone to pick you up in a bus. That would be safer and save you from having to squeeze onto the train."

Although the near-robbery incident at the end of last year didn't scare Zhang Yan, he's now hesitant to let his elderly parents travel alone again.

"no, I'm fine."

Zhang Xingguo hurriedly said, "Besides your mother and me, the city also plans to send a few people to follow along, saying they want to learn from your company's advanced experience."

The city sent people to Yuanmeng to learn from their advanced experience?
Zhang Yan found it all rather novel. Yuanmeng was involved in film and television entertainment, and the most important thing was to control propaganda positions and cultural resources, which were basically only available in core cities.

If Yuanmeng hadn't been tied to Tianjin from the beginning, he would definitely have gone to Beijing to develop his career.

For an ordinary city to replicate this success is basically a pipe dream, not to mention that Hengjiang is a poor place, and even with Zhang Yan's help, it is impossible to succeed.

The city should be able to see this too, so what exactly is their intention in sending people here?
(End of this chapter)