King of Hollywood
Chapter 304 - Chapter 304 Chapter 31 Decided

Chapter 304: Chapter 31 Decided Chapter 304: Chapter 31 Decided “In fact, if we want to continue, this plan doesn’t have too many problems, although expanding into a wireless TV station still requires a lot of resources, such as more local base stations, investing more funds, and so on. My father, Uncle Anderson, and many others would be willing to help, and there’s also the successful example of the FOX TV station under News Corporation,” Claude immediately explained, “But the problem is that there are several issues with this plan that can’t be ignored: the long cycle, the large investment, and the higher risk. We just mentioned News Corporation, and you should know that Murdoch isn’t having an easy time right now.”

“Yes, Charli gave me their information, and I had her organize it specially,” Adrian nodded.

“Although we have advantages, we cannot guarantee that we won’t face a situation like News Corporation’s, and once we truly face their kind of predicament, we definitely won’t last longer than they will,” Claude said while drinking his coffee, “I believe that with you here, there won’t be a problem with the TV station’s ratings; you’ve already proven that. But some things can’t be resolved by ratings alone, Ed, and you’ll have moments when your creativity runs dry, right?”

After saying this, he quietly waited for a moment, letting Adrian digest this information before speaking again, “I realized this a few months ago, but didn’t have a good solution. However, I know that neither you nor I will give up or shrink back; it’s the goal we’ve set long ago and are working hard for. In the end, I consulted with my father, and then he asked me why bother expanding a cable TV station into a wireless one when there’s an option ready at hand? Indeed, think about it, if we can successfully acquire it, both our influence and our voice will undergo a qualitative leap, and as long as you can get ABC out of the red, their network, along with what we have with CNN and TBS, will give us the strength to stand toe-to-toe with networks like CBS!”

“That’s a nice speech,” Adrian clapped symbolically, looking at Claude with a smile that was not quite a smile, “If I remember correctly, I’ve said all of this to you before… made a mistake?”

Claude took a long breath, his facial expression didn’t change too much, “Yes, I made a mistake; I underestimated the operation of television media. But who hasn’t made mistakes? And it’s better to make them now than later, isn’t it?”

“Indeed that’s true. I always remember when you first told me that we didn’t have many advantages,” Adrian looked at his close friend, his gaze tinged with a bit of teasing and annoyance, “Young, lack of accomplishments, and so on.”

“I won’t forget what I said, but these can now be resolved,” Claude suddenly laughed, “Have you seen the recent reports? Then you should be aware of ‘Millionaire’s’ ratings.”

Adrian’s eyebrows raised slightly. Although he focused less on television than on movies, he knew if one had to choose the most watched entertainment program on TV in September, it would be ‘Millionaire’, which debuted three weeks prior.

Enough gimmicks–the ultimate winner could earn a million-dollar prize; a tense atmosphere–contestants had to break through by answering a variety of questions, ranging from easy to hard, and could use methods like asking the audience for help to lower the difficulty; populist measures–simply registering to participate. All these factors made ‘Millionaire’ extremely popular; in the first week it aired, it garnered a rating of 8.6, meaning around 18 million people were watching.

For a cable television station, this was an incredible achievement. Although some newspapers criticized the show as sensationalist, it didn’t stop advertisers from flocking to it and the increasing viewer base.

“…Two weeks later, the ratings climbed to 9.2, nearly 20 million viewers. It probably won’t go up any further, but maintaining it until the end of the season should be no problem,” Adrian recalled carefully and then spoke slowly; the benefits of having a photographic memory. Speaking of which, he casually mentioned ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, knowing that Claude would surely ask, “‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ aired at the same time and has peaked at 2.5 so far, in line with the previous prediction of over 4 million viewers.”

“What would the ratings be if it were aired on a terrestrial TV channel?” Claude asked with a smile, posing another question.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly, guessing partly what the other meant, “‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ won’t increase by much, as its audience is relatively niche. But ‘Millionaire’, conservatively estimated, should at least double!”

“This is one of our bargaining chips,” Claude spread his hands, “Two years ago, we indeed had no remarkable achievements to speak of, but now it’s different. The executives at ABC must understand what such a program means to them. With you here, I can confidently tell them that we have many more programs and TV shows; they will definitely consider it seriously.”

Indeed, the ratings for “Millionaire,” “Friends,” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”–although only watched by over 4 million people, it still carries significant allure for ABC, which hasn’t had any good TV dramas for a while–these are all laid out before us, and furthermore, now that they also own CNN, ABC must be aware of what it would mean to unite these under ideal conditions.

“So you waited two months to tell me, huh?” Adrian asked, stroking his chin.

“Yes, I wanted to confirm the ratings for ‘Millionaire’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’,” Claude said candidly. “I also thought about checking the situation at TNT, but if we’re going to make a move now is the best time, and with the ratings of ‘Millionaire’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ we already have enough persuasive power.”

“Plus, if TNT continues to succeed in negotiations, that could further increase persuasiveness, right?” Adrian asked, unable to help but admit that Claude was very thorough.

Regarding the transformation of TNT in the direction of HBO, it had preliminarily been completed thanks to their willingness to spend. Three weeks before the premiere of “Millionaire,” Adrian had already instructed Bossworth to prepare that TV show for them, the one that elevated HBO in the ’90s, “Sex and the City.”

The competition for TV shows in the United States is fierce, with almost every show that manages to last 6 or 7 seasons being a work of quality, especially as we enter the 21st century, where life’s pace further speeds up and the competition becomes even more intense. Lucky for us, “Friends” began filming in the early ’90s; otherwise, it would be tough to say whether such a sitcom could last ten seasons.

Producing “Sex and the City” isn’t easy, but it’s not difficult either. It’s easy because the essence of the show lies in fashion and the unfettered discussions among women, like eye-catching outfits that attract attention and openly discussing men’s sizes and abilities on TV. In simple terms, this is a show that promotes feminism, targeting a broad audience of women and men curious about the female psyche.

Adrian had contacted Candace Bushnell early on, at a time when “Sex and the City” hadn’t yet been compiled into a book but was scattered across the columns she wrote. With the promise of publishing, she quickly sold him the adaptation rights and agreed to serve as a script adaptation consultant. As for the actors, as long as they understood fashion, could dress well, and knew how to present that on camera, not just Sarah Jessica Parker was needed.

That’s why producing it seemed easy, but the difficulty lay in the fact that it was TNT’s first time producing its own TV series. Even though Adrian had arranged for some staff to assist and made contact with many teams, they still didn’t have the experience HBO did.

Of course, this could also be seen as a test. Adrian provided TNT with all possible conveniences and resources. If they still produced a mess, then they would have to consider collaborating with HBO.

“Yes, when we’re negotiating, and even the restructured TNT can achieve results, ABC will naturally become more and more tempted,” Claude nodded, glanced at his coffee which had run out, and then poured himself another cup.

“Okay, then the second problem, the financial issue,” Adrian shifted his sitting position.

“Thanks to a well-devised strategy, the acquisition of TBS cost us only $5.5 billion, so if you calculate carefully, we still have about $10 billion in funds available,” Claude replied with a smile.

“That’s impossible,” Adrian showed a surprised expression, “don’t tell me you didn’t spend money when acquiring those newspapers.”

“Of course we did, but we were also making money,” Claude shrugged, “don’t forget, we have the foreign trade companies in Russia, the Clinton administration is also forcing the yen to keep appreciating, and there’s this year’s Mexican Peso crisis…”

“Wait, are you talking about the Mexican peso?” Adrian’s surprised expression grew even larger, “I remember we discussed this before, and you were opposed to it at the time.”

“Correct, but I was only opposed to getting too involved; it’s fine to go in as speculators, make a few deals, and then get out.” Claude chuckled cunningly, “I must admit, Soros is quite the character to be able to command operations even in that situation.”

“So, what about the 1992 British Pounds?” Adrian immediately asked this, eyes fixed on him without blinking.

“Just a bit, the profit earned was even less than that from the peso.” Claude spread his hands, not concealing a thing.

“You devil…” Adrian couldn’t help but laugh out loud before he sighed and pointed at him.

“Well, even so, it’s still not enough. As I recall, you initially estimated it might take close to 20 billion US dollars.” He then calmly said, “Even now that we do have some respectable achievements, are they worth 10 billion?”

“Not quite, but there’s no problem with 5 billion.” Claude quickly answered.

“Really?”

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Ed. Remember Carl Reiner, the Vice-Chairman of Viacom, he thinks you’re worth far more than what you’ve shown, and I believe that’s Redstone’s opinion as well. Father also said, your potential is immeasurable.”

“It sounds like they plan to ship me off to the National Academy of Sciences for dissection.” Adrian said this with utter seriousness, and only continued after Claude burst into laughter, “Alright, even so, we’re still 5 billion short, what do you plan to do…”

“We can finance.” Claude’s answer was ready, and Adrian didn’t show any surprise; he had obviously anticipated this response.

“Whether it’s my father or your Uncle Anderson, they’ll both be more than happy to help,” Claude said softly.

“Of course, it was just a matter of time.” Adrian sighed.

Everybody knows that to succeed, sharing and mutual benefits are the best approach. Many people have built their careers with the funding and various conveniences provided by different groups and consortia. But from another perspective, isn’t this also an opportunity for those big groups and consortia to extend their tentacles into various industries?

They quietly enter the boardroom, silently observing everything. As long as you can make money, they won’t make a move; but when you stop being profitable, they start meddling in affairs, turning your company into something they have in their pocket. If you’re dissatisfied and want to fight back to reclaim your power, they’ll unceremoniously kick you out. The reason why Jobs was ousted from Apple had much to do with his arrogance, but this factor was not absent either.

Media, especially television networks, are very important to a country; otherwise, the United States would not have a law stating “Non-U.S. citizens are not allowed to acquire U.S. television networks.” Secondly, as previously mentioned, America’s upper class half-flatters, half-suppresses Jewish people, but they mostly control traditional print media. In contrast, Jewish people hold considerable clout in emerging media like film and television–Hollywood has long been referred to as Jewish Hollywood.

Thinking about Adrian’s uncle and the circles he moves in, AC Media might become one of the breakthroughs–if Adrian and Claude do well, it’s a certainty that higher-level individuals will reach in. Adrian doesn’t oppose this; it is a rule, an irreversible one, no company is exempt. But currently he needs the power to have the final say, because only he knows what the future holds, and even if he does share, it wouldn’t be until after the year 2000.

The original plan was to expand TBS continuously, through The Godfather and the uncle, allowing those funds to gradually and limitedly participate. But if he wants to acquire ABC now, with the influx of huge funds…

“What are you thinking about?” Seeing that Adrian had been quiet for a while, Claude couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing much,” Adrian clenched his fists, “What you’re talking about is the ideal scenario, don’t forget that we also have to face Disney’s competition. They’ve been negotiating for some time, and you should also understand what kind of personality Eisner has, not to mention that we previously snatched Miramax from them.”

“I understand your concerns, but I wouldn’t have mentioned it to you if there wasn’t a 50% chance of success, Ed,” Claude smiled, “Disney does have advantages we don’t, like being wealthy and well-resourced, and having a long history; but our advantage is that we have successful experiences they lack, right?”

“What if we fail?” Adrian asked, his eyebrows knitting slightly.

“Then we continue with the previous plan. It might just take a bit longer. News Corporation took ten years; we won’t need that long,” Claude shrugged and then smiled at Adrian, “I know what you’re worried about, Ed. Don’t forget where the funding is coming from.”

“Yes, I’m aware,” Adrian didn’t deny, “But it’s not just The Godfather and my uncle, right?”

“It’s better than letting those who completely misunderstand get involved, isn’t it?” Claude gestured, “And besides, this acquisition negotiation will take a long time, and the financing can be discussed slowly. Perhaps as time goes by, the financing amount needed may decrease. You know, Yahoo’s click rate has already exceeded one million.”

Adrian raised his eyebrows in surprise; he had not expected Claude to be closely following Yahoo’s development. As early as February, he had hinted at Jerry Yang and David Filo through email, leading Yahoo to launch on the internet two months ahead of schedule, and also, because of him, their website was initially named Yahoo. Consequently, the website developed very quickly, and with guidance through occasional emails from Adrian, Yahoo’s click rate reached heights that should have only been reached by the end of the year.

According to reliable information, the two founders of the website were ambitiously preparing to establish a company, and hence Adrian was also ready to make his move. As a Stanford alumnus, it would be easy for him to invest. If nothing went wrong along the way, Yahoo was preparing to go public by the end of the year, giving AC Media more room to maneuver.

However, Adrian could make such judgments because he could see Yahoo’s future, while Claude was relying entirely on his own perspective and even brought it up before Adrian thought of it, which was quite outstanding!

Adrian tapped his fingers back and forth on the desk. Acquire ABC? Of course, it would be a qualitative leap for his company and greatly shorten the time spent in television media, but… well, there’s no such thing as perfect in the world. The key is whether ABC is worth the gamble.

Basically, with a 50% chance, it was worth betting on, and… if he could delay until the end of next year, with Cisco and Microsoft beginning to exert their strength, Adrian would have even more room to maneuver. Uncle Regret managed his fund very well. Coupled with relationships through The Godfather and uncle and Claude’s capabilities, and even if financing 5 billion wouldn’t dilute shares to the critical value, there was no need to worry too much about control of the company. Moreover, agreements could be signed–in essence, it all came down to profitability. As long as there were sustained profits, even with just a few percent of shares, control over the company could be maintained.

That settles it! Adrian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then looked at Claude seriously, “Then, let’s take down ABC!”

(To be continued. For the continuation of this story, please visit www.NovelFire.net. There are more chapters available there. Support the author, support genuine reading!)

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