Chapter 84 82 The Attitudes of Major TV Stations

Chapter 84 The attitudes of major TV stations

My father doesn't understand what I want to do, but it doesn't matter, as long as he fully supports it.

When the initial results appear, he will understand.

At the same time, Eric couldn't help but sigh that he was really lucky to have such a good father.

In the eyes of Charlie Cooper, as long as his son wants to do something, even if it seems ridiculous, he is still willing to try.

And the model Eric is talking about is naturally Netflix. There are also Youku, Tudou, Penguin Video and the like in China.

Although Netflix has been established for several years, the company is still engaged in videotape rental business and is competing with Blockbuster for the market. It has no time to take care of other things.

The limitations of the times have made it not realize the importance of streaming media platforms.

I'm sorry, I have to seize the opportunity.

As for investing in Netflix or acquiring Netflix, first of all, the acquisition will definitely not agree. After all, Blockbuster is now losing ground and Netflix is ​​in a good situation.

If you want to invest, you might as well do it yourself. How can others compare to your own?

But just as my father worried, once I really created this platform, it would be regarded as a thorn in the eyes of major TV stations.

It is conceivable that they will never authorize movies and TV series to me, and then MGM will face the situation where only its own film library can be used.

If you want to break the situation, you can only continuously output high-quality content and improve user stickiness through high-quality works and price wars.

At the same time, Eric also has to develop two wings that support each other-Facebook and YouTube.

These two companies have not appeared yet, and it is a good time to start.

The former will provide strong social media support and drainage, while the latter can use MGM's new works for secondary creation and promotion.

After the accounts are interconnected, a trinity pattern is formed.

Later, you can match it with a chat software similar to WeChat or QQ for support, but there are Microsoft's MSN and Google in this regard, which is not easy to do.

If you want to get involved, you can only wait until the overall situation is stable, otherwise Google and Microsoft will block you in technical support, and you will kneel down.

Then there is Twitter, which has a different style from the other three. After it is launched, it cannot support each other for a while, so it can be put aside for a while.

On March 10, Eric flew to Oregon to visit the crew of "Transformers". Everything is progressing normally. Patty Jenkins is a very reliable executor.

He also went to Weta Digital to check the progress of special effects on site. The progress is not slow. Almost more than one-third of the work has been completed.

The person in charge told him that more than half of the machines in the entire company are working for "Transformers", and even Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings 3" has been compressed.

Although he knew that the other party must be lying, Eric still expressed his gratitude.

You know, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was launched at the same time. Even if the progress is different, I am afraid it is now in the final stage.

Not everyone is as familiar with the plot as he is, and the bearded man will not fight an unprepared battle.

As for the movie, the script of "Get Out" has been completed, and Ray Whannell went to Eric's house specifically for him to review.

The two stayed in the study room for another day to revise the script, and the script was basically finalized.

After that, they found a script doctor to add some jokes that only black people would say, and add some racial ridicule.

Neither Eric nor Ray Whannell is proficient in this aspect, and a black screenwriter must be found to make it work. The film is expected to start formal casting in half a month.

At AK Films, the script of "The Purge" has been completed, and Eric asked them to start filming without even reading it, with an investment of $4 million.

The director did not choose James DeMonaco from the original time and space. Eric learned that this guy is still just a screenwriter. Although he has been in the industry for a long time, he has no experience in independent production and cannot bear the courage of a director.

The position finally fell to Anthony Ferrante, the director of "Sharknado".

His work this year has been determined. He will shoot "The Purge" in the first half of the year and "Sharknado 2" in the second half of the year, and gradually become deeply bound to AK Films.

In addition, the copyrights of the knockoff films "Chainsaw Elf" and "Dragonfly" shot by AK Films have also been sold to local TV stations.

"Chainsaw Spirit" was sold to 42 companies, and "Dragonfly" was sold to 61 companies, with a total profit of about $4.8 million.

The total cost of the two knockoff movies was only $1.5 million, without publicity, and a gross profit of $3.3 million.

In addition, it is a small company with preferential tax rates and subsidy policies. In fact, for this $3.3 million, only about $100,000 in taxes need to be paid.

Even if the operating costs such as water, electricity, and labor are deducted, the net profit can be between $2.9 million and $3 million.

How long does it take to shoot a movie of this type?

The answer is about a month. If it is fast, it can be done in more than half a month or twenty days, but the already rough quality will become even worse.

Eric's target for AK Film and Television is to shoot no less than 20 films a year, and there is no upper limit for more.

As long as you can get the traffic of popular TV series, shoot them hard.

As for DVDs and peripherals, don't even think about this kind of knockoff film. Only "Sharknado" can enjoy this treatment.

So far, about 240,000 videotapes of "Sharknado" have been sold, and this number will continue to grow.

Wednesday, MGM building, Eric's office.

As the head of the marketing department, Volvo's work efficiency is still so high. He always completes it ahead of schedule even though he sets it on Friday.

Volvo handed over the report.

"During this period, we have visited all major cable TV stations and completed internal previews. All TV stations have responded very well.

"They all praised it, saying that it is a groundbreaking TV series. Everyone is generous with their praises. Every TV station wants to get it. "

Volvo smiled as he talked about his experiences in the past few days. He used to be a manager of a small film company. This was the first time in his life that he had experienced such a glorious thing.

Letting Volvo sit down, Eric carefully read the report.

First, AMC, the original broadcast station of "The Walking Dead", quoted a price of $4 million per episode for the first three episodes, and the rest depends on the ratings.

The ratings are calculated based on cable TV, with an age range of 18-49 years old and 4% as the basis.

For every 5 percentage points increase, the price of each subsequent episode will increase by $1 million, with no upper limit.

In terms of broadcast time, AMC is willing to broadcast in the quasi-prime time period, that is, between 7 and 8 p.m.

If the effect is good, it will be adjusted to the prime time period.

After seeing the price AMC gave Eric felt that the agreement was just barely acceptable and did not meet his psychological expectations.

Although the algorithm based on ratings is fairer and acceptable to the 18-49 age group, the starting point is not low if it is based on 4%.

According to the data in 2002, the total population of households in the United States is about 900 million, the total number of households is about 97 million, and the number of cable channel subscribers is about 85 million households and 500 million people.

Among them, the total population of 18-49 age group is about 1.5 billion, and the total population of 18-49 age group who subscribe to cable channels is about 95 million.

And 4% of 95 million people is 3.8 million people.

In other words, when "The Walking Dead" is broadcast, at least 3.8 million people must watch it at the same time. It has reached the basic standard.

If you want to improve it to a higher level, you have to increase the ratings by 5.

To convert it, when the ratings reach 5% and 4.27 million people watch it at the same time, the subsequent episodes of "The Walking Dead" can get a price of 5 million US dollars per episode.

When the ratings reach 5% and 4.75 million people watch it at the same time, the subsequent episodes of "The Walking Dead" can get a price of 6 million US dollars per episode.

This data may make many people wonder why we have to use the 18-49 age group as the statistical standard. Can't we use the whole age group?

The answer is no, because it is related to advertising placement. In the eyes of advertisers, the 18-49 age group has the most consumption potential.

Merchants will invest high advertising fees for this age group. As for other age groups, cutting them in half is a piece of cake. , and it is normal to cut it directly to 30% in serious cases.

Some people may wonder, isn’t it said that cable TV stations do not sell advertisements, but rely on paid subscriptions to survive?

But this perception is not comprehensive. To be precise, cable TV stations are divided into basic and advanced types.

Basic cable TV stations still sell advertisements. AMC belongs to basic cable TV stations, so even if users have to pay, it will still insert advertisements.

The price is that the subscription fee is lower than that of advanced cable TV stations. In 2003, it cost $99 per month to subscribe to the AMC channel.

Advanced cable TV stations are pure content, and there will be no advertisements at all, but the subscription fee is more expensive.

HBO, FX, Starz, etc. are all advanced cable TV stations.

Take HBO, which is the strongest and has the largest number of paying users, as an example. In 2003, it cost $99 per month to subscribe to it.

The difference between the two is $4, and the difference is the advertising fee.

In addition, in the United States, cable TV subscriptions are not as simple as many Chinese people think.

In 2003 in China, almost no one in the country could not watch CCTV-1, which is similar to public TV stations such as ABC, CBS, and NBC.

However, if you do not install a satellite signal receiver, which is commonly known as a big pot, you can only receive the central channel and some local channels in the province by relying on the antenna. It is almost impossible to watch channels from other provinces.

This big pot is what many people in China called cable TV and cable channels at that time. The whole process only requires one payment, no matter whether you get the set-top box from formal or illegal channels.

But this is not the case in the United States, where the media business is developed. In 2003, there were more than 100 cable channels in the United States.

For the audience, you have to pay for which channel you want to watch. If you want to watch AMC and HBO dramas at the same time, you must subscribe to both.

If you still want to watch FX and Starz works, you have to continue to pay for subscriptions.

Well-known cable TV stations have their own unique skills, which attract audiences to pay for their desires.

But ordinary families cannot subscribe to all channels, and will only choose a few of their favorites.

Therefore, among the 85 million households that subscribe to cable TV stations, the weight of each station is not the same.

The strongest HBO released data in 2002, which showed that it had exceeded 40 million subscribers.

AMC has about 25 million households, Starz has about 22 million households, Shoutime has about 20 million households, and FX has about 28 million households.

At the same time, the fact that viewers subscribe to your channel does not mean that they will watch all the programs on the channel. They may only watch one or two.

Any drama with a rating of 5% on any cable TV station is rare enough.

After understanding this logic, and looking at the agreement given by AMC, you can understand why Eric is not very satisfied.

He continued to look through the report. FX's conditions are stronger than AMC, and Shoutime is much stronger than AMC. It turns out that high-end cable TV stations are more discerning.

The best conditions are HBO and Starz.

The former is willing to buy the entire season at a price of 8 million US dollars per episode. If it can bring more than 3 million new subscribers to HBO after the end of one season, HBO is willing to pay MGM another 10 million US dollars.

If the goal is achieved, HBO will have to spend a total of $106 million to buy the first season of "The Walking Dead" from MGM.

Although the price is not as high as the $200 million of "Band of Brothers", it is the work of the great director Spielberg after all, and there are a lot of stars involved. "The Walking Dead" is far behind in this regard.

Starz's condition is $7 million per episode. If it can bring more than 5 million new subscribers to the channel after the end of the season, Starz is willing to make up the difference of $3 million per episode, which is a total of $200 million, just catching up with "Band of Brothers".

Looking at the intentions of the two TV stations, Eric was also a little hesitant. He looked at Volvo and asked, "What do you think? Tell me your opinion."

Knowing that the boss would ask this question, Volvo obviously did some research.

"I personally prefer to cooperate with Starz."

"Reason."

Volvo organized his words and said: "If we choose it, we can earn an extra $14 million. I think this is the biggest reason. As for the conditions for attracting 5 million new subscribers, I don't think it is a problem."

"Starz currently has only 22 million subscribers, and its market share is second to last among several cable giants. In fact, everyone knows that the smaller the base, the easier it is to improve."

"The reason why many TV stations cannot develop is often that funds are not the most important, and the lack of good ideas is the core problem."

"Starz is like this. It just lacks a popular drama. When this drama appears, it is easy to attract subscriptions. Just grab it from other channels."

"On the other hand, HBO, with its current size, I don't think it is easy to get 3 million new subscriptions. Even "Band of Brothers" only attracted more than 3 million new users in the end."

"That was in 2001, and as HBO develops, this number will only become more and more difficult to achieve."

After Volvo finished speaking, he looked at Eric, and then heard the unbelievable decision from the latter.

"Choose HBO and get ready to sign the agreement."

Volvo opened his mouth to ask as if he didn't understand, but he seemed to think that questioning the boss's decision was not what a qualified subordinate should do, and Eric's decisions were always correct.

Looking at his surprised look, Eric didn't explain too much, and waved his hand to let Volvo go out. He had his own considerations.

When MGM's own video website is established, it must create a hit program to attract viewers.

According to MGM's current shooting plan, "Transformers" must wait until next year even if it is put on the platform, so "The Walking Dead" can undoubtedly serve as this year's hit.

Since it is a hit, it must be known to more people, so HBO's basic market is obviously larger than Starz, and its advantages are stronger.

For future considerations, it is not a bad idea to give up the $14 million.

After all, when the video platform is stable, the entire DVD business will be greatly affected, and this piece of meat will be more painful to cut.

Seeking monthly tickets and rewards.