Chapter 573 Playing by Himself Behind Closed Doors
At the Jiuhua Mountain Villa venue, thunderous applause lasted for a long time.
After concluding his five-and-a-half-day semi-annual meeting summary speech, Song Ci nodded to the executives in the audience and stepped down from the podium.
As the conference concluded, the crowd began to leave in an orderly fashion.
Wu Wenhui, president of the Reading Group, eagerly fixed his gaze on two colleagues who were about to leave with the crowd.
He quickly stepped forward: "President Zhou, President Liu, please wait!"
Zhou Juan and Liu Rong stopped and looked at him.
Wu Wenhui spoke rapidly: "Joy of Life will premiere exclusively on Toutiao Video tomorrow!"
I mobilized almost every well-known author in the online literature community, both online and offline, in an overwhelming manner!
This final push depends entirely on the two of you! I urge you both to pay close attention and ensure nothing goes wrong.
Zhou Juan nodded upon hearing this. She was in charge of the most important broadcasting platform, and the pressure was immense.
"Don't worry, Mr. Wu. The entire team at Toutiao Video has made the broadcast of 'Joy of Life' their top priority and will not let things fall apart."
I'll go back to the office in a bit and go over all the details again.
Just as Liu Rong was about to explain Tengda Culture's publicity arrangements, the COO's secretary came to the three of them.
"General Manager Zhou, General Manager Liu, General Manager Wu, General Manager Wang and General Manager Zhang are in the small conference room next door. Please move over for a chat."
The three exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly.
Wang Jing's summons at this moment must be for the sake of "Joy of Life," since she was the one who initially promoted this project.
Not daring to delay, the three followed the secretary to a small, private conference room next door.
Upon entering, one sees Wang Jing and CEO Zhang Zhao conversing in hushed tones.
Seated next to him were two others: Xu Fei, president of Mtime.com, and Zhong Yinghui, the newly appointed president of Southern Cinema Circuit.
"President Wang! President Zhang!"
Wang Jing looked up at the sound and got straight to the point: "The 'Joy of Life' project was registered with Chairman Song."
"Is everything perfectly prepared for tomorrow's broadcast?"
As the head of the Digital Media and Entertainment Business Group, Zhang Zhao immediately stated, "President Wang, rest assured, we have made thorough preparations for every aspect, from the source of the IP, content production, platform promotion to the final broadcast."
Wang Jing nodded slightly, then changed the subject, her tone becoming serious: "Zhang Zhao, your previous application to use the entire group's channels for saturated promotion has been approved by CEO Zhang."
She paused slightly, staring intently at Zhang Zhao: "But you need to think carefully about the price behind this."
Once the entire group's resources are mobilized, "Joy of Life" will be placed under the spotlight. It must succeed and deliver results worthy of these resources!
If you're unsure now, you can still back out! But once you start, there's no turning back.
Zhang Zhao felt an immense pressure. He exchanged glances with the three presidents, his expression solemn, and said firmly:
"President Wang, to form a closed loop in the entertainment sector, we must eventually overcome this hurdle! Since we're going to try, let's try with the best IPs and the most abundant resources!"
“Great!” Wang Jing immediately gave the order, offering her full support. “In that case, the group will fully support you!”
Starting tonight at 8 PM, for three consecutive days, fourteen apps under Tenda, including Weibo, Toutiao, Qianqian Music, and live streaming platforms, will simultaneously feature splash screen recommendations for "Joy of Life"!
"I've provided the channel resources you requested. But Zhang Zhao, if you can't produce results, you'll have to explain yourself to General Manager Zhang and Chairman Song!"
Zhang Zhao did not back down at all: "President Wang, I have confidence in the quality of 'Joy of Life', and even more so in the overall strength of the group and the synergistic effect of its ecosystem!"
Wang Jing's gaze slowly swept over the crowd, filled with scrutiny and expectation: "The group has provided you with ample resources. Now, it's your stage."
I'll head out first. You guys can go back and discuss it carefully, identify any shortcomings, and fill in the gaps. Once "Joy of Life" is a success, I'll put in a good word for you!
After speaking, Wang Jing stood up briskly and left the conference room with her secretary.
After the COO left, Zhang Zhao looked at the presidents, his deep voice carrying a heavy burden:
"Everyone, did you all hear what President Wang said clearly? I, Zhang Zhao, have gone to great lengths to secure the resources you requested for you."
Now, I hope you won't let me down, or let the company down.
Zhou Juan, Liu Rong, and Wu Wenhui felt an invisible pressure descend upon them.
The group's omnichannel promotion and marketing, just the advertising value of these top traffic entrances alone is worth at least 100 million!
If the ratings for "Joy of Life" fall short of expectations, the consequences will be unimaginable.
That would not just be the failure of a project, but would also trigger a series of fatal questions:
Is it that Singularity's male-oriented novels are simply unsuitable for film and television adaptation? Or is it that Tengda Culture lacks production capabilities?
Or perhaps Toutiao Video lacks a user base and appeal? In any case, someone has to take responsibility for this costly failure.
Zhang Zhao pressed for details one by one, and Zhou Juan and Wu Wenhui reiterated that the broadcasting channels and IP source promotion had been done flawlessly.
When it was Liu Rong's turn to answer, a hint of difficulty appeared on her face, and she hesitated to speak.
"Mr. Liu, what's the problem? Tell us now, and we'll work together to solve it."
Liu Rong sighed: "Mr. Zhang, to be honest, there's something fishy about this."
When Tengda Culture releases a major drama series, celebrities in the industry will usually give it some face and help promote it on Weibo to create buzz.
However, this time with "Joy of Life," apart from the artists under Tengda and Tangren Media working hard to promote it, other celebrities have almost all remained silent, watching coldly from the sidelines and refusing to contribute.
"Do you want me to try and persuade them again?"
Zhang Zhao was taken aback at first, but quickly understood what was going on. He shook his head, his words carrying a calmness that reflected his understanding of the situation:
"No need to waste your energy. Right now, the entire entertainment industry is waiting to see Tengda's big show!"
"Watch a big show?" Zhou Juan, Wu Wenhui, and the others looked at each other, unable to understand for a moment.
Seeing the puzzled expressions on the faces of the several presidents, Zhang Zhao analyzed the underlying undercurrents for them:
"Joy of Life is the first male-oriented top-tier IP on Qidian.com to be adapted into a film and television series. Its success is crucial to the validation of Tengda's entire entertainment ecosystem strategy."
We value this internally, and outsiders aren't stupid either; they can also see through the core logic.
He looked around at everyone and continued, "Singularity Chinese website generates top-tier IPs, Tengda Culture produces them, the group provides publicity and distribution resources, and finally they are broadcast on Toutiao Video to generate revenue."
If "Joy of Life" becomes a huge success, it will prove that Tenda can completely operate in isolation, creating a perfect closed-loop content ecosystem! What does this mean?
Zhang Zhao raised his voice a few decibels: "This means that from now on, Tengda will no longer need to rely on existing resources in the traditional entertainment industry!"
This new model can overturn high celebrity salaries, agent relationships, and traditional publicity methods.
Do you think those celebrities, management companies, and production companies that rely on the old model will help Tengda Culture revolutionize themselves?
As an outsider to the "Joy of Life" project, Zhong Yinghui, president of Southern Cinema Line, has a clearer perspective and a more direct understanding of the changes in the industry landscape.
He softly echoed, "President Zhang's analysis is thorough. If 'Joy of Life' is successful, it will prove that Tengda Entertainment can achieve a perfect closed loop."
Therefore, traditional film and television companies will be reduced to high-end production workshops for Tengda, only responsible for execution, and will lose all profits and industry influence.
She paused, then looked at Liu Rong: "Similarly, the bargaining power of top stars and their agencies will be greatly weakened."
The cast of "Joy of Life" did not include any top-tier celebrities; instead, it featured a combination of veteran actors and promising newcomers.
If this kind of approach can still result in a huge hit, then it proves that our Tengda's strategy is to promote actors through our dramas, rather than relying on actors to carry dramas in the traditional way.
"And for first-tier satellite TV platforms, it's an even heavier blow," Zhong Yinghui concluded. "If Toutiao Video proves the immense appeal of premiere platforms with 'Joy of Life,'..."
"From now on, satellite TV stations will only be able to compete for second- and third-run broadcast rights, and the purchase price and broadcast time will likely depend on our whims."
The CEOs were all intelligent people, and after this explanation, they immediately understood the situation, and their expressions became even more serious.
Everyone can imagine that once "Joy of Life" airs tomorrow, it will not only face the scrutiny of the audience, but also fierce competition from rivals.
Wu Wenhui felt particularly heavy-hearted; he couldn't afford to lose!
If "Joy of Life" fails, it will certainly have an impact on the well-established Toutiao Video and the deep-pocketed Tengda Culture, but the losses will not be significant.
However, for the reading group he leads, this initial setback will directly lead to the failure of all expectations for the adaptation of male-oriented novels into film and television.
This severely damaged the growth momentum of the reading group and seriously undermined the value of its core male-oriented novel IPs. This was almost a life-or-death crisis in his career.
Under immense pressure, a thought flashed through his mind. He gritted his teeth, and with a hint of hesitation, cautiously began to speak:
"Mr. Zhang... everyone, I mean... what if, what if the data isn't so ideal after the broadcast?"
For the sake of the bigger picture, could we perhaps... subtly... generate some buzz? Let's build up momentum and get through this difficult period?
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Juan immediately refused decisively, her tone even carrying a hint of offended anger: "Absolutely not!"
Toutiao Video has just launched the industry's most advanced popularity index system, which has now become the industry benchmark!
We can't control externally produced dramas, but for platform-produced dramas, any data manipulation is absolutely prohibited! That's self-destructive!
Zhang Zhao's face also darkened, and he sternly rebuked, "Foolish! Wu Wenhui, don't even think about such a thing!"
It either works or it doesn't! There's no point in deceiving yourself! Even if the data can temporarily fool netizens, can you fool Chairman Song?
Once the SkyNet Big Data Platform of the Technology Engineering Department captures and cross-validates data, any false data will have nowhere to hide!
Internal fraud is a top taboo in the company. Anyone caught doing so will be immediately dismissed without exception!
Wu Wenhui was startled by the two men's repeated and stern rebuttals and broke out in a cold sweat. He suddenly realized that he had said something stupid in his haste.
With the company about to go public, he still has a lot of unrealized stock options, which are key to his financial freedom. How could he risk losing them because of a moment of confusion?
He quickly apologized, beads of sweat forming on his forehead: "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhou, I was just in a hurry and misunderstood! I take back what I said and will never mention it again!"
Seeing that he knew he was wrong, Zhang Zhao didn't pursue the matter further and turned his gaze to Xu Fei, the president of Mtime.com, who had been listening in silence.
"Mr. Xu, speaking of data, I happen to have a new idea that Mtime.com can take on."
"Please speak, Mr. Zhang!"
After a moment's thought, Zhang Zhao slowly explained his idea: "Mtime.com has achieved a leading position in China in terms of online ticketing, box office statistics, and film reviews."
But that's not enough. I believe that Mtime's future should be as a more authoritative and influential comprehensive data platform.
Xu Fei's eyes flickered slightly: "Does Mr. Zhang mean that we should not only limit ourselves to movies, but also expand into TV series and web series to create an authoritative third-party data monitoring platform?"
“That’s right!” Zhang Zhao affirmed, and further explained, “What we need to do is to create a comprehensive evaluation system that can take into account multiple dimensions of data, such as viewership ratings, online viewership, effective playback time, user reviews, and social media buzz.”
This accurately reflects a film or television work's market share and effective user reach.
Xu Fei, with a technical background, immediately recognized the immense value of this project and the corresponding technical challenges.
After a moment's thought, he frowned and said, "Mr. Zhang, your idea is very forward-thinking. Once it's implemented, it will be of great significance."
However, if I may be so bold, the technical requirements are extremely high, very, very high.
He organized his thoughts and explained in detail: "First of all, there's the issue of data sources. Scraping data from the entire internet is extremely difficult in itself."
Different video platforms have completely different data interfaces, statistical standards, and even anti-scraping mechanisms.
Television ratings data is monopolized by a few companies, making it extremely costly to obtain. This involves complex multi-source heterogeneous data processing technologies.
Even if we can obtain the data, how do we clean it, how do we integrate it, and how do we establish a unified indicator model?
How are effective plays defined and tracked? How can we eliminate interference from inflated view counts? How can we ensure the real-time nature and accuracy of the data?
Each step in this process presents a significant technical challenge. Given Mtime's current technological reserves and team capabilities, it would be very difficult to complete.
Zhang Zhao listened attentively, then chuckled softly: "Difficult? That's good!"
Mr. Xu, it is precisely because of the high technical threshold that once this project is completed, it will form an extremely high competitive barrier, making it difficult for later entrants to imitate and surpass it.
Imagine what Shiguang Data would become if it were successfully launched and gained industry recognition.
He looked around at everyone present and declared firmly, "It will become the data hub for the entire Tengda Entertainment Group, and even the entire Chinese entertainment industry!"
Zhang Zhao outlined the blueprint: "For end users, it can provide the most timely, comprehensive, and authentic film and television ratings, popularity charts, and viewership inquiries."
It has become their primary tool for choosing what to watch and follow, greatly enhancing user engagement and the platform's authority.
"For B-end industry partners, it can provide accurate ratings, online viewership, and user profiles for Tengda's internal investment decisions and content production, as well as for external film producers and advertisers, to guide the direction of industry investment and production."
He paused for a moment, then made the final decision: "The internal code name for this project will be Mtime!"
Mr. Xu, please organize a team as soon as possible to draft a detailed technical feasibility report and project plan, and submit it directly to me.
I will coordinate with the Technology Engineering Group to transfer several top experts from the big data platform to form a joint project team to assist you in overcoming the technical challenges.
Upon hearing this, Xu Fei was delighted.
If Mtime's business scope can be expanded from ticketing and community to industry data infrastructure, his influence and resource allocation capabilities within the business group will naturally increase.
(End of this chapter)
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