After getting off work, Fang Yang went to the kitchen to wash and cook rice, wash and chop vegetables. When he finished making two dishes and a soup, the time was exactly 6:20 PM. He put the dishes on the coffee table, turned on Shanghai TV, and the timing was perfect. The intro to "Calabash" was playing, and a few seconds later it got to the main topic.
Fang Yangtiao drank a bowl of mushroom and lean pork soup to warm his stomach. The freshness of the mushrooms and the fragrance of the lean pork swirled on his tongue. After chewing slowly, he swallowed it and soon felt a warm sensation in his stomach. This was the feeling he liked.
Watching "Calabash" again, Fang Yang still found it fascinating. Compared to the paper-cut filming of his previous life, Jin Dahai's "Calabash" was undoubtedly much more exquisite, with significant improvements in special effects and other aspects. The clarity of the picture was undoubtedly the best, and it was comparable to big-budget dramas with tens of millions of dollars in production costs.
Shanghai TV had placed many advertisements beforehand, and Fang Yang couldn't tell how effective they were. However, Ouyang Ming, who was on the scene, could see it clearly. The Shanghai News, which started at 6 PM, was the same as usual, with an extremely flat viewership curve. This was understandable, as almost no one except those who cared about the news would watch it at this time, resulting in very stable viewership without much fluctuation unless major news broke.
At 18:15, after the news ended and the commercial break began, the ratings dropped slightly, remaining around 0.2%. This was because a significant portion of viewers were eating after watching the news and therefore didn't change the channel. At 18:18, the ratings began to rise again, from 0.21 to 0.22, quickly reaching 0.25%.
These are all normal phenomena. At this time of year, some families switch channels to let their little ones watch cartoons. However, the quality of cartoons varies from channel to channel. So, it depends on which cartoon is popular and has high ratings. Naturally, the advertising revenue during that time will also increase.
The ratings for animated shows on Shanghai TV have been fluctuating around 0.3%, and advertising revenue has remained stagnant. This is why Ouyang Ming, the director of Shanghai TV, personally visited Fang Yang.
At 18:20, the ratings broke through 0.3% right from the start and showed a sloping upward curve to 0.35%. Ouyang Ming couldn't help but clench his fist. The advertisement was starting to take effect; now it was just a matter of seeing if the curve could stabilize.
At 18:25, the ratings broke through 0.4%, and the curve had not yet flattened out. Everyone in the technical room held their breath, afraid that the slightest sound would break the slowly but stubbornly rising curve.
"What is the record for our TV station's ratings for this time slot?" Ouyang Ming asked Minister Zhang, who was standing quietly to the side.
"0.48!" Minister Zhang's voice was a little hoarse, whether from nervousness or something else.
When the first episode aired, the ratings were locked at 0.42%, which was 40% higher than the usual average ratings. A great start was inevitable. The rest depended on whether the second episode could maintain this rating. To be honest, Ouyang Ming was already very satisfied, after all, this was only the first episode, and the story had just begun.
There was a five-minute commercial break between the first and second episodes. During that time, everyone stood up and stretched their arms and legs, or went to the restroom. Ouyang Ming also went to the restroom and stretched his arms and legs as well.
When Ouyang Ming returned to the technical room, he saw the group excitedly discussing something and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you all talking about? Why are you so happy?"
Minister Zhang said excitedly, "Director, our blog and official website are in an uproar! Viewers are giving it rave reviews. In just a few minutes, we've received tens of thousands of comments, and we've already climbed to 40th place on the trending topics list, and it's still growing rapidly."
Ouyang Ming took the phone from Minister Zhang. Sure enough, there were many comments on the official website. At a glance, they were all positive. Moreover, in just a few minutes, the trending topic had risen another step and was now ranked thirty-fifth.
He handed the phone to Minister Zhang, saying, "Let's buy a trending topic and get it into the top ten."
Minister Zhang: "I just made a phone call, and they agreed to put us in the top five!"
Ouyang Ming nodded. "How were the viewership ratings during the commercial breaks?"
Chen Hao, the head of the technology department, was a big, chubby man with a thick beard. He chimed in, "The lowest it got was 0.32, but it's already risen to 0.38. I estimate the second episode's ratings should exceed 0.42!"
As they were talking, the second episode had already started. The ratings jumped over 0.42 right away and rose at a 30-degree angle. In an instant, it surpassed the ratings record of 0.48, and the rate of increase showed no signs of slowing down. Cheers erupted in the technical room. A new record had been set!
Minister Zhang suddenly exclaimed, "Our trending topic has risen to third place!"
Ouyang Ming took Minister Zhang's phone. A bright red "hot" character appeared in the upper right corner of the third trending topic, "The animated series 'Calabash Brothers' premieres on Shanghai TV," indicating that there were many comments on this trending topic. No wonder the ratings were so high. Ouyang Ming glanced at the graph and saw that it had already reached 0.51!
Ouyang Ming looked at Chen Hao: "Can you see the ratings for other TV stations?"
Chen Hao opened an app that displayed the popularity ratings of all TV stations. Shanghai TV was currently ranked third. Chen Hao explained to Ouyang Ming, "Director, this is a third-party website that calculates viewership ratings based on the current popularity of each TV station's broadcasts. The accuracy rate is around 90%. If you want to see the actual viewership ratings, you'll have to wait for the official data to be released tomorrow."
Ouyang Ming glanced at the rankings. First was Hunan TV, with 0.65%; second was Tomato TV, with 0.58%; and third was Shanghai TV, which had now risen to 0.55%. Ouyang Ming checked the station's recorded viewership, which was also 0.55, indicating that it was not much different from the third-party estimated data.
Looking at the slightly flattened curve, Ouyang Ming said to Chen Hao, "We should have no problem surpassing Tomato TV today, right? The gap between us is only 0.03!"
Chen Hao estimated, "It all depends on whether we can surpass them in the last few minutes. After all, Yuewen Entertainment website has already broadcast it once, so this is essentially a rebroadcast for us. When Yuewen first launched it, it had 150 million views, which is equivalent to 75 million views per episode. Although we benefited from the incident with 'Ninja Soul,' it also shows that 'Calabash' is of high quality, which is why we took first place!"
Ouyang Ming nodded and said to Minister Zhang, "We need to strengthen our ties with Yuewen in the future. Once Yuewen has a new program, we should sign it as soon as possible, or at least try to launch it simultaneously."
Minister Zhang nodded and said, "Yes, Director, I will strengthen my communication with Yang Huajin."
Time flowed slowly, and the second episode had ended. The final rating of Shanghai TV was 0.62, surpassing Tomato TV's 0.59, but still slightly lower than Hunan TV's 0.67. However, Ouyang Ming was very satisfied. Shanghai TV used to hover around fifth or sixth place, but this time it had made a beautiful comeback!
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