Chapter 97 Chapter 97: First generation bb
As an anniversary drama, the first episode of "Mr. Morning" truly lived up to its name, as it featured four Heavenly Kings appearing together. Although it was a minor regret that all four didn't appear on screen together, considering the awards ceremony controversy earlier this year, it was already quite an achievement to get all four together.
Of course, as viewers, we can only watch these gimmicks for fun. To truly judge the success or failure of a drama, we need to look at the real factors that affect the quality of the series, such as the writing of the story and the performances of the actors—whether it is exciting enough.
However, this kind of trope of returning to youth and reliving the past really hits the hearts and captivates the souls of television viewers of this era, especially those housewives who control the TV remote at home.
At the Lucky Tea Restaurant, many housewives who had just watched the first episode slammed their fists on the table and exclaimed, "If I had such an opportunity, I wouldn't care about my husband. I'd go back to school, study hard, and get into university. If I married a lawyer or a doctor, I wouldn't have to worry about the rest of my life!"
"This is outrageous! I haven't even complained about you yet, and you're already complaining about me?" Knowing his wife was joking, the husband sitting next to her couldn't help but voice his opinion.
"Stop arguing, don't you understand why Yi Sang can't bear to give up that husband?" The people at the other table burst into laughter. "That's Leo! Having such a handsome husband, I'd investigate him first too!"
“I don’t think it’s like you said. Yi Sang still has feelings for her husband. After all, it’s very clear in the drama that the two of them have been dating since they were in school. It’s impossible to let go of a relationship that has lasted for so many years. That’s why she wants to investigate before making a decision!” said the elder in the booth who considered himself more rational.
Seeing that the people in the tea restaurant had been arguing all night without reaching a conclusion, Zhou Huichang called Li Sishi's cell phone after the tea restaurant closed to report on the viewership of the show: "So many people are talking about the female lead you played, cousin, and they all praise your acting. Judging from the current situation, they probably won't be able to finish arguing about it until breakfast tomorrow!"
"Really? Thank you for your support, neighbors." Li Sishi was very happy to hear the news.
"It's all thanks to your excellent acting, cousin! And this show is so good! My friends told me they've never seen this kind of show before! It's so fresh and captivating!" Although Zhou Huichang had taken advantage of her position as a student extra in the crew, she didn't really know much about the plot, so she started subtly trying to get information out of him.
When Li Sishi asked about the plot and the development of the relationship between the male and female protagonists, all the topics were about...
"Why don't you just keep watching and you'll find out?" Li Sishi said with a smile.
"Cousin!" Zhou Huichang suddenly became a little anxious, drawing out her words and acting coquettishly.
"I can't just reveal the plot, so let me put it this way—since you're my cousin, that's all I'll say, the male and female leads will clear up their misunderstandings and make up!" Li Sishi couldn't help but laugh several times before coaxing Zhou Huichang amidst her exasperated grumbling.
"Now my friends and I can rest assured!" Zhou Huichang, who had been shipping Chen Shi and his girlfriend since the first episode, was instantly relieved to hear that the happy ending had been confirmed by the female lead herself.
Later, when she goes shopping, she can show off the exclusive information she got from her cousin and make her friends envious!
Understanding her younger cousin's desire to show off, Li Sishi smiled and hung up the phone, then looked at the documents in her hand.
The start of the anniversary drama broadcasts proves that this year's anniversary month is just around the corner.
As the only artist heavily promoted by Zhuang Menghua and Lu Yiting, she will definitely be involved in this year's anniversary celebration activities.
In this era, artists in Hong Kong don't really have holidays. If you have holidays and free time, it means you're not famous enough.
So Li Sishi shouldn't even think about taking a vacation. Regardless of whether she has just finished filming a TV series and a movie in a row, and often has to go to the recording studio at night to record, as long as she finishes her previous work, there will be a lot of work waiting for her to be arranged.
For example, there were various promotional activities for "Mr. Morning" and "Hero in My Heart," as well as the new year's mobile phone advertisements from Lo Kee Telecom, the various anniversary celebrations during TVB's anniversary month, and the invitation to star in the Lunar New Year film featuring three male and three female leads...
After taking another big gulp of coffee, Li Sishi spent more than two hours looking at various activity schedules and textbooks before finally putting down the documents in her hands, getting up from her desk, preparing to wash up, and then rest.
While she was busy with various activities and "stealing moments" to read and study, the anniversary drama "Mr. Morning" was also gradually airing for a week and was about to release its first week's viewership statistics.
Many industry insiders believe that the sheer amount of discussion generated by the first episode of this drama undoubtedly indicates its promising viewership potential. Most importantly, the drama's fresh and appealing subject matter has firmly captured the attention of the two most influential demographics: housewives and young people. These two groups alone are enough to contribute significantly to its ratings.
A huge number of viewers.
"Mr. Morning" lived up to expectations, becoming a topic of conversation from the moment it premiered. It also gained popularity by advertising that "Li Sishi, a top student, will share her personal learning experience in this TV series" when the campus storyline began.
This instantly excited parents who hoped their children could emulate the top ten scorers, drawing in a large number of young viewers from all walks of life...
Of course, for a TV series to retain viewers, it certainly doesn't rely on forced, task-oriented viewing, but rather on captivating the audience through its storyline.
It's rare for teenagers of this era to encounter a campus drama that targets their group, and while incorporating learning experiences into the plot, it also uses the main characters to advocate for students to tell society that "studying is not about pursuing grades"... In addition, the main actors are all young and beautiful handsome men and beautiful women, which makes it particularly refreshing to watch. Before long, the drama "Mr. Morning" quickly infected most of the secondary school students in Hong Kong, making them watch the drama with great enthusiasm.
This is the only TV series they can watch without their parents scolding them!
Moreover, the plot is so fresh and interesting, and the actors are so handsome and beautiful. As long as they can watch it, they would want to keep watching forever, right?
When the female lead, Yi Sang, discovers that the male lead, Li Tiansheng's "suspected infidelity" is actually a prank by the mischievous student, Tong Tong, and Li Tiansheng also begins to vaguely suspect Yi Sang's identity as Yi Shuangshuang, the ratings of the entire series gradually climb to a peak through word of mouth among Hong Kong people!
After the first week of broadcasting, Li Sishi, with a mix of excitement and trepidation, waited with the rest of the crew for the announcement of the first week's ratings.
"Are you nervous?" Ling Chen, who was sitting next to me, asked softly.
“Of course, this is my first time filming a TV series.” Li Sishi picked up her cup and took a sip of warm tea, which helped her calm down a bit. “Unlike you, you’ve starred in so many high-rated TV series before, including a ratings champion…”
Although she could roughly estimate a number from her cousins' phone calls and daily discussions, the estimate was never the real number, so the announcement of the results always made her feel both excited and nervous.
Li Sishi's expression reflected the feelings of Lü Yutong, who was also filming a TV series for the first time. She looked around at everyone and then leaned on Li Sishi, a fellow beauty pageant contestant: "They are all experienced. It's just that you and I are so nervous. Ugh, so annoying!"
"Actually, we were nervous too." Sun Yuan shook her head.
He laughed.
"Yes, don't be fooled by how steadily we sit. The truth is, it's because our legs are too weak to stand up that we're sitting so steadily! Li Dewen is naturally cheerful and lively. Moreover, he worked his way up from being a fan of Lun Yongnan to becoming Lun Yongnan's chosen successor. Both his singing skills and personality have been influenced by Lun Yongnan, making him a true optimist."
In contrast, Luo Xuan seemed a bit worried. Perhaps it was because it was his first time having such a significant role in a TVB anniversary drama, so he was so nervous that he could hardly speak.
Soon, the staff member in charge of checking the ratings rushed in: "It's out... The highest ratings in the first week were 35 points, and the average was 33 points!"
Upon hearing these figures, everyone immediately smiled: currently, a drama series with an average viewership rating exceeding 30 points is considered to have achieved a good result.
If the highest ratings in the first week can reach 35 points, it is very likely to become a huge hit – to be known, the highest rating for a TBL drama so far is only 38 points.
TBL only started calculating "ratings" a few years ago, and the data collection method is to collect data from sample households. Sample households that cooperate with the TV station are asked to fill out diary cards to record their daily TV viewing, and then the ratings are calculated.
After the data is collected and statistically analyzed, the percentage is converted. For example, a rating of 50 points means that almost 100% of the existing viewers watched the TV series. Each rating point represents about 65,000 viewers. Of course, the number of viewers corresponding to this rating point will change at any time depending on various factors.
Therefore, even though both dramas had a perfect 50-point rating, "Tang Family Domestic Violence 2: The House Is Full of Trouble" and "The Great Needle" were rated 50 points, the former lost to the latter with a viewership of approximately tens of thousands of people in the point calculation that was accurate down to the number of viewers. This made the South Korean historical drama, which was purchased from abroad, the benchmark in TBL's ratings record.
As for why TV stations need to track viewership ratings, it's simply because high viewership proves that the show is very popular, which can generate good advertising revenue and make money from advertisers...
Conversely, for the actors who starred in this highly-rated TV series, it meant a significant increase in their market value and a bright future, becoming a highlight on their resumes and enabling them to receive higher pay and better roles in their future careers.
However, this was not the time for them to celebrate their ratings achievements. It was more of a time for everyone to smile, hug, and congratulate each other, as the top-rated group...
A simple celebration of the good results.
When the episode aired in the second week, in which the male and female leads recognized each other, it instantly ignited the entire city.
Whether it's the poignant love story of the two lovers or the tender, lingering kiss at dusk, it all perfectly suits the tastes of the housewives in the port city...
There's a seemingly joking but true saying in Hong Kong: "If you can capture the appetite of Hong Kong housewives, you can unlock the secrets to TV drama ratings."
In contrast, teenage viewers who also enjoy this kind of thing were unable to see the kissing scene at dusk because of the "parental guidance" label. In the end, they could only sigh and lament that parents are toxic by the praise of their lucky friends: "You are the ones who let us see it, how can you pick and choose what to show?"
Where there's a policy, there's a countermeasure. Some clever kids borrowed videotapes from their classmates and managed to catch up on this CP (couple) party.
As a result, many more people have developed a real-life connection with the character from the drama, and the peach lip balm used by the female lead "Yi Sang" has become a popular item among students this autumn.
After all, with the spending power of a middle school student, they can only afford small items like lip balm...
And this is a lipstick that Leo kissed—wouldn't anyone who likes this handsome young man really want to get one and dream about it?
Especially the line he uttered in his deep, gentle voice to coax the dazed, drunken heroine: "If you like the baby, we'll adopt one; if you don't, then you'll always be my baby..."
Who can resist that "BB"?!
Whether to laugh or cry, with the explosive popularity of this twilight kiss scene where there are policies above and countermeasures below, Li Sishi, who is called "BB" in the drama, has gradually extended her nickname off-screen. So much so that when she occasionally attends commercial performances, fans can be seen in the audience shouting "Beautiful" and "Ah May" mixed with a few "Sishi BB"...
Later, when people recalled this era, they inevitably mentioned the origin and development of the "BB" title for female artists in Hong Kong: "From 'Big Sister' to 'Reporter' and then to 'BB,' this probably started with Lee Sze-sze—"
"Initially, the nickname 'BB' was a special term of endearment and affection for Li Sishi, carrying a positive connotation."
Later, after the millennium, as other celebrities followed suit with their marketing strategies, 'BB' degenerated into a derogatory term used to mock celebrities who weren't very famous but had a lot of ego...
"What's both funny and sad is that as these 'BBs' worked hard to improve themselves and gain public recognition, the nickname gradually transformed back into a term of endearment carrying supportive feelings—it's a truly magical nickname and a unique mark belonging to female artists in Hong Kong."
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