[Chapter 744: The Mont of Truth]
While Eric enjoyed his vacation ti in East Hampton, many others were far from relaxed.
September 17 marked the final day of New York Fashion Week.
In Manhattan's Bryant Park, Linda Evangelista had just finished her last show of the week. With her smoky eye makeup still intact, she hurriedly bid farewell to the event organizers and jumped into her car, urging her assistant to head over to the ABC headquarters on the Upper West Hydee.
With both Arica's Next Top Model and Project Runway set to premiere in the next two weeks, Anne Sweeney, the president of A&E Networks, had scheduled a discussion with Cindy Crawford about the final phase of promotional efforts.
Even if A&E's reform plans truly failed, it would hardly impact Firefly Group's hefty annual inco of $20 billion. However, for Anne Sweeney and the staff she had brought into A&E, as well as for the production teams held by Cindy and Linda, the success of both shows directly tied into their future careers. Consequently, everyone was working diligently during this critical ti.
About ten minutes later, in Anne Sweeney's office, Cindy Crawford was already seated, chatting softly with Anne. When Linda entered, they both stood up to greet her.
"Good afternoon, Anne. I'm so sorry I'm late."
"That's alright. You're not late at all," Anne responded warmly, giving Linda a hug.
Although Anne was known for her no-nonsense approach at work -- sotis even ruthless -- she was incredibly friendly in her dealings. Given their similar ages, the three won had beco quite good friends during this period.
After exchanging pleasantries, Anne picked up so docunts and led the two won to a small conference room nearby.
As they gathered around a small eting table, Anne started, "The basic situation has been outlined. Although the corporate headquarters did their best, the new season of Lifeti has only managed to reach 34.5 million subscribers, which is only a 3 million increase from last year. That's our entire audience base."
Cindy frowned slightly; this figure was only about one-eighth of the current U.S. population. Rembering so comnts Eric had made earlier, she asked, "Anne, why was the increase so minimal? Isn't there interest from the operators regarding Lifeti's reform plans?"
"Of course, that's not the case. It's a complex situation. Take Ti Warner, for instance; not only did they fail to increase Lifeti's subscriber base, but they're also cutting Lifeti's subscriptions by 800,000 this quarter. That's just the nature of the business. Since dia regulations have loosened up, operators can now have their own cable channels, and the market is limited -- not every operator is eager to see their competitors' channels thrive," Anne replied, shaking her head. She continued, "However, the main factor is that Lifeti has had dismal viewership ratings in the past, which hasn't benefited the operators. That's why they've been lukewarm about Lifeti's reforms. So, it all cos down to the viewership stats of these two new shows."
Once Anne wrapped up her explanation, Linda glanced at Cindy and couldn't help but voice a question that had been haunting them all: "Anne, what do you think... our ratings will be?"
Anne hesitated, looking over the docunts in her hands and then back at the two won. "Actually, that's what I wanted to ask you. These projects were conceived by Mr. Williams; didn't you talk to him about it?"
Linda shook her head. "We did ask, but he didn't respond."
Anne nodded with disappointnt and flipped through the nearby files until she found one to hand to the two won. "For these two programs, the company signed floating contracts with the advertisers. According to the contract, the acceptable viewership threshold is 1.5 million, with a rating of 0.8. Based on those numbers, the average cost for a 30-second ad would be $50,000, with 16 minutes of ad ti per episode, generating $1.6 million. Over 13 episodes, that just ets the production cost of $20 million. Then, with the operators taking a share and future syndication, we could break even."
Linda and Cindy leaned in to look at the docunts. After a mont, Cindy looked up and asked, "And what was Lifeti's viewership last year?"
Anne hesitated again before saying, "In 1994, the peak viewership was for a TV movie called The Seventh Floor, starring Brooke Shields, and it attracted 2.21 million viewers. The average viewership during pri ti for the entire year was 700,000."
"Less than a million?" Linda expressed her disappointnt almost jumping out of her seat.
Anne nodded. She didn't ntion that the 700,000 was just the pri-ti average. If you averaged it over the entire day, the numbers would look far worse. Therefore, Lifeti's total ad revenue for the year was a re $30 million -- less than what they received from the operators.
It was easy to see that boosting the viewership to 1.5 million, more than doubling it, would be no easy feat with the subscriber base unchanged.
Noticing the downtrodden expressions on the two won's faces, Anne, despite her own anxiousness, offered encouragent: "I don't think we need to worry too much. ABC had always undervalued Lifeti with a lack of marquee programming, so ratings were bound to suffer. That's not the case now. Just the production costs for the two shows you're handling exceed Lifeti's total programming budget for the past five years. Plus, with full backing from headquarters and Hearst in the promotional efforts, I have a lot of faith in our ratings."
Linda, ever optimistic, nodded at Anne's reassurance. "Anyway, it's his show. If it tanks, I can always go back to being a model. I won't starve."
Hearing Linda's cavalier dismissal, Cindy almost wanted to pinch her, her thoughts racing with disbelief. She turned to Anne and said, "Anne, you called us here to discuss promotional matters, right?"
Anne chose to overlook Linda's comnts, smiling instead. "Yes, I spoke with ABC; Cindy, prepare for tomorrow's taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. Linda, your appearance is scheduled for next Wednesday."
To stagger the promotional window for both reality shows, Arica's Next Top Model was set to air on Tuesday, September 19, while Project Runway was set for the following week, September 28, on Thursday.
After successfully managing ABC's late-night news show, Nightline, ABC lured David Letterman from CBS, seamlessly taking over the crown of the talk show slot.
During this ti, Firefly and Hearst utilized their respective channels to ramp up pre-release promotional efforts for both Arica's Next Top Model and Project Runway, with Yahoo hosting quite a bit of relevant news. However, since neither show had yet proven its viewership potential, unlimited investnts weren't practical. Thus, seizing the opportunity to promote before the shows kicked off by appearing on a priti talk show was deed the most effective strategy -- and indeed, the last resort.
Both won had previously participated in talk shows, especially following their success at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which led to nurous invitations. Therefore, they weren't unfamiliar with this world. After discussing so details, Anne accompanied them to ABC's production departnt to consult with David Letterman's team.
...
Amid the busy flurry of activity, the two days flew by in an instant.
On September 19, the months of hard work were about to be validated.
For countless ordinary individuals, Tuesday remained just another day.
Most students were wrapping up their sumr vacations, savoring their last days off; young professionals completed another day at work. Because it was a weekday, few ventured out for entertainnt. After dinner, people sat down in front of their televisions -- so alone, so with partners, and others with children.
They were unaware that at the ABC headquarters in Manhattan, many anxiously awaited the day's new viewership data. Just then, one of them might recall the ads for Arica's Next Top Model they had recently seen in newspapers, magazines, or on television, leading them to grab their remotes, rembering they had Lifeti in their cable package and decide to tune in for a glimpse. As for those without access to Lifeti, despite their fondness for fashion, they shrugged off the disappointnt. Those indifferent to the fashion world felt no loss; after all, there were plenty of television programs to keep them entertained.
For any television program, success hinged on appealing to viewers' tastes and tapping into their emotions.
To et this challenge, Eric exerted significant effort.
For a modeling competition show, young won who loved fashion and held dreams of the runway surely wanted to see sothing transformative -- a plain, unremarkable girl suddenly showered with glamor in front of everyone. If there were a term to describe it, it would be "a ugly duck turning into a swan."
Thus, the the of the first episode of Arica's Next Top Model was crafted precisely around that transformation of a duck into a swan.
...
At 8 o'clock, after the final comrcial break, the Lifeti logo flickered to life once again as the title sequence for Arica's Next Top Model appeared.
A dazzling array of stunning fashion photographs flashed by, accompanied by Cindy Crawford's voice.
"People always ask , 'Cindy, how does one beco a supermodel?' Each ti, I patiently guide them, saying, 'You should do this; you should do that.' Until one day, it hit , what if I could share everything I've learned through a television show, reaching out to all those girls dreaming of becoming supermodels? So today, welco to Arica's Next Top Model.
Through our selection process, we've chosen thirteen girls from across the United States. So hail from small towns in the West, others from the City of Angels, with confident Southern girls and gentle Northern ladies. Over the next two months, I'll put them through rigorous training based on various standards, selecting the next rising star of the modeling world. The girl who ultimately triumphs will secure a modeling contract with Elite agency, a $100,000 endorsent deal with CIRL, and many more opportunities in the future.
Well then, let's get started!"
As the stylish presence of Cindy burst onto the screen, the television showcased audition reels from girls across Arica.
...
anwhile, in an apartnt in Midtown Manhattan, ti raced by. Alice and Charlotte, who had randomly crossed paths with Eric, had since parted ways, with Alice now moved in with her boyfriend.
Her boyfriend, Scott, a Morgan Stanley financial analyst, was reluctantly pulled into watching this reality fashion show, which failed to pique his interest. The initial scene with Cindy was eye-catching enough that he indulged a bit, but as the mundane girls appeared on screen, he couldn't help but chuckle, saying, "Ha! Alice, you think these ugly ducklings could beco supermodels? It's a joke! If they can, then you might as well beco a world-famous model."
Alice, watching those commonplace girls on screen, felt a twinge of disappointnt. She had always admired Cindy Crawford and had only tuned in today because she'd heard about Eric's involvent with the show. Thus, when Cindy declared her aim to turn these ordinary girls into supermodels, her disillusionnt spiked.
Most of the girls on the TV screen, while fitting and not unattractive, lacked even a hint of the radiant supermodel aura Cindy exuded.
When Scott picked up the remote to change the channel, Alice thought for a mont and pressed down on his hand. "Scott, just wait a bit longer."
Scott, being sowhat considerate, followed her lead but added one last comnt: "Fine, but I'll treat this as a joke."
...
anwhile, in households across the country tuned into Arica's Next Top Model, many shared Alice's mindset, with so already changing the channel in disappointnt.
Yet, the program rolled on.
The fortunate girls began to gather in the fashion capital of New York, each distinct in personality, background, and life experiences. Clever cara work slowly made viewers forget about the plain little ducklings, as they either saw reflections of themselves or were drawn in by curiosity and voyeuristic tendencies. Gradually, many forgot their initial letdown and beca engrossed in the unfolding drama.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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