It's night on the East Coast, ABC headquarters on 66th Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

As the clock approached eight o'clock, Katzenberg, Tom Murphy, Robert Iger and other Firefly Group and ABC Network executives gathered in a conference room at the ABC headquarters building.

The final minutes of ABC World News were playing on the large-screen color television in the conference room, and the people with different minds were not interested in talking, and their eyes were focused on the TV screen, waiting for the official broadcast of "Survivor" at eight o'clock, and the subsequent ratings information.

As the minutes ticked by, Tom Murphy, who was sitting next to Katzenberg, couldn't help but glance at the prime-time lists of major TV networks in his hand again.

NBC's "Seinfeld" and FOX's "The X-Files" have both been marked as eye-catching stars, and "Seinfeld" will air the second episode of its third season tonight, and as a sitcom that has been second only to "Friends" in recent years, "Seinfeld" reached 21 million viewers last week. Although the first episode of FOX's "The X-Files" started tonight at the same time as "Survivor", the average viewership of "The X-Files" in the last season also reached 19 million, and as a popular sci-fi drama with many diehards, 20 million viewers will certainly be no problem when the new season premieres.

Even if CBS, another competitor, doesn't have a good ratings competitor. But a brand new reality show that has never been seen in the history of American television. At the same time, it was sniped by two powerful TV series. As the CEO of ABC, even after years of ups and downs, Tom Murphy, who is seventy years old, is still full of worries, his fingers rubbed on the schedule for a moment, and gently pressed on "The X-Files", Tom Murphy couldn't help but complain a little about Eric, why he only got "Friends" back, and left "Millionaire" and "The X-Files" to FOX. As a result, ABC's new program is now being sniped by FOX TV.

In the mind of conservative Tom Murphy, the format of "Survivor" also implies very big risks.

This reality show is all about real and unscripted, and although many details can be arranged by the production team, lured by the huge prize money of $1 million, the sixteen contestants do compete in every possible way without any rehearsal at all. In addition to the relatively regular physical competitions arranged by the program team, the contestants are also full of undisguised quarrels and differences, gangs and intrigues.

This is simply a bit of a display of the ugliness of human nature.

Tom Murphy, who has been in the media industry for most of his life, knows very well that the audience's mind is very difficult to fathom, and this undisguised display of humanity in "Survivor" is likely to cause two very extreme results, a form of program full of suspense and drama that satisfies the audience's voyeuristic desires. But in Tom Murphy's view, this result doesn't make the show's results look too ugly. But it does not necessarily bring explosive ratings, and another more embarrassing result is because of this undisguised display of human nature, which caused strong disgust from the audience, and even caused the program to be boycotted.

"ABC World News" ended quickly, after a short commercial, accompanied by indigenous percussion full of vast and quaint atmosphere, the camera set up on the helicopter flew over the beautiful Malaysian island of Tiga, the music was slightly lowered, the camera shifted to a fishing boat, in a somewhat chaotic scene, two teams of people piled various materials on a bamboo raft, and then collectively swam towards Diga Island, the host of the fishing boat quickly explained the various rules of the game of "Survivor".

After being briefly attracted by the beautiful landscape paintings of blue sky, white clouds, blue sea, and jungle, Katzenberg in the conference room couldn't help but glance at the door of the conference room.

Ten minutes, in just ten minutes, the staff waiting in the office can get the initial ratings data from Nielsen market research.

Although it was only five o'clock in the afternoon on the West Coast of the United States, the prime time there had not yet arrived. However, after years of accumulation of data research experience, Nielsen can not only monitor the ratings in real time accurate to the minute by installing ratings meters in tens of thousands of representative sample households, but also can accurately count the national ratings of a program through the collection of viewing data of only a part of the sample households in different time zones.

Compared with the various worries and expectations of everyone at ABC headquarters, the atmosphere in the living room of the villa in the Manor of East Hampton, Long Island, is quite warm, the family has just had dinner, and Eric, Virginia and Joanna are holding a little guy and sitting on the large multi-person sofa. Eva Pakula, who was pulled up by her sister and thrown on the single sofa next to her, was holding a bag of potato chips in her hand, smacking her mouth from time to time to tease Eric's little nephew who was holding her father's fingers in her arms. Hawaii sat obediently on his mother's lap, staring at the TV screen without blinking, looking unusually quiet. Playing too crazy in the kindergarten during the day, Emma, who was being held by Virginia, had already squinted her eyes.

As the family chatted, the picturesque Malaysian island of Tiga soon appeared on the TV screen as ABC World News came to an end.

Eva, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, couldn't help but praise at first: "It's so beautiful, where is this?"

Both Joanna and Virginia looked at Eric.

Although Eric was not involved in the specific production of "Survivor", he still knew the relevant information well, and introduced: "This is the untouched primeval forest of Diga Island in Malaysia, which is of course beautiful. ”

Eva immediately looked at Joanna expectantly: "Sister, why don't you take Xia Xia here for a trip next time......" Hehe smirked twice, and Eva added: "...... Pick me up by the way. ”

Joanna rolled her eyes and ignored her little sister's words.

Eric shook his head and said, "This is not a good place to travel, don't look pretty." But it's actually a snake island. There are no less than ten species of poisonous snakes that can be deadly. Of course. You can travel to other islands that have been developed, but you can do it yourself, don't bring your sister and Xia Xia. ”

Eva pouted: "I don't have so much money to travel overseas, my sister doesn't even give me living expenses now, and you don't let me participate in the Victoria's Secret show, otherwise I can earn a little more......"

Joanna glared at her sister: "Eva, shut up." ”

Eva immediately shrunk her neck and didn't continue.

Eric shook his head and smiled and explained, "You just had some simple modeling training. It's okay to be an ordinary catwalk and graphic model, but to participate in this kind of top show, with your level, you won't be able to increase your popularity at that time, but will be ridiculed by the media. Of course, if you're not afraid, I can temporarily stuff you in. ”

Eva stuck out her tongue and turned her head to look at the TV, but she didn't mention the Victoria's Secret show.

After Eric finished speaking, he leaned over to Joanna's ear and asked, "Why don't you even give Eva living expenses?"

Joanna explained softly, "I've already given her everything I can give." Eva is not a child, she always has to support herself. ”

Eric nodded. Without saying anything more, he realized that Westerners always seek individual independence, and although Joanna cared for this little sister, she obviously did not intend to let Eva parasitize herself.

After listening to the background introduction of the sixteen contestants from all walks of life, she immediately pointed to the sturdy former Navy SEAL in the group and said: "I think this guy can definitely become a champion, this is a special forces, there is no problem at all to survive in the wild, which is a little unfair to the other team members." ”

Eric looked at Joanna and Virginia, "Do you think so too?"

Joanna smiled and didn't answer.

"I don't think this SEAL guy is the least likely other than the two older guys," Virginia said. ”

Eva immediately became a little confused.

Eric said to Eva, "If you think about the rules that the host just said, since you, the outsider, have a very good chance of winning that guy, the other team members must be aware of this, and for the sake of the $1 million prize, they have a very good chance of kicking this guy out of the tribal vote." ”

Although Eva had some tendons, she was not a fool, and immediately understood what Eric meant, and said, "That...... You can't end up with a very weak player and get a bonus, right?"

Eric reached out and stuffed the teething stick on the coffee table into the mouth of his precious son who was about to bite his right hand after gnawing his left hand, and said, "The weakest one is definitely not going to get the prize, as Vicky just said, in order to win the physical level, they will definitely eliminate the weakest person in their group first." But at the same time, the weaker ones will band together to crowd out those who are considered to be the strongest in order to remain competitive. Of course, things don't have to be too absolute. In addition to showing the struggle between man and nature, this show will also test the unpredictable human nature. These people come from all walks of life, with different races, creeds, occupations, and personalities, and no one can guess their thoughts and choices. One of the highlights of the show is here, with strong drama and ubiquitous suspense, and it's very real. ”

Eva looked at the TV screen where a group of team members had just landed, and there was a disagreement over whether Mr. Huo should build the shed first, with a little cunning in her expression, she looked at Eric and asked shyly: "This is a million dollar bonus, don't you do something in private...... Uh-huh, is it arranged, like an internal reservation or something?"

Eric laughed and said, "A lot of ordinary viewers must have this kind of speculation. Of course, the program team will definitely guide the contestants to a certain extent, but the final winners are naturally produced after 39 days of competition. All you see is the $1 million prize, but what you don't know is that the show is going to cost $10 million to produce. As long as the ratings meet expectations, ABC can earn millions in advertising dollars from the show every episode. The risk of the bonus is very high, once it is debunked, the credibility is lost, and there is no possibility of continuing the production of this show. Think of it this way. Do you think we need to do this kind of thing?"

Eric discussing this with the women at the East Hampton Manor. Countless families on the East Coast who jumped to ABC TV on time to watch the show because of the Firefly Group's painstaking pre-promotion are attracted by the stunning pristine scenery and novel format of Diga Island, but they are also talking about various issues.

At the ABC headquarters in Manhattan, the first ten minutes of the show seemed so long, but it was also a little fleeting.

The contestants on the show have already spent their first night jerkily on Diga Island, with several mice crawling around in night vision footage, while Katzenberg, Tom Murphy, Robert Egger and others have frequently turned their attention to the door of the conference room.

When Katzenberg, who had the most impatient personality, almost got up and went to inquire in person. There was a knock on the conference room door, and a good-looking female clerk in her early thirties walked in with a form.

"Mr. Katzenberg, Mr. Murphy, this is ......"

Before the female staff could finish speaking, Katzenberg, who was sitting on the outermost side, had already snatched the form in her hand and couldn't wait to look at the paper.

No. 1, "The X-Files", with an instant rating of 22.1 million.

While some expectations have come to naught, this result is also to be expected.

Tom Murphy, Robert Iger and others also came over at this time, and Allen and other main creators could only stay on the periphery a little anxiously and wait for the bigwigs to take the initiative to reveal the results, and did not dare to squeeze forward.

Katzenberg's gaze quickly shifted.

The second place in the instant ratings is "Seinfeld". 19.9 million, a slight decrease from the first episode. Again, very normal.

As he continued to look down nervously, Katzenberg and Tom Murphy and Robert Iger beside him were a little relieved.

"Survivor" was lucky to be in third place, with an instant rating of 17.8 million.

Without looking at the rankings, Katzenberg nodded to Tom Murphy and Robert Ike, and the three sat back.

"17.8 million," Katzenberg said as he handed the form to the others, with no joy or loss on his face, "good start, let's wait for the ratings of the second episode and the half-o'clock and the hour, hopefully...... The next step will not disappoint. ”

Most of the people who were a little relaxed when they heard this data couldn't help but raise their minds again.

17.8 million, if it is other new dramas, this rating is definitely very eye-catching.

But the Firefly Group's pre-promotion of "Survivor" is completely in the same gear as "Friends", which will be broadcast next week.

Therefore, this rating, which is even a bit unnatural for other new dramas, can only be regarded as the result of the firefly group's vigorous promotion in the early stage. In order to be able to test the market response of "Survivor" as much as possible, this reality show, like many new dramas, adopts a two-episode simulcast model.

Although the start is good, the ratings curve of the show in the next two hours is the key to the true strength of this reality show.

Compared with Katzenberg, who is obviously not very satisfied, the main creators of the show such as director Mark Brent and screenwriter Charlie Parsons who see the data on the table are already secretly happy.

For the current four major public television networks, a program with more than 10 million viewers can continue to be broadcast, at least not in the first season. The current 17.8 million opening ratings have far exceeded the expectations of Mark Bournett and Charlie Parsons, and as long as the next ratings decline is not so miserable, the show will have no problem getting an ABC renewal.

Allen, who was parachuted into ABC as the deputy manager of the prime-time production department and also the producer of "Survivor", saw this data, and immediately went up and down after just a moment of relaxation.

Compared with others, Allen is the most stressed, and the failure of "Survivor" does not have much impact on Katzenberg and others, but it is related to his future. As an 'Airborne Trooper', although he once worked as Eric's personal assistant, this aura did not prevent him from being overtly or implicitly ostracized by the elders of the ABC.

Noticing the expressions of Katzenberg and others, Allen knew very well that they were comparing "Survivor" with "Who Will Be a Millionaire" created by Eric himself, and the average viewership of the first season of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" reached a staggering 29 million, which is a rebellion. Under the proper operation of Fox, even after five years, the ratings of this reality show still maintain around 20 million.

The current start of "Survivor" can only be regarded as mediocre compared to the amazing "Who Will Become a Millionaire".

However, of course, Alan has no intention of competing with the show produced by Eric himself, he only hopes that the ratings of "Survivor" will not decline in the future, even if it remains at about 18 million, this result will allow him to firmly establish himself in his position. But if the ratings drop too much, even with Eric as a backer, this failure will make it difficult for him to stay in the position of deputy general manager of ABC's primetime production department.

In some anxious waiting, the players on the TV screen have begun to intrigue, perhaps this kind of scene seems very new in the eyes of many ordinary viewers, but the people in the conference room of the ABC headquarters have not paid much attention to it.

If possible, many people actually want to propose in their hearts that it is better to turn off the TV.

Finally, as the contestants began to participate in their first physical competition, there was another knock on the door of the conference room.

……

*PS: In reality, the number of viewers in the first season of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" is really 29 million, which is a miracle. In addition, the "Seinfeld" mentioned in this episode, the finale has a rating of 76 million, which is a bit of a long-lived meaning, but the global popularity of this sitcom is not as high as "Friends". I just want to explain that most of the data in the book has been checked in detail, and I haven't scribbled it. (To be continued.) )