Early on Sunday morning, Eric had a phone call with Chris, who was far away in Tokyo, to learn about the situation in Southeast Asia, and rushed to Century City in the morning to meet with Harvey Weinstein. After the pen ~ fun ~ www.biquge.info handed over the operation of FFM TV to Weinstein, the headquarters of FFM was set up near the Fox Century City studio.

Last weekend, on June 15, "The Black Road Family" went through thirteen weeks of broadcasting, and the first season officially ended.

With Harvey Weinstein's skillful operation methods, the word-of-mouth of "The Black Road Family" continues to spread like a virus. After a good start with 1.76 million viewers for the premiere, ratings for the series have soared, and by the time the final episode of the first season aired, the highest viewership had soared to 3.25 million, almost double the number at the time of the premiere.

Thanks to the influence of "The Kurodo Family", FFM's popularity has further expanded, and the number of subscribers has also increased significantly, and by the end of the first season of "The Kurodo Family", the number of subscribers to FFM TV has reached nearly 6 million.

FFM's user base was only about 4.5 million before the launch of "The Kurodo Family", and due to the relatively low starting point and the full support of the three major media giants, everyone had a hunch that FFM TV would grow as fast as a seedling that had just sprouted in fertile soil. However, in just one quarter, the number of new subscribers is close to 1.5 million, and this user growth rate is still incredible, you know, HBO TV in the same period, the number of new subscribers in a quarter is less than 500,000.

From the moment the idea of setting up FFM TV was born, Eric had the idea of competing with HBO. Therefore, while giving full support to FFM TV, Eric has not relaxed his attention to the operation of the TV station in the slightest. Since its launch last September, Eric has been attending at least two or three times a month in the operations of FFM.

After an initial brief period of discomfort, Harvey Weinstein quickly demonstrated his ability to operate a television business. The number of FFM subscribers has skyrocketed in the last quarter, and to be honest, "The Black Road Family" is attributed to only 30% at most, and the remaining 70% is the result of Weinstein's excellent business operations.

Just like the public relations operation process of hedging the Olympic film, since the word-of-mouth of "The Kurodo Family" was established after its broadcast, Weinstein has carried out a deeper operation of "The Kurodo Family" through all available channels such as newspapers, television, and the Internet. By the end of the first season, the idea of "The Black Family" has become ingrained in many people's minds, and accordingly, the FFM TV brand has become more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and as a result, the brand of FFM TV has become more popular, and as a result, it has brought a large number of new users.

Speaking of which, Weinstein's operation of FFM during this time is very similar to that of Flix in his previous life.

After 2013 in the original time and space, when it comes to flix, almost all of the first things that come to mind for many people are "House of Cards". "House of Cards" is naturally a work that can be called a divine drama, but just like "The Black Road Family" at this time, both dramas are strictly speaking only a catalyst, and what really makes FLIX rise is the company's excellent business operation ability. Of course, just as some chemical reactions can't happen without catalysts, without "House of Cards," Flix wouldn't have been able to skyrocket from 26 million subscribers to 40 million in the first two years of the show. Similarly, "The Black Road Family" has played a decisive role in the development of FFM, but it is definitely impossible to ignore.

However, behind the skyrocketing number of subscribers, there is also a rapid increase in the operating costs of FFM TV stations.

Despite the support of the three media giants, FFM TV is a self-financing company after all, and it is impossible for either Firefly or Fox to provide film and television rights to FFM for free.

In order to compete with HBO, FFM not only bought a batch of film and television rights to fill the broadcast time in the early stage, but also introduced a new film every week on average in addition to the self-made drama "Black Road Family", in total, FFM will spend more than $300 million on film and television content this year, and the advertising and marketing budget of the TV station is also close to $200 million, plus the operating expenses of the TV station itself, the annual operating costs of FFM TV will reach 700 million US dollars.

On the other hand, in order to attract new subscribers to subscribe, FFM has also implemented a large number of discounts in terms of fees, which has also largely lowered the average subscription fee of users, although the number of subscribers has increased rapidly, but FFM TV station is expected to have a total revenue of no more than $500 million for the whole year, which is only about one-third of HBO's annual revenue. This also means that in 1997, FFM will bring losses of at least $200 million to each shareholder.

In fact, if the ambition is smaller, in the context of the overall explosion of the cable TV industry, relying on the rich content resources of the three major media giants, FFM only needs to significantly reduce the budget expenditure on content and marketing, even if it is only with the current subscribers, it can quickly achieve profitability and live a small life. But in this way, FFM TV will forever lose the possibility of becoming a pay-per-view cable giant, and even, in the future streaming era, FFM is destined to become the first traditional cable platform to be eliminated.

Naturally, Eric would not let this happen, either not doing it or doing the best he could, and even if the end result was not satisfactory, Eric would not allow FFM to rest on its laurels at the beginning.

What's more, the average annual loss of $200 million is only tens of millions of dollars according to the shareholding ratio of each company. In recent years, everyone has been doing very well, and paying tens of millions of dollars a year on a toll cable station with huge growth potential is not an unacceptable thing. However, Eric also knows that after the bursting of the Internet bubble, the life of cable operators, who are also the beneficiaries of the new technology wave, will become very difficult for a long time, and at that time, tens of millions of dollars a year will be more difficult for them to accept, and Eric also expects that it will be able to get back the 20% stake that was originally allocated to the major cable operators.

At the current growth rate of FFM, the total number of subscribers will exceed 8 million by the end of 1997, and the number of subscribers will exceed 10 million next year. However, after the number of subscribers exceeds 10 million, just like a fast-growing seedling entering the mature stage, the growth rate will also slow down, and it will start a more direct hand-to-hand fight with HBO.

In the conference room at FFM headquarters, Eric listened to Harvey Weinstein's report and said, "Harvey, your contract isn't five years?" That way, if you can grow the number of FFM subscribers to 20 million over the course of your contract, I can now promise to increase your option share by 50%. ”

Harvey Weinstein left the presentation table and returned to his seat, smiling, "Eric, your conditions are indeed tempting, but this is not an easy task. Firefly, News Corp., and MGM do not have the nationwide cable networks of Time Warner, and the major operators are only minority shareholders in FFM, so they can't be too dedicated to supporting TV stations. Time Warner's cable network is sure to crowd out FFM, telecommunications companies are eager to build their own pay-per-view cable station, Starz, and the underlying cable company, which has a very close relationship with Viacom, will limit FFM's further expansion. In my opinion, when the scale of FFM users grows to about 15 million, it will enter a bottleneck, and if you want to break through, the three of you must buy a national cable TV operation system that is enough to support the further development of FFM TV. Otherwise, I can only guarantee that the number of subscribers to FFM will grow to 15 million during my tenure. ”

Harvey Weinstein's contract began in July last year and ended in July 2001, a five-year period, which happened to be the most turbulent period of the new technology wave, and although the dot-com bubble must have burst by the time Harvey's contract expired, Eric could not have been too hasty. Of course, Eric is even less likely to buy a cable company before the dot-com bubble bursts, which would be a big deal. In that case, Eric certainly won't be able to meet Harvey's request.

In Weinstein's expectant gaze, Eric finally shook his head and said, "I don't have such plans for the next few years, but you can discuss it with Rupert." ”

Weinstein shrugged helplessly, he had actually talked to Murdoch about the topic, and News Corp itself already had a satellite and cable network, but on a smaller scale. Moreover, in recent years, News Corp. has focused more on the development of television stations, and is not too keen on the basic cable TV operation business.

No more talk about the subject, and everyone in the room talked about other things, and it was not until nearly twelve o'clock in the afternoon that the meeting finally ended.

Harvey Weinstein packed up the papers in front of him, looked at Peter Rich, who had been sitting next to Eric today, and still smiled at the fat man with a harmless face: "Eric, let's have lunch together?" ”

Eric laughed and said, "Of course, even if you don't mention it, I'll let you invite me to dinner." ”

Eric rushed over today, in addition to participating in FFM's recent operations meeting, there is another purpose, which is to officially introduce his assistant Peter Ritchie to Harvey Weinstein, in fact, at the beginning of this year, Eric has already talked to Weinstein about this, and he has been prepared. When FFM was first formed, Eric didn't interfere too much in personnel issues, and at this time, it was nothing to just put a manager in.

In the restaurant near Century City, most of the management of FFM TV has dispersed, and there are only four people sitting in the box, Eric and Peter Rich, Weinstein and Brad Gray, the vice president and head of production at FFM, and as for Harvey's brother Bob Weinstein, who is still focusing all his energy on Miramax and does not work at FFM.

Eric wasn't too much of an endorsement of FFM's acquisition of the production company of Brad Gray, a former assistant to Weinstein. Eventually, however, Weinstein brought him closer to the company to take charge of the program's production department and bought Brad Gray's production company for $5 million. The deal involved a small amount of money, not even as much as FFM's purchase of the rights to a blockbuster movie, and Eric didn't block it too much.

After ordering lunch, a few people chatted about the arrangement of "The Black Road Family" to impact the Emmys in September, and Harvey Weinstein took the initiative to mention the arrangement for Peter Rich: "Peter, I hope you can go to the marketing department first to serve as Mark's deputy, Mark Levinson, I introduced him in the morning, and his current position is the manager of the marketing department." Familiarize yourself with it for a while, and if you have a position that interests you more, I can adjust it appropriately. ”

FFM is actually not very large, with less than 200 employees. As a paid cable TV station, the core functional departments are film procurement, program production and advertising and marketing, and in the future, after FFM self-made content is more abundant, there will be a copyright operation department, and other departments such as finance and personnel are equally important, but will not have much impact on the development of FFM. In recent years, due to the rapid expansion of FFM, the company's advertising and marketing department has become more important, and the future development space is broader to be able to join this department.

Although Eric had already discussed it with him before, Peter Ritchie was still a little excited when he heard Weinstein formally propose it, and the deputy manager of the marketing department, and then the next level, was the vice president of FFM. Although it is beautiful by Eric's side, at this time, Peter Richie can be regarded as the starting point of entering a career with a broader space for development.

After a brief moment of excitement, Peter Ritchie quickly nodded: "Thank you, Harvey, I will try to do the job." ”

Weinstein's smile remained unchanged, and he glanced at Eric before saying, "So, when are you going to join the company, I'll arrange it in advance?" ”

Peter Ritchie also looked at Eric.

Eric put down the cutlery in his hand, smiled, and said, "Next month, I'm going to the UK soon, and it's too late to change people for the time being." Of course, Peter, you can also apply for a month's leave when you come back from England, and I remember that you didn't seem to have a break since you were with me? ”

Peter Ritchie shook his head with some eagerness: "No, I can get to work right away." ”

Eric smiled and nodded, "Of course, it's your choice. ”

Weinstein also smiled and said, "Actually, young people, that's how it should be." Look at each of us, it's Sunday, and not all of us are working yet. Actually, I do admire that Eric can do this. If I had that much money for you, I would be hiding on a private island by now. ”

Eric shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "Well, it seems that my current style of painting is very incongruous in your eyes. ”

After a few people laughed and had lunch, Weinstein asked again: "Eric, the first three episodes of "Prison Storm" have been produced, do you want to watch the finished film together in the afternoon?" ”

"I have something to do in the afternoon, it's been two weeks since I delayed," Eric shook his head and said, "In this case, you can send a sample to Sharp Corner Manor, and I'll take a look at it later." ”

"No problem," Weinstein nodded, and gave Eric another vaccination, "But, Eric, I don't think this series is too good, at least, it's definitely far from being compared to 'The Black Family'." ”

"It's natural, any production company has its ups and downs, and I never expected all the films produced by FFM to be like 'The Kuromichi Family.'"

The overall strength of a TV station has always relied on the overall quality of its dramas, and it is not accompanied by one or two popular dramas, which is the best state. If all the dramas produced are of the top level, not only is it unrealistic, but even if it is realized, it will turn into an overall 'mediocrity' after raising the audience's aesthetic requirements.

Eric's expectation for "Prison Storm" is that it can be above average.

Separated from Weinstein and Brad Gray, Eric drove to the Strausdale estate, sent away his assistants and bodyguards, and walked into Drew's mansion alone.

In the living room of the villa, Drew was lying on the glass coffee table in the center of the living room looking through a pair of aircraft materials and drawings, and there were also piles of papers scattered on the carpet and sofa next to him.

Seeing Eric come in, the girl immediately raised a drawing in her hand, and said in a tone that was obviously more excited than annoyed: "Eric, it's so messy, I didn't expect it to be so troublesome to buy an airplane." ”

Eric walked over, sat down on the carpet next to the girl casually, took the drawings in her hand and looked at them, and said to Natasha next to her: "Wait for a guest to come over, clean up the surroundings." ”

"Yes, master," the two girls replied, and quietly got up and tidied up.

Paying attention to the drawings in her hand, the girl's little head had already come over: "Eric, I suddenly don't want to buy 777." ”

"Oh?"

"The Boeing 777 is a twin-engine, and I heard that the four-engine of the 747 is safer, so the presidential plane is the 747."

Eric smiled and said, "If you're worried about that, you won't be able to fly." ”

"Hee-hee, people are afraid of death."

"Then buy a 747."

Eric smiled, following the girl's meaning. In fact, he has also read a lot of aircraft information recently, and the reason why the 747 adopts a four-engine design is mainly because the power of the aero engine at that time is not enough.

Since the beginning of the Boeing 757, Boeing has generally adopted twin-engine designs due to advances in aviation materials and engine design. As for the fact that a quad engine is safer than a twin, there is some truth to this statement. But in fact, during the flight, even if all the engines of the aircraft suddenly fail, it will not fall directly from the sky, but will continue to glide, as long as it is operated properly, it can still land safely. What's more, the situation of the twin engines failing at the same time is hundreds of times lower than the probability of the plane being struck by lightning, and the probability of the plane being struck by lightning during flight is still quite large. As for the failure of the single engine, it will not have much impact on the flight.

"However, the 777 is bigger, and I still want to build a party plane."

"That's 777."

"Wow, your tone is too perfunctory, be careful that I buy both."

Eric continued to nod, "That's fine." (To be continued.) )