"Ms. Fang, Phoenix Channel and Dongshi Company have reached an adjustment agreement with the Record Association to pay a one-time payment of 8 million Hong Kong dollars to major record companies, what do you think about this matter?"

"Manager Fang, Phoenix TV and Dongshi Company promise to abide by the World Copyright Convention and will not use other companies' music works in infringement in the future, what does TVB say?"

"Manager Fang, the Record Association will officially sue TVB for infringement in early January next year, are you confident that you can win this lawsuit?"

"Ms. Fang......"

In front of the TVB building, reporters surrounded Fang Yihua's car and asked various questions through the car window like a cannonball.

Driving into the garage from the side of the road, Fang Yihua's driver took nearly 10 minutes. Fortunately, TVB security guards stopped them, otherwise these reporters would have to follow them into the garage.

Fang Yihua came to his office with a belly full of fire, and before his ass was hot, the phone on the desk rang. Fang Yihua pressed the speakerphone button, only to hear a voice from inside: "Manager Fang, the chairman asked you to go to her office." ”

"Got it!" Fang Yihua stood up depressedly, she knew what Shao Yifu was looking for her.

In other words, due to the continuous development of Phoenix Channel, coupled with the fact that Macau Satellite TV has seized the ratings, TVB's situation this year is not good, and the total ratings of the program have been on par with Phoenix Channel for the first time in the third quarter, and there is a possibility of being surpassed at any time.

A few months ago, the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, although the limelight was suppressed by Miss Oriental, but the runner-up of Miss Hong Kong, Wu Wanfang, became famous for promoting the World Cup and performing at the Hong Kong Pavilion of the World Expo, giving this year's Miss Hong Kong a hard face. It's a pity that Wu Wanfang became famous and was riddled with scandals. And the shelf is getting bigger and bigger, and she began to disobey the discipline of the TV station under her pampering and arrogance, and finally refused to appear in the TVB TV series on the grounds of illness. was personally ordered by Shao Yifu to be blocked indefinitely.

The only bright spot among the TVB newcomers this year is Wu Wanfang, as soon as the ban order on her came out, all the resources used on her in the past few months were wasted - at the beginning, just sending Wu Wanfang to perform at the Hong Kong Pavilion of the Canada World Expo, Shao Yifu took a lot of effort, and even used a little official relationship with the Hong Kong government.

Now the ratings of "Happy Tonight" have been equaled by Phoenix Channel's cutting-edge variety shows, and TVB wants to compete with Phoenix Channel for ratings, leaving only the last weapon of "Jin Yong Drama". This is also due to Shao Yifu's good personal relationship with Jin Yong. There is a big discount on the copyright fee of the TV series.

However, Phoenix Channel is not a vegetarian on the other side, and Oriental Television Production Zuò Company took advantage of Gu Long's death to buy the TV series rights of 14 Gu Long novels for 20 years in one go. And because the heir to the copyright of Gu Long's novel is not clear. Oriental Television Co., Ltd. bought these things for the price of cabbage, and the total cost was less than 10 million Taiwan dollars (a total of 1.8 million Hong Kong dollars were paid).

By the way, "The Peerless Twins", which made Liang Chaowei so red, will definitely not be filmed, because Phoenix Channel bought the 20-year exclusive TV rights of 14 Gu Long novels in Hong Kong.

It is difficult to adapt Gu Long's martial arts novel into a TV series. But the awesome thing is that Dongshi Company has a screenwriter head named Wen Ruian. The ratings of "The History of Martial Arts", which was broadcast at the end of last year, were even slightly higher than TVB's "Snow Mountain Flying Fox".

Although the average rating only won by two or three points, it was already a remarkable achievement. Because Gu Long's novels except for the "Chu Liuxiang" series, the influence of other novels in Hong Kong is far less than that of Jin Yong's novels, and compared with Jin Yong's dramas, they are not inherently dominant.

The current TVB has veterans such as Wang Mingquan and Xie Xian in the town, as well as the new generation of red stars such as the Five Tiger Generals and the Nine Dragons Girl (there is no official title of the Nine Dragons Girl yet), but Phoenix TV and Dongshi Company also won a large number of popular TV stars.

The more senior ones are Wan Ziying, Liu Songren, Pan Zhiwen, Zheng Wenya and Yu Anan, and the younger men are Yin Tianzhao, Li Ming, Jiang Hua, and Tang Zhenzong. There are Chen Xiuwen , Yung Huiwen , Ni Shibei , Mak Cuixian , Ye Yuqing , Qiu Huixin, not including He Jiajin , Mo Shaocong and others who went from TV series to the big screen.

With the ratings of Phoenix Channel, it is bullish year on year. The fame of these stars is not weaker than that of the Wireless Five Tigers and the Nine Dragon Women, and even surpasses them in a certain way.

For example, Tang Zhenye belongs to the Wireless Five Tiger Generals, but his brother Tang Zhenzong is now an actor highly praised by Phoenix TV and Dongshi Company.

Fang Yihua walked into Shao Yifu's office and said, "Sixth brother, are you looking for me?" ”

"Sit," Shao Yifu beckoned, and waited for Fang Yihua to sit down before asking, "What's going on with Phoenix Terrace and Dongshi Zuò Company?" ”

Fang Yihua said: "I also found out this morning, and I have already sent someone to inquire. ”

The two discussed the countermeasures, and the people sent by Fang Yihua finally came back and went directly to Shao Yifu's office to report the news: "Sixth Uncle and Manager Fang, the reason why they promised not to infringe on the use of other companies' music in the future is because Oriental Television has a new music department director from Zuò Company. ”

Shao Yifu was very curious and asked, "Oh? What is that person's ability to solve the problem of the epidemia score in one go? ”

"That man's name is Hu Weili, and he is a well-known composer in the mainland," the man reported, "and he was personally brought to the company by Kang Jianfei and announced his appointment." After knowing that Dongshi and Phoenix Station lacked tunes, he immediately said that all the scores he had created for decades would be donated to Dongshi Company to enrich the music library. ”

Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua were speechless for a long time, Kang Jianfei picked up a big bargain this time.

"I can't imagine that there are such fools in the world, and all the creative achievements of decades are donated for free." Fang Yihua said in a sour tone, but she was full of regret in her heart. Because Fang Yihua vaguely remembered that someone had mentioned Hu Weili a few days ago, she just casually asked someone to test the other party's true talent.

Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua are now having a headache, and Phoenix TV and Dongshi are naturally happy to have Hu Weili, but TVB doesn't know how to deal with the infringement lawsuit.

Now it is impossible to negotiate a private settlement, because Phoenix TV and Dongshi paid the record association 8 million copyright fees at one time. This price is far beyond TVB's bottom line, and it is impossible for the two sides to negotiate.

To put it simply, Phoenix TV and Dongshi are solving copyright disputes and future TV drama soundtrack issues at the same time. also paid a high copyright compensation fee by the way, which pitted TVB, and now TVB has no way to advance or retreat.

"Prepare for a lawsuit." Shao Yifu sighed that he was ready to spend three or four million in legal fees to fight the lawsuit against Laipi, and he did not want to be extorted 8 million by the Record Association.

This is not Shao Yifu's stinginess, he has donated tens of millions of education donations to the mainland this year alone, and now his reluctance to pay money is a matter of business philosophy.

As for the soundtrack of TVB TV dramas in the future, don't use local music from Hong Kong. It's okay to use Japanese, European, and American music as much as possible, but it's impossible for a record company to sue you.

After Fang Yihua and Shao Yifu discussed the countermeasures, they immediately asked the full-time lawyer of the TV station to prepare for the lawsuit. Just finished the matter. Suddenly, someone from the artist department came to report the situation: "Manager Fang, Liang Chaowei refuses to renew the five-year contract, and there is no way to persuade him." ”

"This anti-bone boy!" Fang Yihua cursed in a low voice, the wireless five tigers jointly rebelled last year. Liu Dehua has only been away from TVB for a few months. Liang Chaowei is making trouble here again.

Liang Chaowei is now the head of the wireless station. Naturally, it was impossible to sit idly by and watch him leave, Fang Yihua asked, "What does he want?" ”

Artist Ko Naren replied: "Liang Chaowei said that he is only willing to renew his contract for two years, and he cannot interfere with him taking over the film outside. ”

"When I first entered the TV station, I was very obedient, but now I am going to rebel one by one," Fang Yihua said in a cold tone, "Promise him!" ”

The artist Ke Naren asked again: "Liang Chaowei seems to be chasing Li Meixian now, do you want to warn him, it is not good for his image if this matter is exposed." ”

"Isn't Liang Chaowei dragging with Zeng Huaqian? Why did you get involved with Li Meixian again? Fang Yihua asked in surprise. Li Meixian is a rising star actress who is highly praised by TVB after Lan Jieying leaves. And Liang Chaowei and Zeng Huaqian's relationship has lasted for many years. has long been known to the public, and now if it is revealed that Liang Chaowei is empathetic and does not fall in love with Li Meixian, it will greatly damage the image of Liang Chaowei and Li Meixian, and the audience will see them as negative men who step on two boats and a fox spirit who seduces a "married man".

The person from the artist section said: "Liang Chaowei and Zeng Huaqian seem to have quarreled and contradicted, but they have not completely broken up, and now Liang Chaowei is pursuing Li Meixian." ”

Fang Yihua thought for a while and said: "Don't talk about this matter with Liang Chaowei, warn Li Meixian in private, just say that if she falls in love with Liang Chaowei, she will be banned directly!" ”

"I see." The man exited the office.

Liang Chaowei is a young student who is about to expire, so it is naturally difficult for such an actor to warn him heavily, but the TV station can teach a warning to Li Meixian, who is becoming famous.

Fang Yihua was the only one left in the office, she sat for a while and felt that her head was about to explode, and TVB is now making all kinds of troubles a mess, making Fang Yihua physically and mentally exhausted when she comes home from work every day.

Especially the old actors of the TV station are all ready to move, if there is no contract to contain them, they would have jumped ship long ago, and the TV station can't stop them at all.

More than 20 years later, TVB's popular TV stars have a formal salary similar to that of a taxi driver in Hong Kong every month. Celebrities mainly make money by shooting advertisements and other announcements, while actors who can't receive advertisements are miserable, with salaries similar to ordinary wage earners, but the work they do is so tiring that they die.

At that time, TVB had declined, and the treatment was naturally much worse, but the current TVB actors are not much better. Take Liang Chaowei, a TVB master, as an example, if he doesn't accept advertisements, movies, or help people cut ribbons to make money, his monthly salary is only more than 3,600 yuan, while the median salary in Hong Kong at this time is 2,800 yuan.

In terms of monthly salary, Liang Chaowei is at most a senior white-collar worker, and he can only save money to buy a house if he has extra money. And what makes TVB most dissatisfied with actors is that it always restricts its artists from receiving films outside, which is tantamount to cutting off people's financial resources.

The ones who want to jump ship the most are TVB's quasi-first-line artists, these people can't receive advertisements, because TVB restricts the directors from receiving very few movie appointments, and they earn 3,000 yuan a month by working hard. Now that Hong Kong films are beginning to prosper and develop, these people naturally want to get rid of them as much as possible, so as to fight in the tide of Hong Kong films.

On the Phoenix Channel, it is much more flexible, all the actors are signed artists of Oriental Entertainment Agency, and you can take whatever film you like. For example, if you are a popular TV star and want to move to the big screen, then you can, just discuss it with your own agent and company. However, if you delay the filming of a TV series because of a movie, it is natural that someone will take your place.

Therefore, although the artists under the Oriental Entertainment Agency are free to accept advertisements, TV series and movies, they generally do not try to transform lightly. For example, Chen Xiuwen, the leader of Phoenix Channel, after gathering a lot of popularity on TV, her records also sold very well, and she chose to move to the big screen in this situation, but the response to making two movies in a row was not very good.

Chen Xiuwen had to continue to go back to act in TV series obediently, but in the short time she had been away from the TV screen for half a year, her position as the first sister of Phoenix Channel had been in jeopardy, and the limelight was robbed by several other actresses.

It is precisely because of Chen Xiuwen's example that the artists of Oriental Entertainment Agency are now very cautious, such as the first brother Wan Ziying who shoots TV series with peace of mind, and comes out to pick up one movie a year at most.

Sometimes you can't hold it down by strong pressure, but when you really let go, there are not so many people who want to run and want to change careers. Now several companies under Kang Jianfei are flowing living water, while TVB is too authoritarian and lifeless.

Although TVB is still extremely profitable, because of the impact of Phoenix TV and Macau Satellite TV, various hidden dangers inside and outside have emerged, and Fang Yihua, as the general manager, actually has a feeling that the building is about to collapse. (To be continued......)