"Does Director Chen intend to cooperate with us at Longwen Pavilion?" Sun Shou asked with a smile.
"Director Sun understands me. We at Wenxuan Bookstore do have this idea, but I wonder if Director Sun is willing to let me try to make this deal!" Chen He replied with a smile.
"Director Sun, I came to you today for this matter as well!" Liu Sheng from Wenhua Pavilion Bookstore, standing beside Chen He, chimed in, fearing that Wenxuan Bookstore would snatch the opportunity.
"How about this, you both show your sincerity first. I'll see whose sincerity is sufficient, and I'll cooperate with them," Sun Shou said with a smile, seeing that both of them were here for the distribution rights of "To Live."
"Our Wenxuan Bookstore is willing to concede sixty percent of the profit, and we'll only take forty percent of the sales."
"We'll concede ten percent more. Wenhua Pavilion will only take thirty percent of the sales!"
...
Nine-thirty in the evening.
The ratings monitoring room at Jiangnan TV was also full of people.
"Director Gong, are you confident? We've never done this kind of program before," the assistant asked Gong Tao. After all, they had only done music reality shows before.
They had never done a comedy selection program, and they were not sure about it.
"We'll know if we try. This is a do-or-die situation!" Gong Tao himself was not very confident, and he said softly to his assistant.
The vice director, sitting calmly in his chair, was ready to watch Gong Tao make a fool of himself.
"Director, Director Gong insisted on doing this program. I couldn't stop him," the vice director deliberately exaggerated to the old director.
"I know. This program seems interesting and innovative, which is worth encouraging!" The old director naturally understood the vice director's intentions. After all, he had been in this position for decades and understood human relationships clearly.
It was simply that the vice director didn't want to take responsibility. If the ratings of this program were poor, he wanted Gong Tao to take the blame.
Therefore, he was very dissatisfied with this vice director. If such a person were to lead Jiangnan TV, then Jiangnan TV would be doomed.
As the commercials ended, "Happy Comedian King" officially began to air.
Due to the previous program's popularity, Jiangnan Satellite TV had some viewers who would choose to see if there were any interesting programs during this time slot.
When many viewers saw that Jiangnan Satellite TV was broadcasting "Happy Comedian King," they were very curious and stayed to see what kind of program it was.
Ten minutes later, more and more viewers began to stay on Jiangnan Satellite TV and continue watching the program.
"Director Gong, we've stabilized!" The assistant said excitedly to Gong Tao.
According to the rules, as long as a new program could retain thirty percent of the viewers of the previous program, it was considered successful.
And in the ten minutes since the program began, the ratings had been steadily rising. Although it was not as explosive as "The Masked Singer," it was still much higher than many other programs.
"Hmph! I told you we shouldn't take such risks. Now it's good. The ratings are so low!" The vice director said gloatingly, seeing that the ratings had dropped by several tenths compared to the "The Masked Singer" period.
"Even if it dropped, these ratings are something none of us could achieve before Director Gong arrived!" The old director said coldly.
He was already satisfied with the effect of the new program.
Before Gong Tao came to Jiangnan TV, all of Jiangnan TV's ratings were being crushed.
Let alone producing a hit like "The Masked Singer." At that time, the most popular program's ratings were not even half of "Happy Comedian King" now.
"Besides, the program has only just begun. What are you in a hurry for?" The old director looked at the vice director and asked sternly.
"No, I just feel that this is not Director Gong's usual level!" The vice director was clearly startled by the old director's gaze and quickly explained.
'Old man, you'll retire sooner or later!' Seeing the old director turn his head, the vice director couldn't help but mutter.
Wang Shu, who was waiting for his flight at the airport, saw the broadcast notification for "Happy Comedian King."
He then logged into his Weibo account, reposted the broadcast notification from Jiangnan Satellite TV, and added a comment stating that he was participating.
Less than half a minute after Wang Shu posted on Weibo.
Many fans replied one after another, the rapid replies causing Wang Shu's phone to freeze again.
Wang Shu simply turned off his phone and waited for his flight.
"Wow wow wow! Big star Wang Shu is also participating in a comedy show?"
"I didn't expect there to be a comedy program. It's so rare these days!"
"Yeah, Brother Wang Shu can even perform skits. I'm a little excited!"
"I've already turned on the TV and am waiting for Brother Wang Shu to appear!"
After many fans learned that Wang Shu was participating in this program, they directly turned on their TVs and tuned to Jiangnan Satellite TV.
At this moment, major fan groups began to forward this news, and for a time, many people turned on their TVs.
In the ratings monitoring room at Jiangnan TV, the ratings that had been steadily increasing suddenly showed an explosive growth.
"Director, has the system malfunctioned?" The assistant asked Gong Tao in surprise, seeing the rapidly increasing ratings.
The rapid increase in ratings shocked everyone in the monitoring room.
They all whispered and discussed among themselves.
The vice director's face was one of disbelief.
"Quickly check if there's any problem with the data!" the vice director shouted, as he couldn't believe that a comedy program would attract so many viewers, and the speed of the rating increase was also unbelievable.
"Director, we just contacted the Central TV station, and the data is normal!" A technical staff member ran to the director to report.
"Then what's going on?" The vice director asked stubbornly.
"Perhaps someone is promoting us and advertising for us!" the technician replied after careful consideration.
"This is too terrifying. The surge in ratings has directly pushed us into the top five!"
"I also thought the system had malfunctioned just now. In all my years, this is the first time I've seen such a terrifying rate of growth."
"Incredible, simply incredible. Director Gong has only been here for a short time, and he's already contributed two hit programs!" Many staff members said in amazement after hearing that the data was real.
After all, they had been working for many years and had never seen such an increase in ratings.
"Hahaha, well done, Director Gong Tao, you are truly a benefactor of our Jiangnan TV!" Seeing the ratings data at this moment, the old director was overjoyed.
He walked up to Gong Tao and patted him on the shoulder. He highly valued Gong Tao's ability, and in his opinion, Gong Tao was much better than the vice director.
As the program continued to air, after Wang Shu's skit about "selling a crutch" was broadcast, the entire audience erupted in laughter.
"He's too good at deceiving people! I didn't expect Wang Shu's skits to be so funny!"
"What kind of bicycle do you want! This line is hilarious, I think it will become a popular meme!"
"I won't say much, but for today's program, I think Wang Shu's performance was the funniest. It was really interesting!" Many viewers sitting in front of their TVs marveled, never having imagined that Wang Shu could perform skits, and so humorously.
Soon, many viewers even started discussing it on Weibo. Coupled with the attention Wang Shu had just generated, the hot topic of "Happy Comedian King" directly surged onto Weibo's trending list. Many people who were unaware clicked on it, and then turned on their TVs to see what kind of program it was.
At one o'clock in the morning.
Wang Shu finally got off the plane. As soon as he opened his phone, he saw that Gong Tao had called him a string of times. Wang Shu was puzzled as to why he was calling. Could it be that "Happy Comedian King" had flopped? Wang Shu directly called Gong Tao back. It took a while for the call to be answered.
"Director Gong, what's wrong? Has the new program flopped?" Wang Shu asked directly.
"What are you talking about, kid? Our new program is a hit!" Gong Tao replied.
"A hit? Then, do I get paid for my copyright?" Wang Shu's spirits lifted upon hearing it was a hit, and he immediately asked.
"Don't worry, you'll definitely get paid. How's your new program coming along? We're scheduled to record it next week!" Gong Tao asked urgently. After all, the hottest program that night was Wang Shu's skit, which even trended on Weibo and created several popular internet memes. Therefore, he was very concerned about whether Wang Shu had prepared his next program, as many viewers would continue to watch the subsequent episodes because of Wang Shu's skit.
"I haven't started working on it yet," Wang Shu said somewhat awkwardly. He had been busy with various things in the past few days and hadn't had time to rehearse a new skit.
"No way, brother! This program is counting on you. You can't let me down!" Gong Tao hurriedly said upon hearing that Wang Shu hadn't started rehearsing.
"That depends on how quickly the copyright fees are paid!" Wang Shu said with a smile over the phone.
"I'll arrange it for you tomorrow morning. You have to hurry up and rehearse your program!" Gong Tao was cornered by Wang Shu and could only agree to Wang Shu's request, promising to pay him the copyright fees the next day. Even though the budget from the station hadn't arrived yet, he had to use his own money to cover it to keep Wang Shu, the star performer.
"Since Director Gong is being so cooperative, I'll start rehearsing the new program tomorrow. Get ready to be in stitches with my new program!" Wang Shu said, and then hung up the phone.