"Mr. Huang, I never imagined I'd have the chance to meet you!" Donald looked at Huang He with surprise, feeling that the past few days had been incredibly surreal. It began when his good friend, Reed Hastings, the president and founder of Netflix, suddenly asked for his help, mentioning a bid that required television channel authorization.
Donald considered it and agreed. Firstly, he and Hastings were old friends; he had to extend this courtesy. Secondly, the request came from the Jiangnan Group.
At this time, the Jiangnan Group was still relatively unknown among ordinary American citizens. However, within the American business circles, it had already gained some notoriety. After all, it was a Chinese enterprise that had emerged and made a name for itself in the United States in just over four years.
It was rumored to be quite powerful, with assets exceeding ten billion US dollars. Even his old friend Netflix had had a majority of its shares acquired by this Jiangnan Group. This Jiangnan Group was definitely reliable.
So, Donald agreed and promptly granted the relevant authorization. In return, the Jiangnan Group offered a reward of ten thousand US dollars, which Donald was quite satisfied with, as this ten thousand dollars could solve his immediate pressing financial needs.
His television station was becoming increasingly difficult to operate. He had founded this station years ago with a few friends, filled with ambitious goals of becoming the largest television station in all of America.
However, after experiencing various real-world setbacks, this goal had dwindled to merely stabilizing the few thousand users of his local station in Los Gatos. But recently, this stability had become increasingly difficult to maintain, and the number of users was steadily decreasing. The reason was simple: Donald's television station simply couldn't generate enough interest for people to watch.
In the past, during the station's heyday, Donald had produced news programs, talk shows, and variety shows. At his most financially stable, he had even attempted to invest in producing his own American drama series.
Unfortunately, their funds were limited, and the quality of their productions was rather poor. Simultaneously, major American television stations began to network, with many smaller stations being acquired by larger ones and uniformly broadcasting high-quality programs produced by major corporations.
As a result, Donald's television station rapidly declined, and his user base plummeted. His partners felt it would be better to sell their shares to larger television stations and acquire the rights to broadcast their programs.
But Donald refused. The major television stations were offering to acquire shares of smaller stations at practically giveaway prices, and he was also reluctant to give up the fruits of his years of labor.
So, some partners withdrew their shares, while others left. Donald was left as the sole owner of the television station, which had lost its ability to produce television programs. Fortunately, the station still held the copyrights to some old television series and movies it had purchased previously.
Thus, Donald resigned himself to his fate and decided to exclusively broadcast these series and movies. To his surprise, this managed to retain a small group of users, and he managed to persevere until now.
However, Donald's income was too meager to do more than just maintain the station's equipment and operations. He lacked the funds to purchase new television series and movies, forcing him to repeatedly broadcast the same old content. Over time, many people grew truly tired of it.
Consequently, the number of subscribers dwindled, and Donald's station became increasingly strained. His personal debt exceeded one million US dollars.
Therefore, this ten thousand US dollars was actually enough to alleviate Donald's immediate financial crisis, allowing his television station to last for at least another month.
Donald thought that was the end of the matter, that he had simply earned an extra ten thousand US dollars. He never expected to receive a phone call from China that same evening. The other party expressed great satisfaction with the day's collaboration and stated that for future development, they intended to purchase Los Gatos Television and develop it into the greatest television station in all of America.
Regarding these remarks, Donald was initially slightly surprised, then dismissed them as nonsense. However, the three million US dollar price tag was incredibly appealing. It would allow him to clear his external debts and still have two million US dollars left to live on for the rest of his life. Could there be such a wonderful thing in the world?
Of course, this also meant the loss of the television station he had worked so hard on for half his life. But the current Donald was no longer the ambitious Donald of the past. People change. He now only wanted to live out his remaining years in peace.
Then, Donald met Huang He. It had only been three days since the parties had reached an agreement.
Donald had expected the other party to send a representative for the signing. However, he was surprised to find that Huang He himself had come to sign the contract, which made Donald feel greatly honored. Especially when Huang He directly handed over the three million US dollars to Donald, which made Donald even more excited. The signing process was very smooth, and all the equity of the Los Gatos Television station fell into Huang He's hands.
Buying a dilapidated television station for three million dollars might seem like a rather cheap transaction, but it wasn't a loss in reality. In the United States, obtaining a television license is extremely difficult.
It was easier in the early days, but later on, it became nearly impossible to obtain television licenses. Los Gatos Television, due to its ambitious goal of becoming the greatest television station in all of America, had almost all of its necessary permits and licenses in order.
This was the most valuable asset of Los Gatos Television. These permits could save Mr. Huang a lot of unnecessary trouble. According to the lawyer responsible for this acquisition, this deal was actually a small profit for Mr. Huang, as obtaining these permits alone would cost at least 5 million US dollars now.
However, in an era where the entire television industry was monopolized by the five major television networks, no sane person would want to start a new television station. Therefore, even with all the permits in place, no one would want to acquire such a station, otherwise Donald would have sold it long ago.
In summary, this was a mutually pleasant cooperation for both parties.
After seeing the money deposited and the contract signed, Donald breathed a sigh of relief, yet felt a sense of emptiness.
"Mr. Huang, after acquiring Los Gatos, what are your plans? How do you intend to manage it?" Donald asked out of curiosity. "Also, I can recommend a few staff members. Although they are old, their skills and methods are very proficient and can ensure the stable operation of the television station!"
"No need. I will dismiss all of these employees. They are no longer keeping up with the times!" Huang He stated decisively. "In the future, I plan to acquire a lot of new equipment for the television station. I believe that with the technical skills and experience these old employees have with old equipment, they will have to start from scratch with the new equipment."
"At the same time, as their age increases, their memory and learning abilities will decline. They will not be able to learn these new devices well. I can only optimize them out!"
This made Donald's expression instantly gloomy. Huang He added, "However, I will provide them with severance pay based on their years of service, plus 'n', so their lives will not be without support!"
"Thank you, Mr. Huang!" Donald nodded, then stood up. "Since that's the case, it's time for this remnant of the old era to leave."
"Wait a moment!" Huang He quickly called out to Donald, pulling him back to his chair, and said with a smile, "Mr. Donald, do you know what I admire most about your years of operating this television station?"
"I don't know..." Donald shook his head sincerely; he truly didn't know.
"It's your operational strategy over the last decade or so!" Huang He chuckled. "Your operational strategy of only broadcasting television series and variety shows, without any television advertisements, has greatly impressed me. I believe it is practically the greatest television operational strategy!"
"..." Donald, hearing this, felt a surge of indignation. "Mr. Huang, even if you don't like me, you don't have to mock me like this. I said I would leave and not interfere with your management of the station!"
"Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Donald. What I said just now was from the heart. Because when I used to watch television, I hated news programs and endless commercials the most. In my dreams, an excellent television station should be broadcasting television series non-stop."
"And it shouldn't be following the pattern of airing two episodes a day. Instead, it should broadcast from morning till night, starting from the first episode and continuing until the last, without any interruptions, allowing me to watch all the series in one go. That's what I would most like to see in a television station!" Huang He said with a smile.
"However, I've searched the entire world and couldn't find such a television station. Only here, with you, did I find such a station, so I truly admire your operational model!"
Seeing Huang He's sincere expression, Donald believed he wasn't lying. This was also what he disliked most about watching television as a child. Who wouldn't want television series without commercials, and definitely not the hassle of airing two episodes a day? To have them all broadcast in one go would be wonderfully satisfying!
This was actually Donald's dream as well, but in the practical operation of the station, Donald had realized that these were unrealistic.
Firstly, if the television station had no advertisements, its income would plummet drastically. Relying solely on service fees would be insufficient to cover operating costs.
Secondly, if television series and variety shows were broadcast in this manner, the demand for television series would be immense. Approximately 20 new television series might be needed each month to support the station's broadcast resources, making the expenses for these television stations undoubtedly astronomical.
Finally, the concept of broadcasting all episodes consecutively also had its problems. A viewer's capacity for sustained watching of television series is limited. Generally, after a few hours of continuous viewing, a person's attention span would decrease, unless a series was an absolute classic that could captivate the audience from start to finish. Otherwise, viewers would feel exhausted, label the series as garbage, and switch channels for a break.
However, once they switched channels, due to the continuous broadcasting of television series, a large number of middle episodes would be missed.
Then, you might find yourself having watched 10 episodes, but the television station has already aired up to episode 30, losing all interest and abandoning the station altogether.
Therefore, a television station continuously broadcasting television series was merely an unrealistic, beautiful fantasy.