Chapter 455 Sky-high first broadcast rights

As the screening of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was approaching, Song Ge found Gu Wei and asked about the minimum price for the TV series copyright.

"My idea is that the price for satellite TV should be 4 million per episode, and the online broadcast rights cannot be less than 1.5 million. It would be best if it starts airing during the summer vacation!"

On the set of "The Wandering Earth", Gu Wei pulled a chair at random and sat down and spoke slowly.

Song Ge had worked with Gu Wei for a long time and was used to his ideas. He said calmly, "Four million is a bit too high, right? The Legend of Chu and Han only cost three million!"

Gu Wei laughed and said, "High? Four million per episode, I don't think it's high.

You see, you know the current situation in the TV market. Satellite TV stations are scrambling to get good dramas, but it’s hard to air bad dramas. What they are scrambling for is quality and scarcity. Our drama is definitely a high-quality and scarce resource. If it doesn’t cost 4 million per episode, it’s better not to sell it.”

Hearing this, Song Ge hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no, although it may appreciate in value if left alone, it will only be a gain if you sell it and get the money."

However, Song Ge announced to the industry that he would hold a media screening at Xingchen Film and Television Company, preparing to sell the satellite TV and online broadcasting rights of "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City".

As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused a huge response in the industry.

In order to compete for ratings and advertising investment, the competition among many satellite TV stations in the mainland is quite fierce.

This "Ghost Blows Out the Light" received great attention during the filming, and now many fans are looking forward to it.

"Ghost Blows Out the Light" produced by Xingchen Film and Television is the work of Kong Sheng, a famous director in the field of TV dramas. It is said that the plot follows the original novel and the special effects are produced with huge investment.

Coupled with the extremely high number of clicks on the original novel, many satellite TV stations believe that it is one of the seed candidates for the hit drama, so they must grab it. If they fail to get it, at least they can disgust their opponents!

Moreover, the broadcast time of the first trailer of "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City" has always been highly anticipated by fans.

Many fans left messages and posts directly online, strongly demanding that the TV series be broadcast as soon as possible. The Internet was in an uproar. The heads of major satellite TV stations were not fools. As soon as they saw the situation, they knew that this drama would definitely be a big hit.

And on the side of Xingchen Film and Television Company.

Except for some people who knew they did not have the ability and did not want to join in the fun, after receiving Song Ge's invitation, more than 20 satellite TV stations and several video websites came. Even Tudou, which he controlled, had representatives, as well as representatives from several familiar media.

Although many film purchasing directors and deputy directors compete with each other, on the surface they are all people who know how to deal with situations and they still have some self-control.

Gu Wei did not attend this film viewing, which was hosted by Song Ge.

The film purchasing director of Capital TV even asked why Director Gu was not there. Song Ge smiled and said that Director Gu was busy with a new movie and there was no need to trouble him to come in person for these small matters.

My goodness, after hearing what Song Ge said, the film purchasing director was speechless.

Indeed, compared to blockbusters with investments of more than one billion, this matter is definitely a small one.

The director chuckled twice and said dryly, "Oh, that's it, that's it."

Hosted by a beautiful employee from the Publicity Department of Xingchen Film and Television Company, the media screening of "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City" began. After some pretentious procedures, the film went straight to the show, with three episodes broadcast simultaneously.

Then, a group of satellite TV executives were shocked by the real special effects in the drama. Is this a TV series? Many so-called blockbuster movies are not even at this level.

There is no way, because the domestic TV drama industry is still in the era of celebrity artists. The star's salary accounts for the majority of a play, and what good things can be expected from the remaining expenses?

Therefore, after watching the three episodes, some TV station executives felt a little dry in the mouth. One deputy station director even whispered to the film purchasing director beside him: "No matter how much it costs, we must get the first broadcast rights."

"It looks like it's going to be intense." The film purchasing director looked around and saw everyone discussing in low voices.

The deputy director drank a sip of mineral water and whispered, "We've been broadcasting bad dramas for half a year. If we don't come up with a decent movie, the advertisers will have to withdraw."

The shoddy production and wanton adaptation of TV dramas have indeed reached a point where they must be rectified.

Although the latest policy has not yet been released, the heads of major satellite TV stations have already received inside information.

Song Ge stood up and looked around, seeing everyone's expressions, he suddenly didn't think that the four million per episode that Gu Wei mentioned was too expensive for satellite TV. It was really the treatment for scarce resources.

If this were an ordinary TV series, the satellite TV station's film purchasing director would probably not even look at you.

After watching the film, Song Ge went on stage and made some polite remarks, then announced that the minimum price for the satellite TV station to broadcast “Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City” was 4 million per episode, and the minimum price for the copyright of the video website was 1.5 million per episode.

When the price was announced, all the satellite TV executives present were shocked.

Four million, what the hell!

"The Legend of Chu and Han", which is known as the most expensive historical drama, had a final price of only three million.

Although this is a watered-down drama, the ratings are not that good.

Although everyone had their own ideas, under the motivation and pressure of competing for audience share, no one complained. They only calculated in their minds and looked at other people vigilantly to see if anyone thought the price was too high and withdrew, so that Song Ge might lower the price. However, the reality did not match expectations. After Song Ge revealed the bottom price, not many satellite TV stations withdrew, and more than ten stations continued to participate in the competition.

Except for a few companies that withdrew due to real lack of money, most of the others already had a big summer drama and felt it was not cost-effective to spend a lot of money to purchase "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

For example, "Love Apartment 3" has been purchased and scheduled to be broadcast on four satellite TV stations in Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces on July 7.

The satellite TV stations that continued to compete naturally had to bid, and eventually it was purchased jointly by four satellite TV stations in the capital, Zhejiang Province, Shandong Province, and Sichuan Province, with a price of 4.6 million per episode.

The online broadcasting rights were won by Penguin Video, a company that was only launched in April last year but is very wealthy. It paid a sky-high price of two million yuan, beating out established websites such as Tudou, Youku, and iQiyi, and won the exclusive online broadcasting rights.

The reporters from several media outlets present felt their blood boiling.

Sky-high price, sky-high price, another sky-high price!
With the combined support of satellite TV and the internet, a single episode of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" reached 6.6 million viewers, once again breaking the industry record.

The media loves this kind of news the most. Just writing about it can make the front page of entertainment news.

Song Ge was also very excited. Each episode cost 6.6 million, and there were 30 episodes in total. The first round broadcast rights alone sold for nearly 200 million. After deducting the investment cost, the profit was over 100 million.

Add in the second-wheel, third-wheel and overseas Southeast Asian markets, and the number could reach 200 million.

The TV series is done and it is still very profitable. It feels more stable than movies, so we can shoot more in the future.

Although the film purchase intention contract was signed and the deposit was paid, it was not so easy to collect the money. Representatives from several satellite TV stations had to watch the entire film, and the film purchase fee was paid in batches. The balance could not be settled until the film was finished.

But the most troublesome thing is not these, but coordinating the broadcast time of the four satellite TV stations and video websites.

After repeated arguments and negotiations, the premiere date of "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City" was set on August 8, the prime time on the weekend evening.

After the confirmation, each satellite TV station has to coordinate the program schedule on its own and start promoting "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City" at the same time. The trailer cut by director Kong Sheng comes in handy. The "Ghost Blows Out the Light" crew, including the participating artists, also have to cooperate with several satellite TV stations to launch a publicity campaign.

However, the next day, an entertainment headline attracted the public's attention to the drama "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

Penguin Entertainment News reported: "Sky-high price, sky-high price again!"

"Yesterday, the first round of broadcast rights for "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Ancient City of Jingjue", produced by Xingchen Film and Television Company and directed by the famous director Kong Sheng, adapted from a popular novel, was sold and jointly purchased by four satellite TV stations in the capital, Zhejiang Province, Shandong Province, and Sichuan Province, with a single episode price of 4.6 million yuan.

The exclusive online broadcast rights of the drama were purchased by Penguin Video at a sky-high price of two million per episode.

Souhu Entertainment: "The price of a single episode of Ghost Blows Out the Light reached 6.8 million, setting a new record for domestic TV dramas.

According to the staff of Penguin Video, which has purchased the exclusive online broadcasting rights for the drama, more than 20 satellite TV station representatives attended the media screening, and all of them praised "Ghost Blowing Out the Light".

Sina Entertainment: "Xingchen Films announced that the base price for satellite TV broadcasting was 4 million yuan, but it was quickly raised to 4.6 million yuan. The competition was quite fierce.

The base price for the exclusive online broadcast was 12 million, but Penguin Video bought it for a whopping million. Compared to the base price of million, the transaction premium was as high as million, which shows that the drama is well-received and is expected to become a summer hit in ..."

In addition to reports from media such as Penguin Entertainment, Sohu, and Sina, media such as Entertainment Live also broke the news that "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was sold at a sky-high price, sparking heated discussions among the public.

For a time, it seemed that the whole society was discussing the phenomenon of sky-high prices for film and television dramas.

A while ago, "Love Apartment 3" was sold at a sky-high price of 466 million, which was already shocking.

Before we could recover from the shock, Ghost Blows Out the Light broke the record of Love 3 by nearly million. What is wrong with the world? How can the price increase so fast?

Many netizens have started heated discussions on this issue. Some people think that sky-high priced TV dramas are not good, but in the final analysis, it is the audience who will pay for it.

But some people think that this is market behavior, and that selling at a high price means that it is widely favored and the quality is guaranteed. If the film is bad, no one will be willing to broadcast it even if you pay for it.

Some people have also called for the government to take action on this matter, saying that there is no reason to increase prices in this way.

But more people, especially those who had read the original novel, were extremely excited.

The long-awaited drama is finally going to be aired, and it has been sold at a sky-high price, which shows that it is very well made.

After all, more than 20 satellite TV stations participated in the purchase of the film, and they are all insiders. It is impossible that they all spent more money to buy it just to hype this TV series.

Immediately afterwards, the four satellite TV stations that purchased "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City" began to arrange crew members to appear on variety shows and broadcast "advance trailers" on the shows.

As soon as the well-made trailer came out, it instantly attracted countless fans.

……

(End of this chapter)