"Brother-in-law, don't be angry. I heard that the ratings for "Princess Pearl 3: Heavenly Realm" have completely exploded this time!" Leng Zhiwen said cheerfully, and judging by her expression, this explosion was not a good thing, carrying a sense of schadenfreude.
This was indeed the case. Leng Zhiwen was gloating because the TV series that had replaced "Chinese Paladin" on Hunan Satellite TV was "Princess Pearl 3: Heavenly Realm," and it was estimated that only this TV series had the ability to displace "Chinese Paladin."
As everyone knows, the two installments of "Princess Pearl" in '97 and '99 set unprecedented viewership records in China, reaching a staggering 56% at their peak. This was an achievement that even "Drawing the Sword" of this era could only look up to.
Although "Journey to the West" with 92% and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" with 90% held the top viewership records, those were set in an era when China had very few television programs. By the time the "Princess Pearl" series began airing, China's variety of TV dramas had already become abundant. In those years, besides "Princess Pearl," the highest viewership record was only 10%. Thus, it was evident that competition among satellite TV stations was already very fierce.
Of course, in the first decade of the 21st century, competition among major Chinese television stations became even more intense. Therefore, the most popular TV dramas could at most achieve around 5% viewership. Forget 65%, even achieving a viewership rating of over 10% was extremely difficult. In the entire 2020s, only "In the Name of the People" achieved such a feat!
And this achievement was only for three episodes. "In the Name of the People" only had three episodes that surpassed 10%, with the rest fluctuating below 10%. Therefore, the glory days of "Princess Pearl" could not be replicated unless 90% of satellite TV stations went bankrupt in the future, leaving only a few remaining.
It was precisely because "Princess Pearl" Part 1 and Part 2 created such astonishing viewership that when "Princess Pearl 3: Heavenly Realm" premiered, the entire Hunan Satellite TV poured immense enthusiasm and anticipation into it. Therefore, it was only this TV series that had the capability to push "Chinese Paladin" aside.
Some might wonder, why would Hunan Satellite TV do such a foolish thing as to offend Boss Huang just for "Princess Pearl 3"? Couldn't they have arranged the broadcast schedule in advance?
Why would they push aside "Chinese Paladin" at the last minute?
This brings us to the "special operation" of "Princess Pearl 3" itself.
Perhaps in the impression of all readers, the premiere of the "Princess Pearl" series of TV dramas was always on Hunan Satellite TV, and it was impossible for "Princess Pearl 3" to premiere on other stations in mainland China.
But the fact is quite the opposite. Historically, "Princess Pearl 3" premiered on Fengtian Television Station, a local television station that covered only the area of the three northeastern provinces. Therefore, many viewers were unaware that this TV series did not premiere on Hunan Satellite TV.
As for "Princess Pearl 1" and "Princess Pearl 2," they both premiered on Hunan Satellite TV. Why did the premiere station suddenly change?
This was mainly because Hunan Satellite TV had a conflict with Chen Ji Ji from Taiwan.
When "Princess Pearl 1" and "Princess Pearl 2" were produced and aired, Hunan Satellite TV had invested in Chen Ji Ji's production company, producing two installments of "Princess Pearl." Consequently, they naturally obtained the broadcast rights for "Princess Pearl" in mainland China without having to pay any revenue to Chen Ji Ji from Taiwan.
Chen Ji Ji could exclusively receive all revenue from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the pan-Chinese cultural regions.
This was a mutually beneficial transaction, as Hunan Satellite TV's investment accounted for the lion's share of the entire TV series' investment. Hunan Satellite TV was also responsible for contacting mainland actors and film bases. It was natural for them to receive all revenue from mainland China.
Chen Ji Ji, by simply providing a script, could receive all revenue from regions other than mainland China, which was already a huge profit.
The previous collaborations between Hunan Satellite TV and Chen Ji Ji, such as "Dreams Behind the Curtain," "Romance in the Rain," and "Plum Blossom Scar," followed this cooperative model, and both parties cooperated very happily.
However, by the time of "Princess Pearl" Part 1 and Part 2, Chen Ji Ji felt that he was at a disadvantage.
This was because "Princess Pearl" was so overwhelmingly profitable, especially its unreasonable popularity in mainland China. The most typical example was that overnight, all children's pencil cases across China were adorned with stickers of the "Princess Pearl" cast.
Therefore, not only did the TV station receive advertising revenue, but also a large amount of peripheral copyright revenue, which made Hunan Satellite TV incredibly rich. Later statistics showed that within three years, Hunan Satellite TV earned approximately 300 million RMB from these two "Princess Pearl" TV series, more than 20 times its investment.
Moreover, the copyright for these two TV series would continue to generate revenue in the future, but none of this revenue was related to Chen Ji Ji from Taiwan. Chen Ji Ji, Hong Kong, and Taiwan appeared quite wealthy, but in the 21st century, they were all in decline. Chen Ji Ji's total earnings were less than 40 million RMB, which was a world apart from Hunan Satellite TV's earnings.
This made Chen Ji Ji have second thoughts. When Hunan Satellite TV proposed to continue co-producing the third installment, Chen Ji Ji changed the cooperation terms.
In fact, Chen Ji Ji wanted to change the cooperation terms after the broadcast of Part 1, but since both Part 1 and Part 2 were included in the contract, and they were filmed together, Chen Ji Ji had no right to change the contract and had to give up.
Therefore, when Part 3 came out, Chen Ji Ji proposed new cooperation terms: Hunan Satellite TV would not only bear almost all production costs, but also receive 70% of the mainland revenue.
That's right, Chen Ji Ji wrote a script and directly demanded 70% of the revenue, while also requiring Hunan Satellite TV to bear all production costs. How could Hunan Satellite TV agree to this?
However, the "Princess Pearl" IP was too alluring, and Hunan Satellite TV was unwilling to miss out. Therefore, Hunan Satellite TV proposed that Part 3 would not achieve the same results as Part 1 and Part 2, so they wouldn't earn as much, and thus should not receive 70%.
Chen Ji Ji, on the other hand, believed that her script was very perfect, and with the track record of Part 1 and Part 2 as a foundation, even if the viewership declined slightly, it would at least achieve a peak of 50% and an average of 35% viewership.
Thus, after negotiation, they reached a compromise bet.
Coincidentally, Chen Ji Ji had already reached a cooperation with CCTV at that time, planning to adapt another novel of hers, "Amidst a Rain of Misty Flowers," into a TV series, which would later be "Romance in the Rain," to be broadcast on CCTV-1 and CCTV-8.
Chen Ji Ji was very confident in the performance of this TV series because it almost used the original cast of "Princess Pearl," except for replacing Zhou Jie, whom all the actors at the time strongly disliked, with Leo Ku. Otherwise, it was basically the same.
Moreover, this time the broadcast platform was CCTV, which was even more powerful than Hunan Satellite TV, and it was broadcast in the prime time slot. There seemed to be no possibility of failure.
Chen Ji Ji was very confident that this TV series would achieve an average viewership of at least 20%. Therefore, she proposed that if "Romance in the Rain," which merely used the original cast, could surpass 20% viewership, then Hunan Satellite TV should agree to her terms.
If this viewership rating was not achieved, then the previous terms would apply.
Hunan Satellite TV nodded in agreement, and then "Romance in the Rain" was broadcast.
The result was quite touching. Although "Romance in the Rain" received a good response in China, and was the most discussed TV drama in the entire year of 2001, when the actual viewership ratings were released, "Romance in the Rain" had a viewership rating of 11.5%. This result did not even win the annual championship; the annual championship was "The Gate of Great Houses" with a viewership rating of 14.5%.
This put Chen Ji Ji in a very awkward position. Hunan Satellite TV happily found her and said that they would invest in "Princess Pearl 3" according to the bet.
However, Chen Ji Ji was furious. She felt that the viewership rating was problematic and that someone was slandering her. Didn't the entire China discuss "Romance in the Rain"? How could it only have a viewership rating of 11.5%?
Unfortunately, this viewership survey was conducted by CSM, not Hunan Satellite TV, otherwise Chen Ji Ji would have accused Hunan Satellite TV of cheating.
In any case, Chen Ji Ji did not accept the result, so she directly renounced the bet. After all, it was just a verbal agreement, not put into writing. Whoever believed it was a mistress.
Good heavens, this time Hunan Satellite TV was enraged, and the two parties parted ways. Chen Ji Ji needed to find other funding to invest.
However, at that time, "Princess Pearl" was still a top IP in China, and Chen Ji Ji did not lack investors. Therefore, soon a wealthy individual from the three northeastern provinces approached Chen Ji Ji. This person generously agreed to the conditions that Hunan Satellite TV refused to accept: he would bear all production funds, and only take 30% of the mainland revenue, with everything else belonging to Chen Ji Ji.
Chen Ji Ji readily agreed. The wealthy individual proposed that before the nationwide broadcast in China, it would first be aired on a local television station in Fengtian. As he was from Fengtian, if a nationally renowned TV series like "Princess Pearl 3" could premiere ahead of the rest of the country, allowing the people of Fengtian to be the first in China to see "Princess Pearl 3," it would be a way of repaying his hometown.
Well, frankly speaking, this was to show off in front of his hometown folks.
Chen Ji Ji thought about it, and a mere local station premiere would not be a problem. It would only reach viewers in the Fengtian region. Cooperating with the investor to show off was not a big deal, so Chen Ji Ji agreed.
Then, a very comical scene in the history of Chinese television appeared: the sequel to the nationally famous "Princess Pearl," the third installment, Heavenly Realm.
Its premiere in mainland China was not on any satellite TV station, but on a local television station. This was indeed very comical.