It was previously mentioned that "Princess Pearl 3" had its premiere on a local television station, but the question is how it inexplicably returned to the hands of Hunan Province Satellite TV.
This is mainly because they are cheap!
Originally, Chen Jiji planned to broadcast "Princess Pearl 3" during the summer vacation of 2003, and then directly log into CCTV.
Who could have expected that "Liang Jian" would suddenly appear as a monster.
Not only that, but by the time the trend of "Liang Jian" had finally passed, "Soldiers Sortie" arrived.
"Soldiers Sortie," which premiered on Yizhou Satellite TV, was slow to gain traction in its early stages but became increasingly strong in the later period. With its accumulated strength, it presented a surge in viewership ratings.
Because there were no dull moments and each episode touched the heart, every subsequent episode of "Soldiers Sortie" had higher ratings than the previous one. By the time the final episode concluded, "Soldiers Sortie" had achieved an astonishing nationwide rating of 14.5%, on par with "Da Zhai Men" before it.
But then some unspeakable things happened
...
In the end, "Princess Pearl 3" lost its broadcast slot and was directly snatched by "Soldiers Sortie."
And Chen Jiji could not accept her masterpiece being broadcast on other second-rate television stations. Well, in Chen Jiji's eyes, apart from those three television stations, almost all others were second-rate.
Even more fatal, "Princess Pearl 3" had already been broadcast on a local station. She originally thought that the satellite TV broadcast would only be delayed by about ten days and wouldn't have a significant impact. But now, it seemed that it wouldn't be resolved in a few days. By the time "Princess Pearl 3" was actually released, pirated copies might have already flowed out through Fengtian Television, and everything would be ruined.
Chen Jiji was filled with resentment!
Fortunately, Fengtian was considered lucky afterward. It's estimated that no one expected a local station to broadcast the highly anticipated "Princess Pearl 3" in advance, so no one specifically took video recorders to record television programs at night. Chen Jiji narrowly escaped, and thus decided to abandon 2003 altogether and wait for the prime time slot of the 2004 winter vacation.
Next came the selection of the television station. Chen Jiji was a person who cared deeply about her reputation and would not condescend to lower herself. However, among the remaining satellite TV stations nationwide, none could satisfy Chen Jiji's requirements for television station influence, except for Hunan Province Satellite TV.
Just as she was about to find no television station, Hunan Province Satellite TV began to stir. They actually took the initiative to find Chen Jiji, stating that "Princess Pearl 3" could still be broadcast on their Hunan Province Satellite TV.
So, why would Hunan Province Satellite TV be willing to do such a troublesome and embarrassing thing?
The main reason is that the results presented by Fengtian were simply astonishing.
According to the ratings investigation agency, when "Princess Pearl 3" was broadcast on Fengtian Television, the highest rating reached a remarkable 58%, and the average rating was as high as 52%. Although it was slightly inferior to the peak of the first two parts, this achievement was already superior to all others.
After all, "Liang Jian" in the first half of the year barely broke through 30% at its highest. This was already an unimaginable achievement for 2003. Now, "Princess Pearl 3" still possessed the ability to break 50%. This result directly made Hunan Province Satellite TV fall to its knees.
It must be admitted that Hunan Province Satellite TV's success had its reasons. After all, this attitude of enduring humiliation solely for the pursuit of ratings was something that other television stations lacked.
However, Hunan Province Satellite TV did not know that there were actually major problems with this rating.
It is said that the broadcast performance of "Princess Pearl 3" in Fengtian City at that time was not good, far inferior to the results achieved by "Soldiers Sortie." The ratings were only around 5%.
This greatly alarmed the investor of this television series, a wealthy tycoon.
After all, he invested tens of millions in television production costs, but he could only receive 30% of the domestic revenue. If these rating data were to be spread, very few television stations nationwide would be willing to acquire this television series at a high price, and he would suffer huge losses. He would absolutely not allow such a situation to occur.
Fortunately, he chose to premiere in Fengtian, and Fengtian was his territory. He had considerable control over the Fengtian market.
Therefore, through his efforts, he managed to bribe the local ratings investigation agency and, through a combination of bribery and threats, forcefully inflated the ratings by tenfold.
Originally, the highest rating for the television series was 5.8%, and the average rating was only 5.2%.
It was also fortunate that only Fengtian was falsified in one region, so there was no difficulty in making changes, and there was no need to worry about the forgery being exposed, as no one would care about the ratings situation of a northeastern city that was already lagging behind at the time.
Moreover, this was a sequel to "Princess Pearl." Although the average rating of 52% seemed very fantastical, it was not entirely unbelievable, as the miracle of "Princess Pearl" was still fresh in people's minds. Even though "Princess Pearl 3" had completely changed actors, except for Zhou Jie, who had been ostracized, none of the original cast were willing to appear.
However, the name "Princess Pearl" still held astonishing magic.
So, Hunan Province Satellite TV believed it and proactively came to beg to buy the premiere rights for "Princess Pearl 3."
This time, Chen Jiji immediately became arrogant again. She proposed a surprisingly high purchase fee, which was 100 million yuan. Hunan Province Satellite TV gritted its teeth and agreed.
Seeing that Hunan Province Satellite TV agreed so readily, she couldn't help but regret it, thinking she should have added tens of millions more. But now that the price was set, and Chen Jiji, who cared about her reputation and had gone back on her word once, was not going to turn back.
However, soon, when she saw "Chinese Paladin" occupy the most prime slot of the entire winter vacation, she unceremoniously stated that her "Princess Pearl 3" would take this slot, forcing the relatively unknown "Chinese Paladin" to yield.
When Hunan Province Satellite TV heard this, they immediately shook their heads and said, "No, this television series was purchased from Tangren Film and Television. They are embarrassed to change the broadcast schedule, and this will offend people!"
Then Chen Jiji exploded.
She knew that behind Tangren Film and Television was Jiangnan Group, which was also the producer of "Soldiers Sortie." Six months ago, the scene where her "Princess Pearl" was snatched by "Soldiers Sortie" replayed in her mind. Wasn't this the perfect moment for revenge?
Therefore, Chen Jiji stated unceremoniously that her television series must be broadcast in the prime time slot of the winter vacation's golden period. The winter vacation had less than a month, which could only accommodate one television series. There would be absolutely no time for a second television series, so this would inevitably squeeze out the broadcast slot of "Chinese Paladin."
Hunan Province Satellite TV tried to persuade her with all sorts of reasons, but Chen Jiji refused. She directly stated that if Hunan Province Satellite TV was unwilling, she would rather cooperate with Southeast Satellite TV, as they had also offered 100 million yuan.
The senior management of Hunan Province Satellite TV held a meeting. They felt that "Princess Pearl 3," with the success of the first two parts and the astonishing 52% rating in Fengtian, was superior.
On the other hand, although "Chinese Paladin" had the foundation of a game, it was ultimately a television series without any prior experience. Moreover, parents generally disliked games, and they might even refuse to watch it for this reason.
Secondly, the actors in "Chinese Paladin" were also unknown. In short, the ratings for "Chinese Paladin" had no foundation and might be very poor.
Finally, the copyright for "Chinese Paladin" had already been purchased. No matter how powerful Huang He was, there was nothing he could do. They could delay it, but "Princess Pearl 3" could not.
Therefore, "Princess Pearl 3" squeezed out "Chinese Paladin."