Chapter 223: Impact
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[Chapter 223: The Wave Begins]
The day after the Friends'' ratings celebration party, Rupert Murdoch eagerly took to News Corp''s media outlets to announce that Firefly Films would be taking a stake in Fox Television, while also confirming that Friends would continue airing on Fox. Furthermore, he indicated that bothpanies would engage in closer coboration.
As soon as the news broke, most media outlets, which were previously pessimistic about Fox''s ability to retain Friends amidst thepetition among the three major televisionworks, quickly changed their tune, expressing optimism about Fox''s future prospects. Aside from Murdoch''s revtion about Firefly''s closer cooperation with Fox, the retention of the hit series Friends alone was a strong indicator that Fox could solidify its fourth-ce standing in North American television. If Fox seized this opportunity to produce higher quality programming to build a loyal viewer base, surpassing the original three majorworks over the following years was not out of the question. Thanks to this positive news, Fox''s market value, which had been under a billion dors, began to soar.
The transfer of stock within a televisionwork was not something that could bepleted overnight. After Fox''s announcement, instead of conceding defeat in their pursuit of Friends, the three majorworks stepped up their attempts to engage with Eric Williams more frequently.
Amidst their ongoing struggles, ABC, which had endured several years of losses following its 1985 merger with Metromedia Broadcasting, made a desperate bid to turn things around. ABC''s CEO, Tom Murphy, even offered a stake in exchange for coboration. However, he only received authorization from the board for a 3% stake transfer. Although this 3% stake was valued at over twice that of Fox''s 10% stake, Eric waspletely unfazed. Based on ABC''s downward trajectory that led to its eventual acquisition by Disney, it was clear that for the next several years, there would be no dividends for ABC from those shares; rather, it would drain a significant amount of Firefly''s resources. Moreover, this 3% stake would not offer Eric much influence at the table. Thus, in choosing between the thriving Fox and the struggling ABC, anyone with a modicum of sense knew what the right choice was.
...
On the evening of September 10th, amid theughter of Friends'' audience and the close watch of other televisionpanies, the show entered its second week of airing. Two hourster, Nielsen promptly released its ratings statistics. The average viewership for episodes three and four of Friends was 24.6 million, with the highest rating still reaching 29 million.
Upon seeing these numbers, the three majorworks began analyzing the factors behind Friends'' sess. They ultimately discovered that beyond the show''s witty humor and clever dialogue, the key reason for its blockbuster premiere ratings was that Eric himself directed the first two episodes.
While it wasn''t unheard of for film directors to transition to television, it had primarily been those whose film careers had stagnated. In the midst of flourishing sess, no esteemed film director would willingly "sink" to direct a television series.
Thus, the fact that Eric, who had achieved significant film sesses, personally directed the show piqued viewers'' curiosity about what kind of series this box office miracle worker would create.
When Friends lived up to audience expectations, it culminated in the show''s tremendous poprity.
Understanding this, the three majorworks almost simultaneously made their moves. In a flurry, heavyweights like Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Copp, Martin Scorsese, and Tim Burton received high-paying offers as theworks sought to secure Hollywood''s biggest directors for their shows. They even offered up to a million dors to any director willing to lend their name to a series.
Despite the massive financial incentives, most directors, citing various concerns, turned down the offers. However, some took the plunge, resulting inmendable viewership for shows branded with the names of Hollywood''s elite.
Over the next several years, it quickly became a trend to invite well-known film directors to helm the first episodes of new series. If a new series premiered without the presence of a famous Hollywood director in its promotional material, viewers instinctively perceived it as low-quality, resulting in subpar ratings.
Of course, all of this would unfoldter.
...
By the time Friends aired its second week, it became apparent that discussions surrounding the show had nearly vanished from television programs outside of Fox, even on entertainment talk shows that typically enjoyed poking fun at current events -- hosts seemedpletely unaware of Friends.
It was clear this "ckout" was a response from the three majorworks to Eric''s consistent rejections of their attempts to recruit him. However, this "ban" had no impact on Friends, especially with Fox''s backing from News Corp, which was poised forprehensive promotion of the series across print and television media.
Despite the three majorworks controlling most of North American television, they remained independentworks with limited forays into magazines and newspapers. In this era, the word-of-mouth about a series heavily relied on newspapers, which yed a vital role.
Though Fox''spetitors tried to publish some disparaging remarks about Friends in the publications they could influence -- criticizing it for having adult themes unsuitable for public television -- these ims failed to gain traction. Most respected newspapersuded Friends.
...
In his office, Eric was engrossed in an article about Friends published by the Los Angeles Times. "ording to Nielsen analysts, Friends'' second-week ratings have eliminated around 70% of unstable viewers. The series'' final average viewership will likely hover around 22 million, making it undoubtedly the top-rated television show of the year.
Reports indicated that Friends was raking in approximately $3 million per episode in advertising revenue, meaning the show would generate over $70 million in total. While we don''t know the specifics of the revenue-sharing arrangement between Firefly and Fox, based on Eric Williams''s formidable negotiation style, the ad revenue share for Friends would surely be one of the highest industry standards. Thus, just from the initial airing, Friends could bring nearly $30 million in revenue to Firefly.
What''s even more astonishing is that Firefly holds exclusive rights to Friends. This means that the subsequent distribution rights and video releases could reap ie over three times that of the initial advertising revenue. However, the total production budget for Friends was under $5 million. Eric Williams, the ''renegade'' stirring up trouble in Hollywood, was proving he could shine not just in films but excel adeptly in television too.
As I contemted writing this article, I began to wonder if Eric Williams would soon extend his reach into the music industry. After all, the soundtracks of several films he directed prominently featured his name. The score of a particr moment in the film Running Out of Time--where the protagonists meet on a bus -- captivated countless fans. The iconic scene of Tom Cruise and Brroke Shields snuggling against each other was entuated by this score, which the media hailed as the year''s most beautiful film moment. With the three struggling majorworks in mind, why wouldn''t the CEOs of recordpanies reach out to Eric Williams before anyone else?"
...
After finishing the article from the Los Angeles Times, Eric pondered for a moment. While working on Pretty Woman, he was inspired by a hit song from the popr band Roxette, which had sparked his interest in developing a music career for a singer. The 1990s were thest golden era for the global record industry; as long as recordpanies had a few major artists, their profits rivaled those of film studios or televisionworks. Even as the rise of the inte eventually led to the decline of the record industry, the copyright of songs held by recordpanies remained a substantial source of long-term revenue in the rigorously protected intellectual propertyws.
Jotting down some thoughts on a nearby notepad, Eric was just about to turn to another newspaper when there was a knock on the office door. "Mr. Williams, Ms. Murdoch is here." Eric casually replied, and in walked Elisabeth Murdoch, dressed in a light blue checkered shirt and dark jeans, carrying a dark blue handbag. She boldly took a seat across from Eric, exuding the same carefree demeanor that made it clear the strong kiss they had shared was far from
fresh in her mind.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Removing her handbag and cing it on herp, Elisabeth nced at Eric''s copy of the Los Angeles Times and smirked, "I can''t believe you''re so vain, sneaking off to your office to read
ttering articles about yourself."
Eric brushed off her sarcastic tone. If he were merely a film director, it would be easy to ignore everything else and focus solely on making films. But he also held the position of chairman of a filmpany, necessitating enough awareness of industry trends. Given how busy things had be during this time, Eric had to rely on his assistant topile the most important news stories so he could skim them quickly each day before managing other responsibilities.
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