Liang Dan and her group believed Tianjiao’s copyright promotion event at the Huatian Hotel was a ploy, a deliberate show for Xiang Province TV.
The goal was to pressure Xiang Province TV into conceding, agreeing to Tianjiao’s terms and reserving the July slot for *Star River and You*.
Alternatively, Yuan Fenghui had prepared a fallback, if Xiang Province TV didn’t budge, they’d sign with another station.
With this understanding, Liang Dan devised a new strategy.
She first informed the female executive at Xiang Province TV who had greenlit Yu Tianlin’s new drama. The executive personally asked Director Fan to “help” with other tasks, ensuring he couldn’t attend the promotion event. Instead, the executive, accompanied by Liang Dan, went in his place.
On the way, the executive shared some candid thoughts with Liang Dan, since Tianjiao’s previous drama performed well, the station wasn’t opposed to *Star River and You*, but the terms had to be on their terms.
For *The Princess’s New Clothes*, Director Fan spent 70 million yuan on exclusive broadcasting rights, a price far above industry quotes.
Had *The Princess’s New Clothes* not achieved a peak viewership rating of 4.97%, Director Fan’s 70 million yuan purchase would have been a stain on his career. The station might have even suspected collusion between Tianjiao and Fan, as 70 million yuan for rights was outrageously high.
After *The Princess’s New Clothes* scored big ratings, the criticism of Fan vanished.
Fan was bold, and his eye for selecting dramas was sharp.
His only flaw was not knowing the value of money, inflating the rights fee for *The Princess’s New Clothes* too high.
Last year, Tianjiao was a new company, Yun Chen, the male lead, wasn’t yet famous, and only Li Mengjiao had some popularity. No matter how good the plot was, 70 million yuan for exclusive rights was excessive.
The station wanted exclusive rights, but the price should be capped at 50 million or lower. A cash-strapped Tianjiao would likely still sell to Xiang Province TV, back then, Tianjiao had no reputation and couldn’t hold an event like today’s, gathering multiple stations. If Xiang Province TV didn’t buy, other stations would be even less willing to spend tens of millions on a new company’s drama.
*The Princess’s New Clothes* cost 70 million yuan in rights fees. If *Star River and You* was offered less, would Tianjiao agree?
But offering more would set no ceiling, heading toward 70 million or beyond.
If *Star River and You* matched *The Princess’s New Clothes* in ratings, 70 million for exclusive rights wouldn’t lose money, but Xiang Province TV wasn’t a charity. Why give away the lion’s share of profits?
Inflating drama rights fees benefited the station how?
This accidental “bad trend” had to be stopped.
The excuses about unsuitable slots or concerns over *Star River and You*’s rushed production quality were just that, excuses. The real reason was wanting Tianjiao’s drama while regaining control in negotiations.
Xiang Province TV wouldn’t treat a Taiwanese romance drama queen this way, but Tianjiao’s brand wasn’t on that level. As the top-ranked provincial satellite channel by viewership share, Xiang Province TV had the confidence to act this way.
Tianjiao wanted the July slot, and Xiang Province TV wasn’t unwilling to give it, but they’d drive down the rights fee.
Negotiations were a game of feints and counters, taking several rounds to settle.
Who knew Tianjiao wouldn’t play by the rules this time, collapsing talks with Director Fan in the first round.
The executive found it amusing, “This must’ve embarrassed Old Fan. He offered a 70 million yuan deal, and did they appreciate his gesture?”
Liang Dan thought, it wasn’t just Fan’s face, Tianjiao didn’t even give Xiang Province TV any face.
She didn’t hide these thoughts. In fact, without her fanning the flames, the station was already unhappy about Tianjiao holding a promotion event at the Huatian Hotel.
The station wanted to use the slot to negotiate rights fees, but Tianjiao turned the tables, using the promotion event to pressure them.
Nobody likes being threatened, especially not Xiang Province TV, the leading provincial satellite channel, which found Tianjiao’s approach unacceptable.
The executive was thoroughly displeased.
If not for the worry that *Star River and You*’s rights falling to another station could hurt their summer prime-time ratings, she wouldn’t have come today.
Attending the event was giving Tianjiao face, letting them feel smug, showing the station still wanted *Star River and You*’s rights.
Liang Dan smiled, subtly stoking the fire, “Don’t be too upset, this is just Tianjiao’s way of inflating their value. I know Yuan Fenghui somewhat, she’d rather be a phoenix’s tail than a chicken’s head. She won’t abandon our Xiang Province TV platform.”
Inviting other stations to drive up *Star River and You*’s price was very much Yuan Fenghui’s style.
But while Yuan was playing hard to get, Liang Dan would seize the chance today to completely derail Tianjiao’s cooperation with Xiang Province TV, helping Yuan’s “dream come true.”
The executive nodded in agreement, “I know Yuan Fenghui, she’s capable but too domineering. Seems her fall in Taiwan didn’t teach her enough. She clashed with Miracle Group, but our station has no beef with them. Yu Tianlin’s new drama is poised to explode, why shouldn’t we give it the July slot? If anyone’s to blame, it’s Tianjiao for being too slow.”
Domineering people often achieve results but also make enemies.
First falling out with Miracle Group, then offending Hu Man, the executive hadn’t even met Yuan Fenghui yet but already had a low opinion of her.
Hmph, Yuan Fenghui should reflect on her interpersonal skills.
Both the executive and Liang Dan thought they’d figured out Tianjiao’s game plan, never imagining Yuan had delegated the rights sale to Mrs. Wang.
Mrs. Wang was sociable but had a temper.
Yuan prioritized profit and might have sent Xiang Province TV an invitation for appearances’ sake, but Mrs. Wang wasn’t here for a paycheck and acted on her whims.
Xiang Province TV didn’t trust Tianjiao first, so why should Tianjiao send them an invitation? That’d be too pathetic.
Without invitations, the executive and Liang Dan were stopped at the event’s entrance.
Even a sharp-minded career woman like Liang Dan was thrown off by Mrs. Wang’s unpredictable tactics, “No invitation, no entry, do you know who we are?”
The security guard nodded earnestly, “I know, you said you’re from Xiang Province TV, but no invitation, no entry.”
What’s a TV station?
Want in? Show an invitation.
Work IDs didn’t cut it. Soon, celebrities would arrive, who knew if they were just fans trying to sneak in for a close-up.
The guard’s eyes gleamed like spotlights, proud he’d seen through their “lie.”
