Chapter 207: Winds Rising
Chapter 207: Winds Rising
Early the next morning, bold black headlines such as “Friends,” “Thirty Million,” and “Ratings Miracle” appeared across a large number of North American newspapers. All kinds of reviews also appeared overwhelmingly before the public.
“The spoiled and indecisive Rachel Green, the strong-willed and clean-freak Monica Geller, the eccentric and offbeat Phoebe Buffay, the petty Ross Geller, the witty and humorous Chandler Bing, and the simple-minded Joey Tribbiani... After only two episodes, Eric Williams used those simple, trivial shots to create six screen characters with distinct personalities, and in just one short hour, he made audiences fall in love with these six fictional figures.”
“A plot that is close to reality and full of wit can resonate with audiences even more. Friends’ premiere rating of 31.7 million proves this point once again. When audiences saw the everyday lives of six protagonists living in a New York apartment, it was as though they saw shadows of their own lives. This may be the most important factor behind the success of this sitcom. Much like ABC’s still-popular Growing Pains, Eric Williams truly deserves to be called a genius. With everyday details taken casually at hand and pieced into amusing conversations, he firmly captured the audience’s attention.”
“The interesting conversations between the protagonists of Friends will undoubtedly become popular phrases among young people for quite a long time. After only two episodes, the personalities of the six protagonists have already been shaped with great fullness. I am increasingly looking forward to the subsequent plot. I believe that Eric Williams, who personally served as screenwriter, will definitely bring audiences even more surprises in terms of plot. There is no doubt about this. After all, he is Eric Williams.”
“...”
Among the countless praises, of course, dissenting opinions were not absent. After conducting a simple survey, the Los Angeles Metropolis stated that through random interviews with Friends viewers, they found that less than sixty percent of the audience was very satisfied with the plot, while more than twenty percent of interviewed viewers said Friends did not meet their expectations. The remaining twenty percent believed the quality of Friends was average.
Thus, the Los Angeles Metropolis’ review article concluded that Friends’ ratings miracle of over thirty million viewers was entirely the result of the previous series of hype. The survey results showed that the quality of Friends clearly did not meet the psychological expectations of many viewers who had been full of anticipation for Eric Williams. Next, it would definitely suffer a sharp ratings collapse.
There was more than one newspaper or media outlet like the Los Angeles Metropolis that was pessimistic about Friends’ future ratings. However, this sort of rhetoric could generally only fool ordinary people through sensationalism. Anyone with even a little professional knowledge understood that while Friends’ ratings miracle did include the boost of publicity, if its own quality had been poor, it would have been impossible to reach an average audience of 31.7 million viewers. Friends had already proven its potential to become a huge hit after only two episodes. With a ratings base of more than thirty million viewers, even if its numbers suffered a major decline afterward, its audience would definitely remain above twenty million.
For a television drama, an audience exceeding twenty million viewers was absolutely considered a super hit.
The three old established North American networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS, originally did not pay much attention to Fox. Even ABC, the youngest among the three major networks, had already developed for half a century, while NBC and CBS had even longer histories.
Over the years, more than one media group had attempted to challenge the position of the three major networks, but without exception, all had ended in failure.
Therefore, even though News Corporation had brought in Barry Diller, who was known as a favored son of the media world, to take charge of building its television network, and even though Fox had built the fourth-largest television network in the United States within only a few years, in the eyes of the three major networks, Fox was still merely a newcomer that had barged into the North American television circle.
After all, no matter how much its scale expanded, a television network ultimately had to speak through the ratings of its programs. Yet Fox had never had any presentable television programs over the past few years. Before Friends, Fox’s highest ratings record had not even exceeded twenty million viewers. Meanwhile, the three major networks, which jointly held rotating broadcast rights to the Super Bowl, all had highest ratings records of more than one hundred million. Even under ordinary circumstances, the three major networks could easily produce several flagship programs with ratings above twenty million.
So, although News Corporation had caused a great stir in North America, and Rupert Murdoch had even deliberately become an American citizen in order to obtain the right to build a television network, the three major networks all watched this “nouveau riche” from Australia coldly from the sidelines, waiting for him to return in defeat like the previous challengers.
The sudden emergence of Friends with more than thirty million viewers completely awakened the top executives of the three major networks. Only then did they realize that, without them noticing, Fox’s television network, this newcomer that had only been established for a few years, already owned more than one hundred affiliated stations and covered over ninety percent of the continental United States.
The first reaction of the three major networks was that Fox absolutely could not be allowed to continue developing. After all, the size of the domestic American television market was fixed. If Fox rose, it would inevitably mean that the market share of the three major networks would shrink on a large scale.
The top executives of the three major networks rarely held an emergency meeting. After several hours of discussion, the first countermeasure they reached was to seize the broadcast rights to Friends from its second season onward from Fox at any cost. If possible, they would even directly seize the remaining episodes of Friends’ first season as well, even if it meant paying Eric Williams a huge breach-of-contract penalty on his behalf.
Without Friends, Fox’s expansion would certainly slow down again. Then the three major networks would have ample time to slowly deal with Fox, this “outsider” trying to snatch food from the tiger’s mouth.
What the top executives of the three major networks could think of, whether Fox CEO Barry Diller or News Corporation’s helmsman Rupert Murdoch, naturally could also think of.
Although Eric’s films had brought enormous profits to 20th Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch originally had not attached too much importance to Eric. He merely regarded him as a rising young director cooperating with Fox, which was why Murdoch had never met Eric before. But this time was different. Murdoch’s newspaper empire had already developed to its limit, and his current main ambition lay in television networks. Eric’s Friends had brought an important opportunity for the rapid expansion of his television network. Coupled with the restless movements of the three major networks, no matter which aspect he considered, Murdoch had to personally step forward and win Eric over.
Thus, while Eric attended the opening ceremony of the 46th Venice Film Festival on the evening of September 4, a massive private Boeing jet landed at Venice Marco Polo International Airport.