Chapter 209: Each Harboring Their Own Thoughts
Chapter 209: Each Harboring Their Own Thoughts
As the car accelerated onto the highway, Eric Williams recalled the earlier scene and sighed with emotion.
“I really didn’t expect that besides the major television networks, even a cable channel like HBO would join in. But what’s going on with Michael Eisner sending someone over?”
With Friends achieving astonishing success, as Eric’s assistant—and with the sense of superiority brought about by being swarmed earlier—Allen also felt somewhat excited inside.
Hearing Eric’s question, he thought for a moment before replying, “I think Mr. Eisner was probably acting on behalf of ABC.”
Eric instantly recalled how The Walt Disney Company had acquired ABC in his previous life. However, although he could not remember exactly when Disney acquired ABC, it definitely should still be many years away. Why would Michael Eisner already be acting on ABC’s behalf now?
Noticing Eric’s puzzled expression through the rearview mirror, Allen proactively explained, “Disney and ABC have always had a very close relationship. When I was little, I constantly watched Disney cartoons on ABC.”
Eric suddenly understood.
Then he said, “Allen, help me organize a report on the relationship between Disney and ABC over the next couple of days.”
After thinking briefly, he added another sentence.
“And also compile reports on the relationships between the other major television networks and the Seven Major Hollywood studios.”
“No problem, though it might take around a week,” Allen turned around and replied.
“There’s no rush. Take your time. Accuracy is the most important thing.”
“I understand. Eric, where are we going now?”
Allen asked again.
When outsiders were present, Allen always addressed Eric as “Mr. Williams.” But privately, he directly called him Eric. This was something Eric had specifically requested. Allen was already nearly thirty years old, almost ten years older than Eric’s current body. If even their private conversations remained overly formal, even Eric himself would find it awkward.
Without hesitation, Eric directly replied, “Home. It’s already nighttime now. Nothing is urgent enough to handle immediately. There’s no need to disturb anyone this late. I’ll just call Jeffrey and the others after I get back.”
Returning to the mansion in Beverly Hills, Allen and the driver helped Eric carry his luggage into the villa.
The little girl who had been waiting for Eric’s return immediately pounced on the pile of luggage searching for gifts before the outsiders had even left.
Eric affectionately knocked her lightly on the forehead several times before seeing Allen and the driver out.
“Regarding the next few days’ schedule, if it’s an invitation from Fox, help me refuse it with some excuse. If the other television networks want contact, arrange meetings with them.”
Standing at the villa entrance beside the car, Eric said this to Allen.
Allen naturally understood that Eric intended to raise his value among the major networks, but he still asked curiously, “Eric, what if Murdoch personally comes to see you?”
“He won’t.”
Eric replied confidently.
“Those little gestures earlier—sending a private jet to Venice to personally pick me up—Fox was just expressing sincerity ahead of the negotiations. Even that already looked somewhat too eager. If old Murdoch couldn’t hold back and personally came to see me, then of course I would take the opportunity to ruthlessly carve off a huge chunk first.”
“Eric, are you planning to move Friends to another network?”
Allen smiled before asking, though he regretted it immediately after speaking.
The question was somewhat sensitive.
Naturally, Eric could not tell Allen his true plans.
Although Allen had always been diligent and reliable, there was no guarantee he would not one day be tempted by profit and leak certain information. The best way to maintain someone’s loyalty was to avoid giving them chips large enough to justify betrayal.
If competitors learned some of Eric’s plans through Allen, then it would become much harder for Eric to maximize his profits.
Still, Eric could tell from Allen’s expression that the question had not been intentional.
Smiling, he said, “That naturally depends on everyone’s offers. We’ll definitely choose whoever offers the highest price.”
Allen nodded and asked no further questions before quickly taking his leave.
Back inside the villa, Drew had already picked up the living room telephone, so Eric once again had to spend another one or two hours continuously taking calls, just like the morning when Friends’ ratings results had first been released.
This time, even Rupert Murdoch personally called, inviting Eric to lunch the next day.
Eric casually made several excuses and declined.
He intended to at least make contact with the other major networks first and put on a show, creating enough urgency for Fox before negotiating.
Only then could he maximize his profits.
Although the other major networks appeared extremely enthusiastic, Eric had never intended from the very beginning to actually switch Friends to another network.
Compared to the relatively “young” Fox, the other major networks resembled elderly old men with white hair.
Even if they lowered themselves to cooperate with Eric, they would inevitably still put on airs due to seniority.
Fox was different.
Eric knew that in his previous life, Fox had developed into a North American television giant standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Big Three within just over a decade.
But aside from Eric himself, nobody else—not even News Corporation’s leader Murdoch—could possibly know this.
Nor could they possess enough confidence in Fox Television Network’s future prospects.
Under those circumstances, the importance of Friends to Fox became extraordinarily significant.
The first thing Eric did the next day was visit the set of Friends.
At noon, under Michael Eisner’s introduction, he had lunch with a vice president from ABC who had specially flown to Los Angeles.
That evening, Robert Shaye dragged him to meet an NBC executive.
On the morning of September 7, the manager of CBS’s Los Angeles branch took him golfing for the entire morning.
It had to be said that the offers from the three major networks were all extremely generous.
None of them even mentioned buying out the series outright in one lump sum.
Instead, they directly offered advertising revenue sharing from the television series. And based on the information Eric knew, the percentages they offered were all remarkably high.
At the same time, all three networks revealed intentions to intercept Fox and seize the remaining episodes of Friends’ first season.
Through these contacts, Eric also discovered that the three major networks had definitely reached some kind of prior understanding.
They might even have formed a loose alliance.
However, this “alliance” was so fragile that even a gust of wind could blow it apart.
The three networks were themselves fierce competitors.
Although they cooperated at times, just as none of them would tolerate the other two touching their flagship programs, they also each harbored their own motives regarding Friends.
After all, with Friends’ ratings, whichever network obtained it would inevitably gain a flagship program.
This attitude from the three networks—maintaining united positions in appearance while acting independently—also allowed Eric to smoothly implement the plans in his mind without facing too much pressure.
After all, if the three major North American television giants had jointly pressured him together, he definitely could not avoid considering the consequences of offending all three simultaneously.