Chapter 1221: Signing the new show!

Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

That evening.

The people from Beijing Television rushed to the studio.

Two station heads and several staff members, including Hu Fei, had been sent over by Beijing Television to negotiate the contract after they received the news. They attached great importance to this matter. It was Zhang Ye's new variety show after all, so who in the industry wouldn't? Many of the television stations in the country would vie to get him!

One of the station heads shook hands with him. "Teacher Zhang."

Zhang Ye smiled. "Station Head Wang."

"Zhang'er, what kind of show are we talking about?" Hu Fei asked anxiously.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, "Don't be so anxious, Brother Hu. Let's sit down and talk."

Ha Qiqi had printed out several copies of the proposal they drew up and handed it out to the Beijing Television people. They eagerly started flipping through it the moment they got one from her.

Zhang Ye said, "Everyone, please take a look at the proposal."

I Am a Singer.

This was a very special show back in Zhang Ye's previous world. It was special in that it was different from many of the previous singing shows that came before it. For example, The Voice and King of Masked Singers were both used singing elements to sell the show. There was very little interaction between the contestants to display, the most being their intro clips or conversations with their mentors. But I Am a Singer was different. The show had elements of a reality show and did not require the contestants be masked. All of the contestants were famous singers the viewers would recognize, and the truest side of these singers could be seen on the show. There would be scenes of the singers planning and practicing their songs, the slapstick draws to decide the appearance order, the celebrities going on about their private lives, singers making mistakes in their hosting roles, and comic relief provided by host-managers who attempted to "sign" their favored singers, among other things. There were many more variety elements, and the competition was more intense. No one in this world had ever attempted a show of this type before.

Actually, the analysis by Zhang Ye's team was quite right. They knew that it wouldn't be the wisest choice to film a singing show at this time. Central TV Department 1's Sing! was bearing down menacingly on the industry, and anyone who knew they were coming would back away. No one wanted to encounter Sing! at this time, and even many of the better reality shows would probably choose to avoid it. They were all afraid their attention would get taken away by the appearance of the show, much less those other similar singing shows around.

This wasn't a good choice!

Or rather, this was the worst decision to make!

Zhang Ye also understood what kind of show would be the most suitable and safest to make at this time, but it was just not in him to do so. If he wanted to be safe, he wouldn't have taken Central TV Department 1 to court. If he was wise, he wouldn't have tangled with the SARFT! In front of a potential "face slapping," everything else was secondary!

Aren't you people looking to challenge me?

Aren't you people trying to show me who is better?

Fine! Then I'll go all out and take you all on!

When the people from Beijing Television finished reading the proposal, they were astounded.

Hu Fei was the closest with Zhang Ye, having worked together on many occasions. Lecture Room and King of Masked Singers were both handled by the two of them. As such, he spoke first, "Zhang'er, how confident are you of this show? What I mean is, are you sure that this show can outperform The Voice?"

Zhang Ye shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Deputy Station Head Wang blinked. "Even you're not confident?"

But Zhang Ye just laughed and said, "What I mean is, if it were against my original version of The Voice, it would be quite difficult to put a finger on whose viewership ratings would be higher. It might not be able to outperform the ratings for The Voice, but if it were against that copycat show called Sing!, which is headed by an entirely different program team, director, host, and guests...."

The people from Beijing Television looked at him. "How will it do?"

Zhang Ye thought for a moment before replying calmly, "I'd beat them by ten blocks!"

Hu Fei laughed. "You sound really confident."

Zhang Ye said, "I guess so."

Deputy Station Head Wang was chuckled a little as well.

Then the Beijing Television people had a short discussion among themselves.

Finally, Deputy Station Head Wang nodded and said, "Teacher Zhang, we'll take your show. We'll do it like before, so let us know the production budget you require. We'll start with a base of 100 million RMB with no upper limits, and you may allocate the staff as you wish in your role as the executive director while Old Hu takes the executive producer role. You'll head the entire show's production with Old Hu as your assistant."

Hu Fei smiled and said, "When I asked you to be the executive director for King of Masked Singers, you said no. This time, you better not reject me, alright? I'll be your assistant, hur hur."

Zhang Ye blinked. "It's settled just like that? Aren't you guys going to consider it for longer?"

Hu Fei said happily, "It's a show by you. There's no need to consider any further!"

These words were undoubtedly the greatest trust they could give Zhang Ye.

A staff member of Beijing Television suddenly asked, "Director Zhang, are you going to participate in the competition?"

Zhang Ye laughed and said, "If I'm going to be the executive director, I won't be participating."

Hu Fei said in surprise, "You won't be taking part? What a pity."

Zhang Ye spread up his hands. "If I participate in the competition as the executive director, how will the others see it? They'd definitely say that it's rigged and unfair. We have to handle this with the show's interest in mind and not screw it up with such controversies." He added with a laugh, "And besides, I'd definitely lose with so many elite singers taking part. That'd be too embarrassing for me."

Hu Fei said, "But what about your screen time? You've worked so hard to come up with a show like this. Surely we can't have you miss out on the benefits, right? It's not like you care about the money anyway."

Zhang Ye said, "Don't worry, Brother Hu. As the executive director, the screen time I'll get is much more than you can imagine."

Deputy Station Head Wang nodded to himself. In the field of show production, Zhang Ye was a very professional and responsible man. This was also what he admired most about Zhang Ye, who handled the situation in an unbiased manner. He was very clear about such things and wouldn't bend the rules just because he could benefit himself. Even though what he said might sound simple, the truth was that there weren't too many people in the entertainment industry who would do things this way anymore.

The contract discussion was settled very quickly.

Then everyone began talking about the subsequent production issues that lay ahead.

Hu Fei asked, "How should we design the stage?"

Zhang Ye replied, "Modify the King of Masked Singers' stage a little?"

"That's fine, but it'll be very difficult to invite the singers. That's going to be an issue."

"That's right. We won't be inviting anyone who isn't good enough. All we target must know how to sing well, and it doesn't matter if they are has-beens. We don't care about the popularity of the person, just their singing skills."

"But this is a competition and no one likes to lose. It's especially true for singers who have been famous for a long time. In King of Masked Singers, they could at least hide behind a mask. Even if they got eliminated there, they could choose to not reveal themselves and leave the stage. The audience would never find out who they were, so it wouldn't be embarrassing to lose. But it's different for I Am a Singer. This is a serious elimination competition, so will the famous be willing to come on the show? Even if we double the appearance money, they might not…"

"I'll take care of that."

"Alright, then I have no other issues. What about you guys? Do you have any requests?"

Deputy Station Head Wang looked at Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye chuckled. "My request is simple."

Deputy Station Head Wang said, "Feel free to request whatever you need."

Zhang Ye said, "I only have one request. Whichever day Sing! broadcasts on, I want to broadcast on that day as well. Whichever time slot Sing! broadcasts on, I want the same time slot as well!"

The people from Beijing Television didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Deputy Station Head Wang said, "Alright, let's sign the contract!"

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