Chapter 133 – The rich can speak loudly
The Station Chief was surprised. Based on Cheng Baojun’s report, the advertising fees would be cut by half if Feng Yu does not get the naming rights of the program. How come Feng Yu was still willing to come out with 1 million RMB?
Feng Yu followed the Station Chief back to his office to discuss the details. The Advertising section chief Cheng Baojun, thus, takes on the role of preparing and serving tea to them. The Station Chief was personally there to negotiate this deal, he was in no place to say anything.
But just when the discussion started, there was a knock on the office door and a Deputy Chief, who was also the chief for CCTV 3 channel entered the room.
“Station Chief, are you busy?”
The Station Chief rolled his eyes. This was asking the obvious.
“Old Hu, what’s the matter?”
“Station Chief, I heard that there’s a company who is here at our TV station to discuss advertising with us. I am wondering if he can sponsor some money for our CCTV 3 channel.”
Now CCTV only has 3 channels. The 4th channel will only appear in 1992. This CCTV 3 Channel had started in 1986, and only Beijing can receive this channel. Before 1987, the CCTV 2 channel was also available only to Beijing residents. But in 1987, CCTV 2 channel switched to satellite signals and the coverage extended to the whole of China.
For a TV channel that serves only Beijing, it was hard for this channel to get advertisers. Deputy Chief Hu was here to try his luck because his channel was running short of funds.
Before the Station Chief could say anything, Feng Yu asked: “You must be Chief Hu. Does CCTV 3 have any programs that are outstanding? I mean the program is extremely popular with residents.”
Deputy Chief Hu immediately said: “It’s Deputy. My channel does have a few popular programs.”
In the end, Deputy Chief Hu mentioned 3 to 4 programs but Feng Yu had not even heard of one. He had not even heard of these programs in his previous life. Also, this CCTV 3 channel focuses mainly on drama and music programs. The rest of its programs were the programs that were not wanted by CCTV 1 and CCTV 2. What good programs could they offer? It was only after they switched to satellite signals then they produced one excellent music program.
Feng Yu interrupted Deputy Chief Hu: “Chief Hu, you should know that I want to advertise in CCTV was because of the satellite signal channels. The whole China can receive the channel CCTV 1. As for CCTV 3, I will be honest with you. I had never watch that channel before in my life. But since Chief Hu asked me for help, then I will use 100,000 RMB to buy a year advertising slot. You just give me at least 3 slots a day, and each slot must be at least 15 seconds. Any timings will do!”
Damn, this Chief Hu is the future boss of SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television). His authority in future was not to joke about. Feng Yu just treats this 100,000 RMB as an investment to their relationship
Deputy Chief Hu was ecstatic. It’s not even a minute of advertisement a day, and any timing will do? All these for 100,000 RMB? With this 100,000 RMB, he can start a new program!
After Deputy Chief Hu left, Feng Yu carried on the discussion with the Station Chief. But less than 5 minutes into the talks, there was knocking on the door again.
“Old Jia, don’t tell me you are here to promote your CCTV 2 advertising slots?”
Deputy Chief Jia smiled and walked over to Feng Yu to shake his hands: “This young man must be Manager Feng. Indeed, you are a fine young man.”
Deputy Chief Jia had heard from Old Hu that a fool came to the TV station today. The fool was Tai Hua Trading’s Manager Feng, mentioned in Xiao Cheng’s proposal. CCTV 3 can even sell their off-peak advertising slots for 100,000 RMB easily, why can’t CCTV 2 get some advertising deals?
Oh, this will be the boss of CCTV in the future. The idea of auctioning advertising slots was implemented by him. This person was worth investing in too.
“You must be Chief Jia. Thank you for your compliments. How can I help you?”
Deputy Chief Jia did not beat around the bush and said: “Our CCTV 2 is a satellite channel, and the whole nation can receive this channel. Why not advertise in CCTV 2 too? I will give you a good price!”
Out of all CCTV 2 programs, Feng Yu only remembers <Economic News>, which was the predecessor of <Economic Time>. The changes will take place later the year.
<Economic Time> was a long-running program and until Feng Yu’s rebirth, this program still had high ratings. Most importantly, the National leaders also like this program. This program can be said to be the “mouthpiece” of China’s Ministry of Commerce!
This channel was worth doing some advertisements.
“No problem. We still have some advertising budget left. I will just take 2 advertising slots before and after <Economic News>. How much is the advertising fees?”
Deputy Chief asked: “One year 500,000 RMB?” He thought that a year of sponsoring <Serving you> was already 1 million RMB, so <Economic News> asking for 500,000 RMB was not too much.
“Ok. But I am not allowed to add my company’s name to the program title and don’t allow me to do product placements. So, I want you to do a special segment for us. At least 10 minutes! Our Wind and Rain humidifiers use the most advanced technology in the world and were developed by 2 state-owned enterprises. Every year, we pay a lot of taxes to the government and export in large quantities to other countries. So, doing a special segment for us is not too much, right?”
Deputy Chief Jia looked at the Station Chief. This was not something that he can decide. This was not against the regulations, but he can’t make the decision with the Station Chief around. However, he will definitely request the Station Chief to approve Feng Yu’s condition.
“Old Jia, you go back first. We will talk about this later. I still have things to discuss with Manager Feng.” The Station Chief said unhappily.
The Station Chief could tell that this Tai Hua Trading had a big advertising budget and seems like he can’t finish spending the budget. This was really the case. Feng Yu’s budget was 5 million RMB and was approved by both the Aviation Factory and Motor Factory.
The advertising slots on CCTV 1 was only 2.7 million RMB for a year, adding the sponsorship for <Serving you >, the total was just 3.7 million. Feng Yu still have 1.3 million RMB to spend.
Anyway, if he can’t finish spending his advertising budget, he will also purchase the advertising slots from the Northeast Provincial TV stations.
But Feng Yu must get the slots for CCTV 1. Later this year, people will notice the reason behind the success of Yanwu and CCTV advertising rates will increase significantly. The rates would be much higher than the local TV stations, and 2 years later, the slots will be sold using auctions.
Feng Yu suggested to the Station Chief that he wanted to purchase the slots for the next few years but was refused. The station also felt that CCTV was an excellent platform for advertisers and there’s no reason for their rates to be lower than the local TV stations.
This was also because CCTV was not allowed to air commercials previously. Now it was approved, and within 3 years, their rates would be the highest in the industry.
Actually, Feng Yu wanted to tell the Station Chief that their TV station was the reason for their low advertising rates. Feng Yu wanted to advertise with them, and he still needs to look for connections to get a chance to meet their Section Chief Cheng. At Longjiang TV station, it was not so troublesome. Feng Yu could just walk in and look for the person-in-charge. The difference in their attitudes was too big!
The discussion between both parties ended on a good note. Feng Yu was generous and doesn’t care about money. He agreed to a few other smaller sponsors that cost tens of thousands RMB and still gets to leave a good impression with the Station Chief. This investment was too worthwhile!
The next day, Feng Yu returned to CCTV. CCTV 2 had agreed to Feng Yu’s conditions, and Feng Yu signed the advertising and sponsorship contracts. Advertising on 3 channels and the total came up to 4.5 million RMB. This was CCTV’s highest record of advertising fees collected!