Chapter 599: NCAA Broadcast Contract

In the early morning, Charles Capet woke up on the bed with Liu Yifei in his arms, feeling refreshed.

"Hmmm, what time is it?" The drowsy girl asked upon waking up.

"It's still early, it's just morning," Charles said, squeezing her chest. "Are you really going back?"

"Yes, it's been a week. I need to go back!" Liu Yifei said, giving Charles a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright," Charles replied and began kissing her chest.

"Ah..."

In the afternoon, after having lunch, Charles drove Liu Yifei to Kennedy International Airport.

The end of the summer box office season was a mix of joy and sorrow for Hollywood film companies, but Capet Pictures had done well for sure.

In downtown Manhattan, in Charles' villa by the Hudson River, Emily Blunt sat on Charles' lap, enjoying a Community Shield match between Chelsea and Arsenal they had attended the night before.

"3-1, Arsenal made over a hundred million euros from selling players, and they're still this strong?" Emily Blunt was quite surprised.

"Chelsea, huh," Charles shook his head with a smile. "The Premier League needs to realize the terrifying strength of Arsenal. Neymar is playing well, and that guy Van Persie is not bad either!"

"It's good we won. It was worth pulling me up in the morning to watch the match," Charles said, kissing the girl on her neck.

Emily blew on Charles' ear. "It was part of my wake-up service!"

"At the end of the month, don't you have to go to the Venice Film Festival to promote Black Swan?" Charles asked.

Emily nodded. "We also attended the Tribeca Film Festival in New York earlier. Black Swan has been nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival!"

"New York sure has film festivals all year long," Charles grumbled.

New York had a lot of film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, the New York Underground Film Festival, the New Directors/New Films Festival, the LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the New York International Film Festival, the New York Asian Film Festival, and the Manhattan Short Film Festival, to name a few.

However, the truly important ones were only the Tribeca Film Festival in April and the New York International Film Festival between September and October.

"This year, the movies I starred in, The Wolfman and The Adjustment Bureau, both flopped at the box office and with critics. Luckily, Sherlock Holmes, which came out in June, was a success. But my role was small, though I do hope Black Swan wins an award since I'm a supporting character in it!"

Emily was glad to have Charles' support. Otherwise, it would have been a tough time. As for the other movie, Gulliver's Travels, it had been postponed to Christmas.

"Sherlock Holmes made 200 million dollars at the North American box office, and even more overseas, making a total global box office of more than 500 millions. It was a huge success," Charles said, resting his hand on the girl's thigh. "Black Swan has good reviews and will definitely do well!"

"Charles, everyone has high hopes for Capet Illumination Studio. Despicable Me was phenomenal," Emily brought up the animation market.

"The animation market, huh. Now all the Big Six have their own 3D animation studios," Charles planned to incorporate Universal Animation into Capet Illumination Studio to enhance production capacity.

The only ones falling behind were Sony Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. However, since 2006, Sony Animation had released four 3D animated features: Monster House, Open Season, Surf's Up, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Warner Bros. had released The Polar Express and Happy Feet.

"Disney is still the strongest, combined with Pixar's creativity, you have to respect that," Charles admitted that Disney's dominance in the animation market was undeniable.

"Okay, I need to go meet with Time Warner's chairman, Jeff Bewkes, today. I should get ready now," Charles said, standing up from the sofa.

Arsenal winning the Community Shield was only a small matter. The Premier League was starting the next week, and the European Super Cup against Atletico Madrid at the end of the month was something to watch.

Since 1998, the European Super Cup had always been held at Monaco's Stade Louis II. Starting in 2013, each edition would be held in different venues.

...

In the afternoon, at The Plaza Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Charles and Jeff Bewkes, the chairman and CEO of Time Warner, discussed the broadcast rights of the NCAA's March Madness.

The NCAA basketball tournament, held annually in March, features 68 teams competing in a single-elimination format to win the championship. It's also known as March Madness.

March Madness is the grandest event in American basketball, and even the NBA stays clear of it!

"Charles, is NBC planning something big this time?" Jeff Bewkes asked with a smile, sipping on his coffee.

Charles Capet proposed that Time Warner and Capet Pictures join forces to secure the broadcast rights for March Madness.

Capet Pictures had NBC Sports, and Time Warner had TNT, both being competitors in sports broadcasting.

"CBS, ESPN, Fox, these are the only ones capable of competing. I know TNT has been aggressively acquiring sports broadcast rights recently, and I'm optimistic about sports entertainment," Charles said with a smile. "I think our combined effort can outdo the competition!"

Jeff Bewkes had to agree. In terms of capital, Capet Pictures and Time Warner were the strongest contenders.

"The price is going to be high," Jeff Bewkes reminded.

"High? How high could it be?" Charles asked sharply. "NBC is determined to win this. I'm thinking of signing a contract for more than ten years, a deal worth over ten billion dollars!"

"Ten billion dollars?" Jeff Bewkes wasn't too surprised, as Time Warner's board was also looking to sign a long-term contract and was considering partnering with other TV stations to secure the March Madness broadcast rights.

Among the major TV stations, NBC Sports could only suppress CBS Sports; ESPN under ABC was undeniably the absolute leader, and TNT under Time Warner, along with Fox Sports under News Corporation, both had higher viewership than NBC Sports.

Charles could tolerate ESPN's dominance, but competing against TNT and Fox was essential.

*****

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