Chapter 642

In the evening, Charles Capet brought Alexandra Daddario to the promotional party for the Golden Globes at the London Hotel in West Hollywood.

It was a simple film and television exchange event organized by Universal itself. Movie companies or producers often hosted such parties, and journalists and some members of the awards committee were invited to attend.

While Charles was drinking with Alexandra Daddario, he saw Steve Burke.

"I'm going to greet a friend," Charles said to the lady beside him.

"Yeah, go ahead," Alexandra Daddario nodded, "I'll go meet some people too!"

"Good evening, Steve," said Charles, still giving face since Steve Burke was the chairman of MGM.

Steve Burke smiled and glanced at Alexandra Daddario, who had just been chatting with Charles. He jokingly said, "They always say the Hollywood son's always got beautiful women around, and it sure ain't wrong!"

"Who can avoid it in this place?" Charles wasn't too bothered and went with Steve Burke to sit in a corner of the lounge area.

"Capet Universal is finally going public. Looks like you have some big plans?" Steve Burke took a sip of his drink and said.

Charles lit a cigarette, took a puff, and responded, "Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Los Angeles, Osaka, Japan, and Shanghai, all need funding. Anyway, it's time to raise money from the stock market!"

"Is that really all?" Steve Burke tapped his finger on his knee and said, "NBC's network, plus the development of Universal Pictures, is getting pretty intimidating now!"

Charles shook his head, "NBC's ratings rely on the premium TV shows produced by Capet Television; NBC still can't match the momentum of CNN and FNC; In sports, ESPN and TNT dominate the market; In children's entertainment, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon are out of our league; On paid cable channels, our Bravo can't compete with HBO, Showtime, or Starz!"

Steve Burke smiled, "With Capet Universal's movie content support, cable subscribers have increased a lot; and for a children's channel, Capet Animation's success is just the beginning!"

He added, looking intently at Charles, "As for NBC Sports Channel, not only did it acquire the broadcast rights for NCAA March Madness with a record-breaking high price, but owning the NFL Miami Dolphins and the soon-to-be-relocated NBA Nets means you can secure regional team broadcast rights; Plus, you're trying to acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers' future broadcast rights in the LA area will surely belong to NBC!"

Steve Burke was vice-chairman of Comcast, the largest cable TV platform in North America, with partnerships with ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox.

Charles smiled, "The revenue from TV stations can't compare to movies. Capet is now developing its internet media business. With such a big investment, do you think not going public is an option?"

Steve Burke envied, "Capet is Hollywood's strongest content creator. In just over a year, we've significantly boosted NBC's ratings; I can't imagine what it'll be like when you gain a solid foothold in the children's and sports markets."

Luckily, Capet Universal is heavily investing in theme park resorts right now.

Charles shook his head, "Who knows what the future holds? Comcast is already in the game, and Verizon and AT&T are also eager to join; The internet companies in Silicon Valley are no pushovers either, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Apple don't exactly follow Hollywood's traditional way!"

"Yeah, the gap between Hollywood and Silicon Valley is getting bigger," Steve Burke sighed.

DVD and TV on-demand used to be the most important income sources in the movie industry chain, but with the rise of online streaming, these revenues keep declining!

"I've already met with Chris Dodd, the new chairman of the MPAA, and MGM's return to the MPAA is settled!"

"Oh, congratulations," Charles raised his glass and clinked it with Steve Burke's.

"However, Chris Dodd also mentioned that Hollywood productions have become too monotonous, with blockbuster special effects and sequels becoming mainstream, which seems detrimental to Hollywood's development," Steve Burke shrugged.

"He means Hollywood needs more original movies, right?" Charles neither agreed nor disagreed, "It's a pity, but that's the choice of the market; Nowadays, it's not like the days when you could make money with VHS tapes, DVDs, and Blu-ray DVDs! Heh, original scripts and art films, how many can recover their costs?"

Steve Burke nodded, "Just like the recent hits The Social Network, The King's Speech, Black Swan, and The Fighter; except for The Social Network, because David Fincher was in charge, the rest were years in the making before finding investors!"

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