Chapter 443: The Worthy Ace!
"Station Chief, the rating has already reached 9.4%!"
The monitoring staff quickly calculated and reported an exciting figure. He immediately announced loudly.
"9.4%? Good!"
Huang Xizhao's eyes lit up upon hearing this. His face broke into a broad smile, and he couldn't help but cheer loudly, his fists clenched unconsciously.
The program hadn't even started yet, and it was still commercial time, but it already had a 9.4% rating. It was still before 7 PM, and many households were still having dinner and hadn't turned on their TVs. Based on data from previous time slots, a 9.4% rating was already quite impressive. Normally, anything above 4% would be considered excellent!
"Keep monitoring!"
Huang Xizhao ordered sternly.
"Yes!"
As time went by, the ratings surged rapidly, especially starting from 6:57 PM, when the ratings suddenly jumped significantly, with the growth rate accelerating!
11.4%!
12.5%!
13.2%!
14.7%!
When the second hand of the watch hit the 12 mark, the latest rating directly reached 14.7%!
Seeing this figure, Huang Xizhao swung his fist triumphantly, disregarding his image. His heart felt a huge relief, and joy surged within him.
A great start!
He had an intuition that this was going to set a record!
"The next ten minutes are crucial. As long as the rating doesn't drop, we're safe!"
"But I've watched the *Dragon Ball* anime twice myself, and even I, as an adult, got drawn into the story. Kids will definitely love it!"
Huang Xizhao thought to himself, motivating and encouraging himself.
Soon, ten minutes passed quickly. Seeing that the ratings continued to rise without dropping, Huang Xizhao felt reassured. Especially when the first episode ended with the ratings at 19.1%, Huang Xizhao's spirits were lifted once again.
A 19.1% rating had already surpassed the historical record for this time slot!
"Three minutes of commercial break. Stay focused and keep an eye on any fluctuations in the ratings!"
Huang Xizhao reminded with a serious expression.
"Rest assured, Station Chief!"
The monitoring staff said without turning around.
Soon, as the commercial break went on, the rating only dropped to 18.9%, a decrease of just 0.2%. Huang Xizhao's smile couldn't be concealed anymore!
The three-minute ad break was actually a test, as well as an experiment.
Originally, the commercial break was about one and a half minutes, but this time, during this critical period, the ad break was extended to three minutes to gauge the audience's tolerance.
If viewers could accept this, then advertising revenue would greatly increase!
An 18.9% rating showed that even during the commercial break, viewers were reluctant to switch channels, which demonstrated the strong appeal of the *Dragon Ball* anime.
Huang Xizhao was completely at ease!
He was genuinely happy!
As the time approached 8 PM, the prime time, many families had finished their dinners and started watching TV. More and more TVs were turned on, and many children, upon seeing the *Dragon Ball* anime, cried and fussed about not changing the channel.
The world's biggest problem was that children's pleas were hard to resist for parents, so naturally, parents gave in to their children.
As a result, the ratings for *Dragon Ball* started to soar again!
When the second episode ended, the time was fixed at 7:55 PM, and the ratings had broken through 29.7%!
"Station Chief, it's a hit! *Dragon Ball* is a complete success!"
"Station Chief, this rating definitely surpasses TVB's!"
…
Cheers erupted backstage, and Huang Xizhao laughed heartily, completely disregarding his image.
"Station Chief, should we report to the boss?"
A more astute staff member quietly approached Huang Xizhao and reminded him softly.
Huang Xizhao was jolted and gave the staff member an appreciative glance. Then he quickly left for the office and dialed the boss's home number.
"Boss…"
After the report, Huang Xizhao immediately called a friend at TVB to inquire about TVB's ratings. He quickly calculated in his mind and couldn't hide his smile again.
The combined rating of TVB's Pearl TV (English) and Jade TV (Cantonese) was only 9.5%. Global TV's English channel had a rating of 4.8%, so the total TV usage in Hong Kong was 44%.
Global TV's market share had reached 78.4%, while *Dragon Ball*'s market share was 67.5%!
"A first broadcast with such high ratings and market share, we have an ace in our hands! Truly worthy of the anime highly regarded by the boss!"
"However, thinking about it, *Zhiyin Manhua* has sales of two to three hundred thousand copies in Hong Kong Island. These are all loyal fans, and with the constant promotion from the TV station and newspapers, a 29.7% rating is quite normal, and it might even be considered low!"
"Some fans might not be used to it or have other reasons for not watching, but that's okay. The ratings will only go higher from here!"
With this in mind, Huang Xizhao was in high spirits!
"Oh, and quickly inform Jiuding Press. This news should have some value!"
Thinking of this, Huang Xizhao dialed Yan Wenhan's number again…
---
The galaxy turns back, and dawn arrives!
Early in the morning, leveraging Jiuding Press Company's powerful distribution system, the major newspapers were distributed virally. While other newspapers were still being delivered, Jiuding's newspapers completed their distribution at the fastest speed and were on sale.
The major news about *Dragon Ball* also spread throughout Hong Kong!
The industry was shaken, and the people of Hong Kong Island were astonished by the high ratings and market share reported for *Dragon Ball*!
*Fengyun Daily* even published a special article, vividly portraying the significance of *Dragon Ball*'s success, and directly promoted the rise of Hong Kong comics, calling for a bright future for the anime and manga industry and urging young people to consider this new path.
The article also praised *Dragon Ball*'s production company, Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd., and suggested that those interested in the anime or manga industry should join the training classes offered by Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd., with exceptional performance leading to direct recruitment.
In an instant, many comic enthusiasts were moved!
The most decisive ones immediately set off to consult Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd.
At TVB, in the office of Shao Yifu.
At this moment, only Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua were in the office. Fang Yihua sat quietly to the side, staring blankly at Shao Yifu, who was looking serious and reading the newspaper.
Seeing Shao Yifu put down the newspaper, Fang Yihua anxiously asked, "Yifu, Global TV is making a huge impact. How could they achieve such high ratings and market share?"
Shao Yifu frowned upon hearing this, took a deep breath, and pondered deeply. His mood was extremely poor.
Originally, the 7 PM to 8 PM prime time slot had been dominated by TVB's two channels, holding at least a 22 rating, with a market share reaching 68%.
Unexpectedly, with Global TV's massive promotion of *Dragon Ball*, TVB's rating plummeted to only 9.5%, and the market share crashed by over 40 points, leaving just 21.6%. It was a miserable scene!
He couldn't afford to ignore it!
But fortunately, overall, TVB still had the upper hand!
Moreover, the hot *Dragon Ball* was limited in production, with only two episodes per week, totaling less than an hour. Being limited to one hour was not too severe.
"They are limited by production and can only be occasionally arrogant. Besides, they only dare to air from 7 PM to 8 PM, not daring to compete head-to-head with us during prime time."
Shao Yifu smiled and said casually.
"That's true. They must know they can't match us, so they choose to avoid confrontation!"
Upon hearing this explanation, Fang Yihua was stunned, then smiled and said.
"Yifu, we can't let them be so arrogant. We should also get into anime production. Given the current situation, anime is very marketable. We should compete with them!"
Fang Yihua's eyes turned quickly, and she suggested to Shao Yifu.
"Your suggestion makes sense, but…"
Shao Yifu frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and continued, "However, compared to Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd., which can produce anime, our orders will definitely not be accepted by them."
"And there are future risks. Currently, *Dragon Ball* is just one of their four major ace comics. If the other three also become anime, our troubles will be significant!"
Thinking of this, Shao Yifu's mood became heavy again.
"The Japanese anime market is quite strong, and even if Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd. is formidable, it can't be compared to the Japanese. We should import Japanese anime to compete with Global TV. It should work fine."
"We have imported Japanese anime several times before, and the results were good."
Fang Yihua played the role of a strategist and suggested again.
"Your suggestion is good!"
"It seems it's time to import Japanese anime again!"
"If they air two episodes a week, then
we should import finished anime and air them every night to win with quantity and capture the market!"
Shao Yifu's face showed a deep smile.
"Yifu, you really are impressive…"
---
That night, unexpectedly for Shao Yifu, the episodes of *Dragon Ball* aired the night before were actually re-aired. TVB's ratings were significantly affected, and the ratings were halved. When Shao Yifu received the data, he couldn't help but gasp and felt very heavy-hearted.
At the same time, he hurriedly instructed to screen outstanding anime from Japan and bring them in as soon as possible.
After all, if Global TV shamelessly re-airs for a week, the impact would be substantial!
As the saying goes, fear attracts trouble!
Seeing the re-airing of *Dragon Ball*, the ratings remained at 28.9%, only 0.8% lower than the previous day. Huang Xizhao's eyes shone like ten thousand-watt bulbs.
Every day after that, Huang Xizhao arranged for *Dragon Ball* anime reruns, with no rating ever falling below 20%. The market share for individual episodes was at least 50%.
With the ratings and market share of Global TV's English channel, TVB was thoroughly overshadowed!
A mere two episodes of *Dragon Ball* proved to be a true ace, making Global TV dominate the 7 PM to 8 PM slot each night!
Such high ratings naturally attracted advertisers, especially those dealing in children's clothing, toys, and other products. They were thrilled!
However, this time, the valuable prime-time ads were kept by Jiuding Animation Co., Ltd., promoting *Dragon Ball*'s peripheral products and the "Comic Book Home" chain stores.
According to Ma Tengdong's feedback, ads during the *Dragon Ball* anime's break had an incredible effect. The weekly turnover of "Comic Book Home" stores in Hong Kong and Macau soared fivefold, mainly due to *Dragon Ball* series merchandise, plush toys, stationery, and stickers.
The impact of anime on peripheral products proved to be far stronger than that of comics!
Seeing the tremendous boost brought by anime to peripheral products, Ma Tengdong was full of motivation and accelerated the recruitment of talent, aiming to quickly produce the other three anime and get them on air.
At that time, the turnover of "Comic Book Home" would definitely skyrocket!
He was confident of that!