The Best Director

Chapter 251: A Big Surprise!

“Monday’s television ratings are out, and the new show ‘Prison Break’ has valiantly seized the championship,”

“Led by the amazing Wang Yang, ‘Prison Break’ stormed the screen, with NBC delightfully returning to the top spot on Monday night.”

As NBC Entertainment, Yahoo Entertainment, Reuters, and other websites reported, drama fans who cared about ratings immediately knew the situation on Monday. Fans of ‘Prison Break’ were overjoyed and understood NBC’s feelings. As ‘Friends’ was set to conclude this season, losing a vital asset, it’s no wonder that NBC’s spokesperson Rebecca Marks said, “We are so surprised! This is a huge victory.”

The 9:00–10:00 PM slot saw NBC’s first episode of ‘Prison Break’ rake in an average viewership of 18.65 million! The overall rating reached 18; another important metric, the 18-49 adult viewership rating, hit 10.5, proving extremely popular among young adults.

Apart from losing the 10-49 viewership to ABC’s ‘Monday Night Football’ with 16.49 million viewers and a rating of 11.2, ‘Prison Break’ clinched the Monday night crown in terms of total number of viewers and overall ratings!

It beat the same timeslot competition such as CBS’s ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ which had 15.38 million viewers with a rating of 9.8/15, down 3.01 million from the previous season’s 18.39 million; the new show ‘Two and a Half Men’ with 14.31 million and a rating of 8.5/14; FOX’s ‘SKIN’ with 3.54 million viewers and a 2.1/3 rating; UPN’s ‘Girlfriends’ and ‘Half & Half,’ which had 2.16 and 2.18 million viewers respectively; and WB’s ‘Everwood’ with 3.17 million viewers…

In the following ten o’clock slot, the second episode of ‘Prison Break’ faced stiff competition from CBS’s powerhouse ‘CSI: Miami’ and ABC’s ongoing ‘Monday Night Football,’ drawing 18.15 million viewers with a 10.3/17 rating; ‘CSI: Miami’ was also targeted, with 14.87 million viewers and a 9.1/14 rating, losing 1.58 million viewers from the previous season.

That night, adding NBC’s ‘Who Dares Challenge’ dominating the eight o’clock slot with 13.59 million viewers, NBC claimed the viewership championship for all three prime-time slots, dealing a heavy blow to CBS which suffered a complete defeat.

Therefore, on Monday’s national viewership rankings, ‘Prison Break’ took both the champion and runner-up spots with its first and second episodes; ‘Monday Night Football’ pocketed the third place, and ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ ranked fourth…

“Clap clap clap!” In the NBC headquarters at Rockefeller Center in New York, a thunderous applause erupted in the meeting room of the entertainment department. The President of Entertainment, Kevin Reilly, grinned, showing off his white teeth, while the manager of the production department, Paul Jones, and others also wore happy smiles. The executives were on the brink of shouting out a “Yay” to express their exhilaration!

NBC’s evening viewership champion of the 02-03 season, ‘Friends,’ in its ninth season, had 21.14 million viewers and a 13.5/21 rating, placing third for the year.

The premiere of ‘Prison Break’ wasn’t just 10 million viewers, not the ‘Emergency Frontline’s 11.55 million, not a ‘comfortable’ 12 million, not a ‘surprising’ 15 million, but an average of 18.4 million for two episodes! 10.4/18!

Based on last season’s numbers, this viewership could rank eighth for the year! Last season’s top ten only had three NBC shows, and they were ancient relics barely able to move: ‘Friends’ in its ninth season with 19.99 million viewers (13.1/21) ranked sixth, the tenth season of ‘Story of Emergency Room’ with 16.87 million viewers (11.4/19) ranked tenth, and the fourteenth season of ‘Law & Order’ with 16.87 million viewers (11.4/19)…

It’s not the 1940s anymore when NBC singularly dominated the airwaves. With the rise of CBS and ABC, NBC is no longer the ruler of prime time. Advancing into the new 21st century, as Kevin Reilly puts it, “The standing of everyone is very, very close, and management can hardly make any mistakes. The TV station’s rankings depend on who can secure the most attractive programs.”

FOX’s programming manager Preston Burkeman also stated, “Any slight change can turn the first place into the third, or the third into the first.”

For NBC and the current generation of entertainment executives, “Prison Break” was undoubtedly the long-awaited rain after a prolonged drought!

These sharp-dressed executives constantly walked on thin ice, facing pressure from higher-ups, racking their brains to secure good programs and win over producers. Now, with the “Knight Rider effect,” the entertainment department was lucky to get “Prison Break.” Like the previous insights of Lionsgate, they recognized the genius of Wang Yang and reaped incredibly surprising results!

“We all misunderstood Yang’s meaning, and now ‘Prison Break’ has 10 million viewers watching!”

Kevin Reilly glanced at the smiling faces of the department heads on both sides, spread his hands, and laughed, “10 million adult viewers!” Everyone burst into laughter and then applauded cheerfully, momentarily getting carried away with their excitement. Paul Jones and others casually joked with each other, “He really gave me a scare.” “This guy just loves to surprise us.” “I knew it, how could Magic Yang be so modest?” “I just told him the ratings, and he was very calm.”…

The 18-49 adult viewer ratings are extremely important because that age group is the main purchasing power of the market, so a 4/5 rating is worth more than a 2/8, with particularly high advertising costs. Sometimes when we talk about a show’s ratings, we’re using the 18-49 metric as the default standard. This season, one ratings point is approximately 1 million people, so “Prison Break” scoring 10.4 indeed translates to over 10 million viewers.

In 1998, children who were 13 years old are now 18 and adults, and “Magic Yang,” with his “seven consecutive screen wins,” boasts unrivaled popularity among young people in his category as a new-generation director. “Prison Break”‘s market positioning is precisely aimed at attracting young viewers, so NBC values both the number of viewers and the adult viewership ratings—not just the numbers, but also the rates.

And now they have indeed not been disappointed. For the first time in years since the 1990s and entering the 2000s, NBC has secured the autumn Monday viewership crown and dominated the entire Monday night! It’s been a long time since they’ve felt so prestigious!

“Time’s up. Let’s hear what Yang has to say.” Kevin Reilly glanced at his wristwatch, and with everyone’s smiles, he pressed the conference call button to reach Wang Yang in Los Angeles. As soon as the call connected, he laughed, “Hi, Yang!” Wang Yang was one of the key creators of “Prison Break,” one of the screenwriters. In effect, he was directing the entire series of “Prison Break,” with producers, directors, and other screenwriters executing his orders.

Although he seemed “laid-back,” he was the top person in charge (Executive) of “Prison Break.”

“Hello, everyone!” Wang Yang’s cheerful voice came through the speakerphone, instantly filling the entire conference room.

The meeting room erupted in light laughter as they greeted him. Kevin Reilly made a quieting gesture, looking at the black phone and laughing, “Yang, do you know the ratings for ‘Prison Break?'” Yang’s voice chuckled from the other end, “Yes, Paul told me. It exceeded my expectations. I think… it won’t be getting halved now, right?” Everyone laughed heartily; Reilly shrugged in an “I can’t with this guy” gesture and laughed, “No, no, we should talk about the second season now.”

“Leave that to Paul and you to discuss in detail. Honestly, ‘Prison Break’ has brought a big surprise to NBC!” Kevin Reilly led the applause with laughter, and the enthusiastic claps from the meeting room were instantly transmitted to Los Angeles through the phone. Wang Yang thanked them several times. Once the applause ceased, Reilly laughed again, “We’re discussing planning a celebration party for ‘Prison Break,’ but we know your engagement is coming up.”

He paused for a moment, and the room responded with another round of congratulatory applause. Wang Yang said thanks, and Reilly continued, “So we’ll wait until mid-October, once ‘Prison Break”s viewership stabilizes, then we’ll celebrate for you guys.” Wang Yang was nonchalant, “OK.”

Kevin Reilly knew that this affordable celebration party would 99% take place, as the second episode competing with “CSI: Miami” maintained 18.15 million viewers, 10.3/17, proving the audience almost fully embraced “Prison Break,” reluctant to leave after just one episode. This was validated by market feedback, with many viewers even calling in to request two consecutive episodes of “Prison Break” next week.

They felt what should be considered now was not a decline in “Prison Break”‘s viewership, but after a climax-filled second episode leaving a great cliffhanger, could the next installment, an even more exciting third episode, surge in viewership? Joining the 20 million viewers club?

Either way, 23-year-old Magic Yang exploded onto the screen with this insane success on his first try. Maybe it won’t be as sensational as “Paranormal Activity,” because TV shows are about the long game; but who knows, in the coming years, whether he’ll produce TV series akin to “High School Musical,” “Juno,” and “District 9,” and step by step become a powerhouse behind the screen?

Everyone at NBC Entertainment didn’t dare to neglect their duties, and if Wang Yang was willing to sign a long-term production contract with NBC for “a few programs over a few years,” NBC Television Group Chairman Bob Wright would definitely shout, “Send over the contract, the longer the better!” Unfortunately, Wang Yang had directly refused this preliminary intent at the beginning, saying simply, “I like my freedom.”

Even without the assurance of a long-term contract, they were still going to proceed with the plan to promote “Prison Break” with increased efforts, considering there were still 22 episodes, future DVD sales, along with the second and third seasons. Now with such excellent performance and reviews, they had every right to extol it to the skies.

“Thank you, Yang,” Kevin Reilly said into the phone, grateful for the success of “Prison Break,” which added a dazzling achievement to his resume as the president of the entertainment division. He smiled and said, “We’re all looking forward to more amazing TV shows from you, like that sitcom?” He launched into his persuasion task, “It can be scheduled for next season! Filling the Thursday spot left by ‘Friends’…”

“Haha! Kevin, you’re making me feel very honored.” In the elegant and bright study, Wang Yang, sitting behind his desk, interrupted Kevin Reilly with a laugh, glancing at the script for “Firefly” on his computer screen, showing little enthusiasm for Reilly’s suggestion. He was getting married early next year, needed to focus on “Firefly,” deal with a pile of company matters, and still had to consider how to produce the second season of “Prison Break.”

As for now, Wang Yang said with a laugh to the speakerphone, “Everyone, let’s thoroughly enjoy the championship glory of ‘Prison Break’ for now!”

Indeed, the opening performance of 18.65 million viewers and a 10.5/18 rating had exceeded his expectation of 15 million, but he knew this was normal and even felt a bit of regret that it hadn’t broken through to over 20 million viewers.

The original “Prison Break” had an opening performance of 10.5 million viewers, with an average of 9.2 million viewers per season and a 4.1/10 rating. Not to mention issues of quality and promotion, it aired on Fox at the nine o’clock slot, preceded by two sitcoms at eight o’clock—”Arrested Development” and “Kitchen Confidential”—with audiences of 4.2 and 3.8 million respectively, meaning that over 6 million people switched channels to watch “Prison Break.” Viewers generally dislike switching channels unless it’s for a sports channel.

Getting used to a certain TV broadcast will create a psychological inertia and tendency—after finishing the eight o’clock show, continue watching the nine o’clock one, and after the nine o’clock one, continue with the ten o’clock one. Therefore, when a network’s certain show peaks in viewership for a climax or finale episode, the following program’s viewership often spikes as well; hence, the long-standing NBC has a nickname called “Must-See-TV.”

Yesterday NBC’s eight o’clock “Who Dares Challenge” had 13.59 million viewers, which means putting an acceptable show into NBC’s Monday nine o’clock slot will basically get 7-9 million viewers; a good show like “Emergency Frontline” gets 11 million. The audience base is very important for a show’s viewership, and if the original “Prison Break” had aired on NBC during the same period with proper promotion, it probably would’ve gotten over 12 to 13 million viewers.

Of course, whether it could maintain that is another question. Despite the original version ultimately declining by 1.3 million viewers and only having a 4.1 rating among adult viewers, its 10.5 million opening performance was solid and even won the 2005 People’s Choice Award for “Favorite New TV Drama”—awards like the People’s Choice, Teen Choice, and Kids’ Choice are all decided by audience votes (nowadays online voting), and popularity reigns supreme in determining the winners.

Both aspects indicate that the viewers did not dislike “Prison Break’s” criminal theme; in fact, they were very interested in it.

Gradually developing a viewership where older or younger viewers outnumbered the adult viewers was still due to the issues of the plot being unrealistic and characters lacking persuasiveness. Non-adult viewers found it easier to accept because, in their minds, such prisons could realistically exist! That was because the original “Prison Break’s” prison setting was almost entirely based on traditional architectural and management models of prisons, which older people found to be okay, while children did not understand.

It is said that “Prison Break” had a significant impact on overseas countries and regions like mainland China, precisely because those viewers also failed to notice any flaws, concentrating all their attention on the tense storyline, and as a result, experienced much excitement.

In the minds of the current 18-49-year-old American audience, they have been influenced by the concept and impression of the “new generation prisons” from the mid to late 1960s, including Wang Yang himself—advanced electronic facilities, guards always watching the prisoners… These conceptual understandings led to the original version’s glaring loopholes, and along with the unreasonable characters and mediocre acting, caused the viewers to disengage, and viewership to decline.

Now, they’ve tried their best to address these issues—the “Prison Break” that went to air has reached a quality close to the highest attainable standard, pushing the tension and suspense to the limit, with enough persuasiveness not to fear encouraging audience participation in thinking about the jailbreak plans; criminals were replaced with actors who had more of a criminal aura, the female doctor became sultry, providing an opportunity for young people to become fans…

So, for NBC, which was now ecstatic and seemed amazed by the premiere’s average of 18.4 million viewers and a 10.4/18 rating for the first two episodes, Wang Yang just paused briefly when he heard the news on the phone, “Oh, 18.4 million.” Then he chuckled happily, his calm voice devoid of excitement as he said, “Alright, I know now.”

Of course, if next week the third episode surged past the 20 million mark, he thought he’d still jump up and pump his fist in the air, shouting “YEAH!”

“You’re right, let’s enjoy our championship for now! Haha!” Kevin Reilly laughed as he nodded, persuading that there was no rush. Paul Jones and the others also burst into happy laughter; they had won a major victory at the start of the season! The meeting room was filled with a jovial atmosphere.

In CBS headquarters at the Black Rock building in Manhattan, New York, the entertainment department’s meeting room was silent. Nancy Tellem, the president of the entertainment department, looked at her subordinates on both sides, faces silent, having faced a total defeat on the opening day of the season! They had lost the Monday viewership championship they had held for many years, and that show which became a nationwide sensation overnight—Prison Break—still had 22 episodes to go!

To make matters worse, the newly aired eighth season of Everybody Loves Raymond was not receiving high praise from the audience, and the 18-49 ratings had also taken a significant dive. (The original Everybody Loves Raymond ended with its ninth season in 2005.)

In this long autumn season that was just beginning, how could they compete against Prison Break? Could it be that the nine o’clock crown would just be taken by NBC?

Thinking of all this, Nancy Tellem’s aged face tightened even more. Looking at the Monday ratings report that had been verified, she realized that not competing with NBC for Wang Yang was a mistake; the young fellow truly had some sort of magic. Was there a way to poach him over to CBS? Nancy Tellem thought about it but couldn’t come up with any ideas; clearly, the Flame Group had reached a cooperative arrangement with NBC.

She glanced around at her subordinates and said with a faint smile, “Losing a Monday champion isn’t frightening; what’s frightening is if we lose our fighting spirit. In fact, it’s not that serious; Wang Yang is only one person, NBC has only one more producer and one Prison Break, it’s not going to be a huge change. We just need to do our best!” She pondered and said, “Raymond may be reaching its end; we need to replenish with new sitcoms.”

“This week, the 2003-2004 television autumn season officially kicked off, and according to Nielsen data, the new TV series Prison Break emerged as Monday’s champion in an unexpected turn. Wait, what? Did I say a dark horse?”

Under the brilliant night sky, the streets of New York City were brimming with life and, when the lights turned red, many cars came to a halt, their drivers looking ahead at the dazzling lights, listening to the radio host’s surprised voice: “Then I misspoke, Prison Break is a TV series produced by Wang Yang, yes, ‘Miracle Yang,’ this young fellow has brought another surprise. I don’t know if you’ve watched Prison Break, what do you think? But me, I can’t believe it’s that impressive…”

As the red light turned off and the green light came on, the cars resumed their advance.

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PS: The update will also be at eight o’clock tomorrow evening. Thank you for your support and recommendation tickets!! (