Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: That Doesn’t Make Sense

Translator: Henyee Translations

Editor: Henyee Translations

It was a disaster!

Meng Lang’s first thoughts after seeing the viewing rates was that —

“Am I seeing things?”

The CCTV-14 had been promoting the show for a week and Pengda Pictures had spent millions on PR on various channels.

With the remaining influence of Blazing Teens, the new show shouldn’t have had such a poor performance.

“The show is over…”

Meng Lang wasn’t the only one who had received the statistics. As a matter of fact, any director who had kept an eye on the show would have been able to find out about the viewing rates through their own connections.

Everyone expressed their disappointment when they saw the figure.

The average viewing rate was only 1.013%!

If this were the nationwide viewing rate the show received on Jiangchuan Children’s Channel, the production company would have laughed in their dreams.

But it wasn’t the viewing rate of Jiangchuan Children’s Channel; it was the national one!

With a different platform, the standard changed as well.

The spectacular viewing rate on Jiangchuan Children’s Channel would make the show an utter failure.

“Xiao Meng, look what a situation you’ve put me into!”

Mr. Tao was the first to come with a complaint. He bombarded Meng Lang with emojis, practically whining over the phone.

“2.6 million! Do you know how much time it took me to persuade my superiors? I did it because I had faith in you. And what did you give me?”

[I’m so miserable.jpg]

Mr. Tao’s resentment reached Meng Lang with another meme.

“The viewing rate of the first episode took a dive. What am I going to tell my supervisor?”

“If I get fired, I’ll start begging outside your office and tell every person passing by what you did…”

[Crying panda.gif]

Meng Lang felt awful, not just because of the poor viewing rate, but also because he was baffled by the unbelievable number of memes Mr. Tao had been sending him.

“Mr. Tao, please calm down!”

“You told me yourself that the viewing rate of the first episode was usually unsatisfactory and that we would have to wait for them to rise as the show went on.”

That only made Mr. Tao feel worse.

“I was only trying to fool you! How could you take my words seriously?”

[You idiot.jpg]

“With that miserable viewing rate for the first episode, do you think things will turn around in the next episode? Young man, stop daydreaming and accept reality.”

[Crying on each other’s shoulders.jpg]

Beep!

Meng Lang was still trying to figure out how to console the devastated Mr. Tao when the notification of an incoming message popped out.

CCTV-14: “The viewing rate of the second episode is out!!! Things have turned around!!! [picture][picture][picture]”

The series of pictures almost crashed Meng Lang’s phone.

He quickly opened the chat box, to save the pictures.

He then double-tapped a picture to enlarge it!

He saw a curve.

The viewing rate of the first episode was a downward slope while that of the second episode was an upward one, which kept rising until it surpassed the height of the first peak.

Right after the beginning of the first episode, the viewing rate reached a record high of 3.1%, but the rate took a dive after that, and by the time the first episode was over, the rate had dropped to below 1%, making the average viewing rate 1.013%!

Starting from the second episode, the viewing rate stopped falling, then rose steadily from 0.61% to 1%, then 2%, until the rate reached a new high! By the time the ending theme was playing, the viewing rate had reached a record high of 3.86%!

The average viewing rate of the second episode had risen to 1.81%!

“What on earth is going on?”

Meng Lang was at a loss. He suddenly realized that he couldn’t understand the viewing rate any more.

With the lousy performance of the first episode, the show should have been a failure. After all, if the audience couldn’t stand the first episode, there was no reason that they should have come back for more.

Exactly what went wrong?

…

Mr. Tao was very unhappy!

That Meng boy had stopped replying to his messages and begun to play dead.

“Does he think he can get away with this?”

That would never happen!

This show had cost his TV channel over 2 million and with the viewing rate of the first episode, one could call the investment a failure.

There was no way Meng Lang could get away with it just by not returning his messages.

“You’ve stopped returning my messages, have you? Just wait. I’ll visit you at your place! Try to run away from me this time!”

[Sharpening a knife.jpg]

“Mr. Tao, you don’t have to come…”

The guy had replied to his message!

Mr. Tao was about to leave his sofa when he saw the message Meng Lang sent him.

“You’re afraid now? It’s too late! I’m already in the taxi! I’m coming for you!”

“It’s not that…”

Meng Lang sent the picture of the statistics he received from the national TV channel to Mr. Tao, then replied, “Look at the viewing rate of the second episode!”

[Smirk.jpg]

“So what? It’s not like things can turn around.”

With a smirk, Mr. Tao typed in his reply. “Has the rate dropped again? Or has it risen? Even if it has, it’s still lower than expected!”

“The rate has really turned around!”

“Impossible! A drop like that is hopeless. If things can turn around after that, I’ll go to you and wish you happy new year on my knees!”

“Can you maybe have a look at the picture first?”

Like that was going to change anything.

With a smirk, Mr. Tao tapped open the picture. His pupils contracted when he saw the strange upward slope.

This shouldn’t have happened!

[Message withdrawal failed. This version does not support message withdrawal.]

Damn it!

Mr. Tao cursed under his breath. He hastily opened the settings of Wechat, found the version of the app, then tapped “update”.

4G connection was just so efficient!

Downloading the update only took him less than 30 seconds, but the installation took him a whole minute.

You crappy phone!

Work faster!

Mr. Tao was so nervous about withdrawing that message that he had no time to question why the viewing rate of Balala the Fairies had turned around so miraculously.

After the new version was finally installed, Mr. Tao couldn’t wait to reopen Wechat.

[Message withdrawal failed. It has been over 2 minutes.]

He then saw Meng Lang’s message. “Are you going to do that today? That doesn’t seem right. It’s the first day of the new lunar year. Do I have to give you lucky money for kowtowing?”

Mr. Tao was speechless.

…

Balala the Fairies had turned around!

News of the rise in the viewing rate of the second episode soon got out and a certain director, who had been ostentatiously celebrating his “accurate prediction”, quietly deleted his victory manifesto that said he would pick one person who had commented and forwarded the post, and gave the latter 1,000 yuan.

Meng Lang’s fellow TV professionals were overwhelmed with envy.

How lucky could Meng Lang get?

His show had ruined a perfectly good opening by receiving a terrible viewing rate, but things had actually turned around for him during the second episode?

Many directors who had watched both episodes were completely dumbfounded, for there was nothing special about the second episode. The storyline followed the first episode; the part where Blue applied for a nanny and tried to cook was funny; and the scene where Li Jingyi made her wishing card and met her mother was quite touching…

Even if the second episode was both funny and moving, it still didn’t explain what had happened. After all, the second episode wasn’t noticeably better than the first one and nothing in it seemed to stand out.

But why had the viewing rate risen?