How to increase viewership?
Jin En, the general director of “Gold Dash,” was staring at a pile of documents on her desk with a worried expression.
Her program, “Gold Dash,” was indeed a famous long-running show.
But what was the problem?
The viewership was gradually declining.
As societal perspectives changed, people became increasingly conservative and demanding regarding the content of films, TV shows, and variety programs.
For example, in an old animation, a fat character in yellow clothes often violently beat up his friends.
In the past, people just watched it and laughed, finding it funny.
Now it’s still called a “childhood classic,” since everyone knows it’s just a cartoon and there’s no need to take it too seriously.
But from today’s perspective, it promotes violence, misleads children, and would certainly attract complaints.
Another example: a decade or so ago, various novels or anime plots more or less contained similar violence, innuendos, or jokes.
But in recent years, with increased scrutiny, both outsiders and insiders in the industry have found reasons to criticize whenever they get the chance.
People in the industry have to be increasingly cautious and self-regulate the scale of their content.
An old writer who had a work adapted into an anime wrote helplessly in the afterword of his final work:
“In the past ten years, the publishing industry has seen significant changes.”
“Countless types of harassment have appeared in the world.”
“As long as there’s the slightest possibility of causing offense, it gets attacked.”
“The rules are getting stricter, the creative space is getting smaller, and the editorial annotations saying ‘Is it okay to write like this?’ are increasing.”
“No joke, if my work were placed in the current year 20xx, it simply couldn’t be published in its original form.”
Jin En sighed in frustration.
She didn’t intend to judge whether this was right or wrong; she was just a wage earner.
Perhaps the intent behind the regulations was good, but it really had gone a bit too far.
“Gold Dash” was also going through a painful period of transition.
If they maintained the old radical, hardcore style of tormenting the artists, they could indeed hold onto a certain core viewership.
But at the same time, they faced the risk of criticism, and could even be summoned by higher-ups for rectification at any time.
Moreover, if they went too far in pranking those delicate celebrity idols nowadays, their fans would be extremely dissatisfied and could trash the program’s official social media accounts.
It wasn’t just the audience’s scrutiny; there was also pressure from the sponsors.
Finding a balance in all this was really hard.
It wasn’t that Jin En didn’t read the comments.
Most of the online reviews said the show was becoming increasingly formulaic, the prank segments were weak, and it was even obvious that the artists knew what was going to happen from the start—they were all acting.
In the past, because the show was so popular, artists put up with even the harshest survival challenges for exposure.
But now?
Viewership had dropped from a peak of 16% to 9%, and it felt like it would keep falling.
If this continued, it would be an extremely deadly negative spiral.
If they didn’t maintain the style, they’d lose popularity and nobody would watch.
If popularity dropped, they couldn’t invite influential artists.
If they wanted to keep the style, the current public opinion environment wouldn’t allow it.
Changing was also difficult…
There were already plenty of hardcore outdoor survival shows on the market.
Switching to wilderness survival now would be thankless and might even offend the remaining old fans who liked the prank segments.
What could be done?
If this went on, perhaps this gold-medal variety show with a decade-long history would really be lost on her watch.
Jin En rubbed her temples and habitually picked up her phone.
However, as soon as she opened the trending topics list, her finger scrolling the screen stopped.
A tag marked with the word “hot” was hanging at the top of the list.
Clicking on it, it was a slightly blurry secretly filmed video.
In the video, a black-haired, straight-haired beautiful girl wearing a baseball cap, facing a harassing creepy guy, didn’t hesitate to deliver a flying kick, directly kicking his phone out of his hand, then decisively stomped on the screen, shattering it.
That wasn’t the end.
After that, the man, enraged and humiliated, attacked her from behind with a section of construction plastic water pipe.
It hit the girl’s shoulder and arm, but the pipe actually broke into two pieces!
The girl rubbed her shoulder, turned around, and executed a clean joint lock, pinning the grown man to the ground, unable to move.
The comments section below was already in a frenzy.
—”I’ve watched the part where she kicks the phone ten times. Has she been trained?”
—”She’s so pretty, but she fights so hard? The contrast is full.”
—”Wait, how did that water pipe break? Are her shoulders made of iron?”
—”The pipe must have been weathered and brittle, but that joint lock move was definitely practiced. Her core strength is amazing.”
—”With that face and those skills, three minutes—I want all the info on this mysterious beauty!”
—”She looks so good, she must be an artist? Which company is hiding such a secret weapon? Hurry up and debut, I’m ready to support!”
Netizens were intensely curious about this mysterious beauty with explosive combat power and decisive action.
Everyone was digging up her identity all over the internet, and the buzz was skyrocketing at a terrifying speed.
Jin En watched the video, her previously indifferent gaze gradually turning serious.
She leaned closer to the screen, carefully studying the half-face of the girl revealed under the streetlight.
Those features, that aura, that black straight hair…
Why did she look so familiar?
Jin En’s heart suddenly leaped.
She quickly turned around and rummaged through a large pile of documents.
Her eyes landed on the photo on the first page.
Perfect black straight hair.
Name: Orange Quiet Forest.
Jin En looked at the data in her hand, then at the video replaying the flying kick on her phone.
That mysterious black-haired girl who kicked a phone and broke a water pipe with her bare hands—wasn’t this Orange Quiet Forest, who hadn’t officially debuted yet?
Jin En gasped.
‘Could this be… a golden opportunity?’
She had been worrying about the show lacking highlights and explosive moments, and then such a good thing came her way?
And the girl was about to participate in her show.
This kind of topic popularity, this natural strong contrast between combat ability and a delicate appearance.
Even if it was only temporary buzz, she had to use it to boost the show’s precarious viewership and audience expectations.
Jin En’s previously worried face finally broke into a smile.
She planned to continue watching the online public opinion direction to see how long the buzz would last.
At the same time, she quickly picked up the phone on her desk, ready to dial Chu Yong.
How would Chu Yong handle this?
If Orange Quiet Forest still did not reveal herself before the show, Jin En wouldn’t be able to promote her heavily.
If possible, Jin En actually still wanted to seize this opportunity.
The other party should be thinking of a way to handle it, after all, Orange Quiet Forest would soon be showing her face.
It couldn’t be hidden.