Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ed Basti asked his partner, Ms. Zhang, to read the financial data of the "Daily News" given by James Wells overnight. They showed Ronald and Douglas Jr. a pie chart on a computer screen.

The business of "Daily News" can be divided into three parts, the sales revenue of newspapers, the advertising revenue of newspapers, TV stations and radio stations, and the rent of the Daily News Building.

Among these three, the selling price of newspapers is now negative because it was lowered by the previous boss to increase circulation. Advertising revenue has been on a downward trend over the past few years. The biggest supporter of this group's operations is real estate.

The essence of the problem that the newspaper company is facing now is that the real estate business is booming, and the shareholders no longer want to subsidize the newspaper every year, because the newspaper business has not made any contribution to the increase in real estate income.

Advertising revenue from radio and television stations is also shrinking rapidly. The media in New York is very competitive. In the past few years, the three major wireless TV stations have been accumulating strength to acquire or sign contracts with local TV stations. Nationally syndicated programs can be purchased at much lower prices than local stations and can attract much larger advertisers.

Coupled with the rapid growth of cable television stations, WPIX would have been doomed if it had not been backed by New York, the most developed city. The TV station's main source of income now relies on its television broadcast contracts with the New York Yankees baseball team and the New York Giants football team.

Radio advertising revenue has declined slowly but steadily. The number of listeners who have time to listen to radio every year is inevitably shrinking year by year.

"Doesn't it look like a good business?" Douglas Jr. was a little disappointed. He wanted to join a newspaper that could win the Pulitzer Prize, rather than a tabloid like the Daily News that loses one million a year...

"Whether it is worth investing in is related to an individual's valuation of the business. For the same business, some people feel that the future is hopeless, while others feel that the future is bright. They also have different views on how much the company is worth..." Ed Bastian replied with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Little Doug didn't understand.

"You have to ask Ronald, he's the master of investing." Ed Bastian didn't want to overwhelm him.

"What he means is that if I can find a way to make money, then the newspaper and TV station will not lose money in my hands, and it can become a profitable business." Ronald replied with a smile. This is the same as Buffy's keen eye for the Washington Post's rise to fame. When everyone felt that the newspaper was losing money, he was the only one to see the irreplaceable status of the Post.

Of course, from the perspective of Ronald and Buffy, we reach the same goal through different paths. Ronald smiled proudly and explained to Fa Xiaoting.

"For example, in terms of broadcast content, I found that the programs on New York TV stations and late-night theaters are relatively old, and they are all Hollywood black and white films. If we can purchase more Xiangjiang martial arts films and Corman-type B-level exploitation films, there will be many more potential audience. And the cost is not high.

You know, those people who watch movies on TV stations in the middle of the night are not here to enjoy Hollywood classics. They just want to..."

"You just want to see beautiful women and violence, right?" Little Doug thought after thinking, isn't this a coincidence? "There is also Staten Island. Although its purchasing power is not as good as that of Manhattan, it has a large population and there are not many TV stations on the island. As long as WPIX TV station is introduced to the island..."

The two good friends burst out laughing. It seems that this transaction is still done.

"In addition to movies, we also need to stabilize the broadcast contracts of the two major professional sports leagues. I also discovered a phenomenon. Last year's strike deeply hurt TV stations. Everyone is afraid of the kind of TV series that invested heavily in family entertainment in the past.

On the one hand, the average number of TV sets owned by households has exceeded 1, and even more so in New York. More young people no longer watch a TV set with their parents. On the other hand, TV stations are also afraid of another strike, and the ratings of several evergreen TV series have plummeted this year. "

Ed Bastian clicked twice on the computer, and another histogram appeared on the screen. Family Ties, Growing Pains, Blue Moonlight Detective Agency, these evergreen dramas all fell out of the top ten ratings this year.

"What do you have in mind?" Ronald looked closely at the chart. Ed Bastian was obviously prepared. This is beyond the scope of an accountant's work.

"I noticed that there are some so-called reality shows that are used by TV stations to test the waters. This kind of program does not have detailed scripts, relies largely on the performance of the participants, and the cost is also low. There are also this kind of talk shows, which are not No longer limited to late-night male hosts, some TV stations are targeting various drama markets and are also launching various female host shows..."

Ed Bastian gave Ronald some more analysis.

"Go on..." Ronald listened intently. Buffy had told him the secret of investing. Investors and operators are always two different people. You cannot buy a business and then run it yourself. Before making an acquisition, you must first ensure that their management team is excellent and stable.

"As for radio, I have noticed some recent advertising in New York City. There are two markets worth noting... One is classical music. Loyal audiences listen for a long time every day, and their purchasing power is also attractive enough to advertisers. .

Another similar industry is the radio station that broadcasts traffic conditions. Many people who need to commute will pay attention to it on time when commuting every day..."

"Where's the newspaper? What do you think?" Ronald asked again.

"I want to do the opposite, increase the selling price of each newspaper and reduce the cost of color printing. Only such readers will have enough money to buy advertisers' products. Instead of reading magical stories every day, It's lost..."

"Pfft" Ronald couldn't help laughing. The “amazing story” he was talking about was the nickname given by New Yorkers to the fake news compiled by the Daily News. The typical story is that a multi-millionaire mysteriously drowned, all his property disappeared, and his daughter was desperate. Suddenly, a young and handsome man knocked on her door.

"How much will it cost to buy all the media businesses of the Daily News?" Little Doug began to calculate. In this deal, Ronald was responsible for solving the TV station's subsequent programming problems. He was responsible for solving the TV station's broadcast tower on Staten Island. Because his family was a landowner, many TV station facilities suitable for construction belonged to his family's land. A joint venture between the two and the introduction of some familiar Wall Street capital is secondary to making money from trading. Increasing their media influence is something that a lot of money cannot buy.

"If we divest the real estate and sell it now, it may cost 50 million to 100 million." Ed Bastian pressed the keyboard, and an acquisition plan appeared on the last page, giving an estimated price. .

"Is that so?" Ronald thought for a while. If the two of them wanted to raise enough money, they would have to sell some assets or find a Wall Street person like Bannon for a loan.

"Of course, a better way is to be a patient hunter and wait for the right time..." Ed Bastian turned another page.

Among the three media, the most valuable is WPIX TV station. His broadcast contracts with the two major professional sports teams in New York are about to expire. If there is a problem with renewing the contract by then...

"But in that case, will there be competitors?" Little Doug asked.

"No... not every operator has such a forward-looking vision. The Daily News has been begging for so long before..." Ronald looked at the partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers' New York branch and said to himself Accountant Ed Bastian. He had previously rejected a job offer from PepsiCo. It seemed that he didn’t just dislike the high income...

"Let Ed and I talk alone..." Ronald winked at little Doug.

Ed Bastian also winked and asked his assistant, Ms. Zhang, to leave.

"After the merger, I invite you to be the general manager of the new Daily News. Are you willing to accept it?" Ronald made the invitation straight to the point. Ed Bastian has outstanding professional abilities and became a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers at the age of thirty-one. Moreover, he has an outstanding personality, and a bunch of bugs were found during the internal review, otherwise he would have become a partner a few years earlier.

For such an outstanding talent, since he has done so much homework, it is conceivable that he has ambitions for this. It just so happened that the people in Ronald's pocket were mainly artists, and there was a shortage of such business talents.

"Of course, I thought I needed to recommend myself..." Ed laughed.

"One of the advantages of talking to smart people is that you don't need to worry about all kinds of politeness. I'm curious, why are you not interested in Pepsi-Cola's invitation to be its vice president? Instead, you are interested in my newspaper."

"If you hadn't been my client, I might have accepted that invitation..." Ed Bastian said his thoughts with a smile. First, Ronald brought him a lot of income. He was the eldest son in a family of six children and wanted to give his younger siblings a chance to receive a good education.

Secondly, Pepsi-Cola is already a well-established large enterprise. If you want to be the vice president of an international business unit there, you will be parachuted in from an accounting firm, and you will be restricted in many places. How can Ronald, the general manager of a media company here, feel comfortable?

"I will give you the highest treatment in the industry, and if you manage it well, you will also have business options. You can continue to improve those ideas for running the business. As for the timing of the acquisition, we have to wait patiently..."

Ronald and Ed Bastian agreed on the terms of cooperation. The other party happily shook hands with Ronald again. He will now prepare investigations for various acquisitions and prepare subsequent business routes.

"By the way, what is your software for displaying pie charts and bar charts?" When sending him out, Ronald pointed to the software on the computer and asked him. This feeling was very familiar.

"It's Microsoft PowerPoint. It's very convenient, isn't it? Ms. Zhang is an expert. Originally, we had to shoot this demonstration on film, and it won't be ready until at least tomorrow."

"Microsoft?" Ronald thought that he should continue to increase his position.

He invited Douglas Jr. in again and told him that he was going to hire Ed Bastian.

"One more thing. I will first agree to the Daily News' call for help and allocate half a million US dollars in advance to allow them to survive the rest of this year. The acquisition of media requires government approval. Can our friends provide support?"

"In terms of acquisition review, we can ask the National Communications Regulatory Commission to ask George Jr. to come forward. As for local government, I plan to ask the Congressman of Staten Island to come forward. The mayor's election is very fierce now. I don't know who will be next. We There may be problems with betting now." Douglas Jr. also thought of a route.

"Very good, let's prepare quietly and wait until the time is right..."

The acquisition team was quietly being formed, with Ronald's personal lawyer Lindsay Doerr and Mickey Kanter also involved. In addition, Bannon was also interested in this and wanted to join in privately to participate in a small share. He also used his connections on Wall Street to secure bank credit.

"Television is the future, Ronald, is the future." Bannon was very excited. After he entered the film and television industry and successfully filmed a movie, his old friends on Wall Street regarded him as a rare banker who understands Hollywood. Many people use him as a broker to find investment targets for funds.

Wall Street funds seek stable returns. They prefer the stable returns of TV series to the box office gambling of movies.

So Bannon himself also worked on some TV drama projects and wanted to sell them to the three major wireless TV stations. But so far there has been no success. He was very happy when he heard that Ronald was going to buy a TV station. Having an acquaintance in the television industry makes things much easier.

"You don't know how popular TV drama production is now. I invested in a comedy TV series, which I think is very good. The TV station has already asked us to shoot a pilot episode to test the waters. Those old TV series are slowly dying out, and we can see that there are changes. It’s coming…”

"I don't know as much about TV dramas as you do now. If our acquisition is successful, you can provide more TV dramas for our TV stations to broadcast..." Ronald felt very comfortable when he saw the other party's confidence. Wall Street swindlers have to be so confident...

"Ronald, do you want us to focus on the case with the Japanese game manufacturer Capcom, or on your future acquisition case?"

Attorney Lindsay Dole came over to Ronald and asked him about his plans. After all, they are still a small law firm, and Mickey Kanter does not have much business power. If Ronald wanted to advance both ways, they would have to bring in more manpower.

"The acquisition hasn't started yet. How about settling Capcom's affairs during this period?" Ronald didn't understand and discussed it with a private lawyer.

"Transnational lawsuits consume a lot of manpower. We send one person to Tokyo on a business trip, and it takes a long time to go back and forth. If we don't increase manpower, I think we should concentrate on solving one problem first. What is your ranking?" Lindsay Doe Her interests are on Ronald's side, and she doesn't want Mickey Kanter's number to increase indefinitely.

"Lindsay, in your opinion, how long will it take for the case with Capcom to make substantial progress? What are the chances of their settlement?"

"The jurisdiction can be fought for a year. Their company is not very big, and this is their second best-selling game. Of course, I hope it can be delayed as long as possible. The possibility of settlement is unlikely, because now for Capcom , reconciliation means taking on potential risks when the company is developing rapidly. They have copied more than one game from Hollywood...

In addition, the Japanese government is actually quite hostile to our American companies. Their Ministry of International Trade and Industry always hopes to close the domestic market, and we have a long history of suffering losses that started after World War II.

Therefore, I have no hope that this case will be resolved in a short time. "

"Well, then I'll listen to you. The focus will be on the acquisition case. Just find someone there to go through the process normally." Ronald trusted Lindsay's professional ability. Having such a lawyer who started his career at a young age can help him look after it. , you won’t be deceived too badly by other lawyers.

"Okay, then I'll call Gray-Eyed Mickey to inform you of your attitude. I have to go, my child is still being looked after by the nanny..." Lindsay stood up and left.

"Wait a minute, you just said that Capcom is in a period of rapid growth, so aren't they very powerful now?" Ronald suddenly remembered something.

"Yes, they have just merged with two other game manufacturers, and their branch in America has not been established for a long time. I estimate that according to their development speed, if they can develop such a successful game, they will be qualified. Listed on the entrepreneurial section of Japan’s stock exchange.”

"Soga, so it would be easier for us to acquire them than going through a lawsuit?"

"This?" Lindsay didn't expect Ronald's thinking to be like this. "There are many restrictions on the acquisition of American companies in Japan, but that is for listed companies. For such start-ups, there is no chance..."

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :