The exclusive purchase price of 50 million Yuan was undoubtedly a high price for a television series, and many factors enabled iPartment to be sold at such a high price.
First of all, a slice-of-life comedy was not quick to explode. There were too few people who could make a good television series of that kind. It was reasonable to say that the quality of one or two episodes alone would have cemented its status for reaching the peak. Moreover, the discussions at that moment were trending and the prospects were great!
Of course, it was also a bit of a gamble—they were betting that iPartment’s quality would not decline.
Another point involved the bidding. Since the three major online video companies bid at the same time, it could easily lead to exorbitant prices.
50 million could be said to be the current highest price, but Ye Lingchen still refused.
Many people were secretly anxious and there was no turning back after crossing that line.
It must be borne in mind that the total cost of iPartment was less than 20 million! With that sum of money alone, another 30 million was earned! After adding in the advertising costs as well as the costs paid by the status for special advertisements and an exclusive license, the profits were absolutely stunning.
The net profit might even exceed 50 million! What kind of logic was that?
All else aside, using For My Love as an example, their actors and production costs were more than twice as high as that of iPartment, but selling it for 50 million with the inclusion of the sum of all their expenses was already very good. They should start burning the incense if they could get a net profit of 10 million!
It was indeed very frightening that only one or two episodes could set such a high price record. Xiao Feifei’s new company could be considered to have obtained victory in their first battle.
The people at Banana TV were also shocked.
‘Crazy!’
‘Tencent Video is crazy!’
‘The crew of iPartment is crazy!’
‘Xiao Feifei is crazy!’
‘Actor Y is crazy too!’
Tencent Video offered such a sky-high price but was rejected. Everyone was nuts and no one dared to believe it.
In fact, that news had already come to light.
Since they were bidding, it was only natural that more than one party knew the price. One of the companies leaked news about the bidding and their motives for doing so were unknown!
One stone set off a thousand waves!
[Motherf*cker! This world is crazy!]
[Surely, you’re telling me about a fantasy story, right?]
[Several major online video companies vied for iPartment, but Tencent Video was turned down when they named a price of fifty million? Hehe, I feel like my brain has degenerated.]
[Tencent has deep pockets and they’re rich, but this will ruin them!]
[Is iPartment worth the price?]
[Only two episodes have been broadcasted and they’re already brave enough to spend so much money on them? Am I nuts or has the whole world gone mental? This is too risky!]
[The issue here is that iPartment rejected! What’s the meaning of this?]
[Arrogant, iPartment is arrogant! They lost themselves! Muahahaha, I bet they’ll definitely regret it!]
[The ratings will be calculated tomorrow. If iPartment’s ratings aren’t good, it definitely can’t be sold for fifty million! How stupid can they be not to take the money when it was handed to them?]
[Upstairs, did you not watch iPartment? I’m not trying to attack you, but the ratings of iPartment are likely going to explode. If it breaks all laws, then by the time tomorrow comes, there will probably be more competitors who’d want to buy and it might even exceed 50 million. Tencent Video was going to bet on iPartment, but I think iPartment refused because they were very confident!]
[Damn, I can no longer fathom this world!]
[Yeah, I can’t understand it either. This is crazy!]
[It’s too easy to make money. Even the wind doesn’t come as fast!]
[What’s a genius? Actor Y is a genius. Being an actor, making a movie, making a TV series. Pick any one, and the achievement he creates is one that others have to spend their entire lives looking up to. Curious to know how dark of a shadow he’s cast on the hearts of those in the same profession.]
…
The people were shocked.
The industry was equally in an uproar!
The television dramas released during the same period were eclipsed at that moment. Even For My Love, which had been clamoring with iPartment earlier, buried its head in the ground like an ostrich. Under those circumstances, they did not even dare to let out a fart.
Durian TV convulsed in regret. They watched as their source of wealth disappeared and became a laughing stock in the eyes of the public. They were the ones who rejected iPartment, and it generated a lot of discussion on the Internet.
At the set of iPartment.
Xiao Feifei looked at Ye Lingchen. “Lingchen, isn’t fifty million high enough? ”
Ye Lingchen smiled and said, “It’s not bad. ”
“Then why didn’t you sell it?”
Xiao Feifei asked curiously. She did not mean to complain at all since she would go along with Ye Lingchen’s decision, but she just wanted to hear Ye Lingchen’s thoughts.
Ye Lingchen looked at everyone, then said, “According to the quality of iPartment in the later episodes, that fifty million will definitely still be there. Even if I refuse this time, there will always be someone willing to buy at a higher price next time. I’d like to try and see if we can hit a higher price since this is a sure profit and we won’t be on the losing end.”
Most importantly, he was not in a hurry to make that sum of money, which was why he could sit calmly and dangle the lure.
Everyone nodded when they heard what he had to say. Young Master Ye was really shrewd.
“If our ratings are very high, it’s very likely that the price will rise!” Li Tai continued.
Everyone’s eyes lit up and they could not help but look forward to the ratings.
Banana TV was not popular among many other television stations. There were too few good works, and their ratings had always been the bottom of all other stations. Although they did improve recently, they were merely able to maintain around 0.6% viewership. In fact, before iPartment’s broadcast, even the crew estimated its viewership rate to reach only about 0.8%.
Many observers who were not too optimistic about the show predicted that the ratings will be less than 0.5%.
How much would it turn out to be?
How much more could it be?
Ye Lingchen had no idea, and neither did Xiao Feifei nor everyone else. All they could do was wait for the statistics from the television station.
The next day.
At eight o’clock in the morning, a cool breeze brushed past everyone’s face and immediately dispelled the sleepiness of pedestrians on the road.
After finishing his morning exercise with Little Gray, Little Green, and Old Turtle, Ye Lingchen headed over to Xiao Feifei’s company.
There were very few staff in the company that day, and the crew of iPartment had two days off.
The holiday was specially approved, as they had been busy for so long without even having one rest day. Once filming was over, they had to be accorded a recuperation period for them to rest. Work and rest went hand-in-hand. No one was able to withstand Ye Lingchen’s high-intensity mode of work without having some rest, and without it, the efficiency of future productions would inevitably be affected.
Besides, iPartment was successfully wrapped up and the results were gratifying. Therefore, it was only right that they received some reward.
Though the crew took their leave, Xiao Feifei did not. She sat in the office and made a few calls from time to time, with nervousness strewn all over her pretty face.
A smile appeared on her lips when she saw Ye Lingchen. “You’re very early, Lingchen. ”
“The ratings aren’t out yet?” Ye Lingchen asked.
“Not yet.” Xiao Fei Fei shook her head. “The ratings of several major TV dramas are currently not out yet. Banana TV is trying to speed up the process.”
“Relax, it won’t be that bad.”
“I’m just worried that our reputation before the release will affect the ratings.” Xiao Feifei frowned slightly.
Many people did not have high hopes for iPartment in the past. Although the people who watched it last night would give it high praise, one of their fears was the possibility that many other people did not even watch it to begin with. If that happened, then the ratings wouldn’t be that high.
“The previous ratings don’t mean anything. Even if they weren’t high last night, the follow-up ratings will definitely get higher and higher.” Ye Lingchen sat down calmly and waited for the announcement of the ratings…
