Friday (with the Stars) was not affected back then, since the audience watched that show first. With the episode coming to an end, the audience would definitely finish watching it.
Moreover, many people did not have high expectations for Lu Man’s episode back then, even going so far as to watch The Performer first.
Classic X Files then tried the “secret guest” ace card, and after word-of-mouth through the Net, stole the audience from The Performer.
Another point to note was that Friday (with the Stars) was actually scheduled to broadcast at 9 pm, but to make way for The Performer, the station had shifted the broadcast timing for Friday (with the Stars) forward.
This showed the high hopes the broadcasting station had had for The Performer.
Then The Performer stopped airing and underwent changes.
But in reality, the primetime slot on Friday was 9 pm, not 8 pm, since the weekends came after Friday.
Everyone was tired after working for five days. They were banking on going out for relaxation on a Friday night. No one wanted to go home that early.
8 pm was when the party started—when people went out for dinner with friends, went to the movies, went clubbing, and such.
Hence, there were not many youngsters going home at 8 pm to watch television.
Thus, the production team of Friday (with the Stars) was especially upset and had a falling out with the production team of The Performer.
The diss against The Performer never stopped behind the scenes.
So, when The Performer flopped and stopped broadcasting, the production team of Friday (with the Stars) was the happiest apart from Lu Man and her gang.
Now that The Performer was no longer airing, the primetime slot should not be left empty, should it?
And so, Friday (with the Stars) got shifted back to its original timeslot.
But because Friday (with the Stars) could be considered Xing Ke Station’s evergreen program, with its viewership ratings relatively consistent, even if they did have to compete with Classic X Files, they would not lose out.
“That’s not surprising. Xing Ke Station’s too used to getting their way, and after what I did, they felt that they lost face, so they’d definitely find some way to gain it back,” Lu Man said.
Lu Dongliu was not worried this time. Not only did they have Lu Man, they even had Wang Juhuai, that major secret weapon!
He said super confidently, “Ha, doesn’t matter how this Xing Ke Station creates noise. The Performer flopped before. Now, let’s make their evergreen show flop as well! With Mr. Wang, we have nothing to fear!”
Lu Man: “…”
Director Lu, aren’t you a little too confident!
“Alright, I just wanted to warn you in advance. Since the broadcasting time for Friday (with the Stars) is clashing with Classic X Files, you better be mentally prepared,” Lu Dongliu explained.
“Alright.” Lu Man nodded.
***
Meanwhile, over at Xing Ke Station, Ge Guangzhen heard that it was Chief Hu who personally gave the order and Assistant Chief Wang who invited Liang Chengbing face-to-face to ask him to attend Friday (with the Stars).
It was perfect that Liang Chengbing was holding grudges against Lu Man and Lu Dongliu. When he heard it was to compete for viewership ratings against Classic X Files, he accepted readily.
Ge Guangzhen knew the leader of the broadcasting station was harboring anger.
When they lost so terribly to Lu Man previously, it was a huge slap to their face and made them lose dignity.
The Performer, while fully supported by Xing Ke Station, flopped so badly. How could Xing Ke Station still take things peacefully?
Chief Hu was so furious that not only did he give Ge Guangzhen a good reprimand, he also remembered Lu Man.
Ge Guangzhen did tell Chief Hu before to stop antagonizing Lu Man.
She might not be as powerful as Xing Ke Station, but she was too adept at the public relations game.
