Chapter 361 - 358: Poaching Her

Chapter 361: Chapter 358: Poaching Her

The next day at noon, amidst great anticipation, the first episode of Slam Dunk was released on time on D Station.

Countless netizens who had been waiting eagerly watched it the moment it came out. The number of concurrent viewers surpassed 200,000 in a very short time and was still growing at a terrifying rate.

Jiang Xia was in the Slam Dunk project team’s office next door. Seeing the massive influx of traffic, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, after the first episode, heated debates with mixed opinions about Slam Dunk erupted online.

Many people felt that compared to the excellence of Cat and Mouse, Slam Dunk didn’t seem to warrant such a massive promotional campaign. It felt like a lot of hype for a disappointing result.

In response to these comments, Jiang Xia just smiled faintly and told the main creative team not to worry about the online noise and to focus on producing the anime.

After all, it was only the first episode, which had just introduced a few characters. For an anime about basketball, the early plot was bound to be relatively mild and slow-paced. But as the story progressed, a hot-blooded passion would surge through the viewers, rushing straight to their heads.

He believed that by then, public opinion online would be completely different.

At the current pace of one episode per week, the first small climax would arrive in about a month. The moment Sakuragi Hanamichi joined the team—everyone would surely be thrilled.

Casting aside his distracting thoughts, Jiang Xia focused on drawing the storyboards for Slam Dunk, but his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the screen—it was a call from Zhou Lu of Yu Du TV Station.

Jiang Xia put down his pencil and leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting to the cars driving on the street outside as he relaxed completely.

"Well, Chief Zhou, long time no see."

"I’m surprised a man as busy as President Jiang still remembers little old me," Zhou Lu’s light laugh came through the phone.

"Haha, please don’t say that, Chief Zhou. I’ll always remember the great favor you did for me."

"It was hardly a great favor. True talent will always shine, and besides, Cat and Mouse was a genuine masterpiece from the start."

"But it still needed someone with a keen eye to discover it, no?"

After exchanging a few more compliments, Jiang Xia asked with a smile, "I heard you were promoted to Deputy Chief Editor of Yu Du TV Station, Chief Zhou? Congratulations."

"Oh, no. My qualifications are still too thin. It’s not my turn for the Deputy Chief Editor position yet," Zhou Lu said with a wry smile. "It’s just that, thanks to Cat and Mouse last year, the children’s channel took first place in the station’s ratings. So, they made me the channel’s Chief Editor. The pay is a bit better, at least."

Chief Editor and Editor-in-Chief. The titles sound similar, but the difference between them was immense.

"Haha, you have a long career ahead of you. I believe that with your abilities, Chief Zhou, climbing to the position of the station’s Editor-in-Chief is only a matter of time."

"President Jiang, you’re just joking with me. It’s so difficult," Zhou Lu sighed softly.

’That position didn’t just require extensive experience; it also required connections. At Yu Du TV Station, she was still just a minor figure.’

’After graduating from university, she had fought tooth and nail to get into Yu Du TV Station. She started from the very bottom as a copy editor and worked diligently for seven or eight years just to climb to her current position. And even that was only possible because she’d gotten lucky and signed the massive hit, Cat and Mouse.’

’Otherwise, she’d probably still be a lowly editor.’

"Chief Zhou, did you call for a specific reason?" Jiang Xia asked.

"First, I wanted to congratulate you, President Jiang. D Station’s traffic exploded the moment it launched. Daily active users in the hundreds of thousands, even millions... it’s truly enviable," Zhou Lu said with emotion.

"Haha, you’re flattering me, Chief Zhou. Dili Dili is just a small-fry video website. It’s nothing compared to the massive audience a TV station has," Jiang Xia said humbly.

"I don’t think that’s true, President Jiang. D Station has just launched and it’s already pulling these kinds of absurd numbers. The daily active users will only get more terrifying in the future. I’m afraid you’re not going to leave us TV stations any room to breathe," Zhou Lu chuckled.

In fact, she wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest.

While the television audience for Cat and Mouse consisted mainly of elementary school-aged children and younger, now that the show was streaming for free on D Station, many episodes had surpassed half a million views in less than a day.

It was no exaggeration to say that any TV station that had purchased the broadcasting rights for Cat and Mouse from Qitian Animation Company had just been precisely and painfully backstabbed. If this continued, the impact on them would only grow.

But the copyright belonged to his company, and now that they were streaming it on their own platform, there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Jiang Xia chuckled, not denying her point. ’Isn’t the whole reason I created D Station to keep a firm grip on the distribution of my own animation?’

’In a few more years, with the rapid development of the information age, the nationwide rollout of the 4G network, and the widespread adoption of smartphones and computers, the importance of online platforms will far surpass that of traditional television stations.’

’In the future, when everyone has a smartphone, who’s going to watch pathetic old television anymore?’

As someone who had been reborn, Jiang Xia was keenly aware of this fact.

’A phenomenal hit could easily rack up over ten million views in a single day. A TV station could never hope to compete with that kind of insane traffic.’

’In other words, the era of television was already over. With the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, TV ratings would plummet even further.’

"Chief Zhou, we’re old friends. Just say what’s on your mind," Jiang Xia said bluntly.

"You’re a straightforward man, President Jiang, so I’ll be direct as well." Zhou Lu took a deep breath. "President Jiang, would you consider giving the broadcasting rights for Slam Dunk to Yu Du TV Station?"

The two of them had discussed this before. At the time, the station had decided that since Slam Dunk only released one episode a week, there was no need to purchase the broadcasting rights. But now, seeing that Slam Dunk was also on the verge of blowing up, they wanted a piece of the pie.

"Chief Zhou, is this your idea, or is it Yu Du TV Station’s?" Jiang Xia asked, his voice neutral.

"Er... the station’s," Zhou Lu admitted, her tone tinged with resignation.

"Understood," Jiang Xia said, then rejected her bluntly. "Frankly, that’s impossible."

"No room for negotiation? The station is willing to make a very high offer."

"None." Jiang Xia pursed his lips, determined to extinguish any hope she had. "Chief Zhou, I’m already streaming it for free. Do you really think I care about that little bit of money?"

Jiang Xia’s goal was simple: use Cat and Mouse and Slam Dunk to promote D Station. Trying to implement a paid subscription model now would be suicide. It was far better to build a name for the platform first and increase the value of the IP.

Zhou Lu fell silent. She had absolutely no idea how to respond to that.

"Chief Zhou, I wonder if I could offer you a piece of advice?"

"Please, President Jiang," she said.

"In a few years, traditional television will slowly be phased out of the market. It will be replaced by internet-connected smart TVs, smartphones, and portable tablets. You probably can’t even imagine what that will be like."

Jiang Xia took a shallow breath and said, word by word, "People will be able to satisfy most of their daily needs with a single phone. In other words, very few people will be left sitting in front of a TV."

"Chief Zhou, if you still have any ambition left, you might want to consider a career change."