Chapter 990: The name of Zhang Ye is worth a 150 million!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
A few days later.
The promotional video for King of Masked Singers was aired.
The premiere was scheduled for broadcast on Beijing Television on Saturday at 8 PM. When the promotional video was aired, it immediately took the Internet by storm. A lot of the viewers had their appetites whetted again!
"Take off your halo.
"Put on a mask.
"Return to the battlefield newborn.
"A gathering of the strong, no need for names. Fight a fair contest through music.
"A legend needs to be witnessed.
"Perfection can only be achieved through conquest.
"Set off a musical storm with your true power.
"King of Masked Singers.
"I'm coming!"
Impressive imagery!
A surge of visuals amid literature and art!
And then there were the lines that set people's pulses racing!
This promotional video that only lasted for around 40 seconds left everyone with a deep impression!
Widespread discussions started on Weibo.
"It's finally beginning!"
"Every show Zhang Ye produces makes people champ at the bit!"
"The promo was really blood pumping! Take off your halo and put on a mask? So who will appear on the show this time!"
"No one knows. Beijing TV hasn't revealed any names this whole time!"
"I heard that they'll all be A-list celebrities!"
"Are you serious?"
"Any celebrities in the A-list or above are the top names in the country. Will they really shed their identities and put on a mask to verse other competitors? Winning is deserved, but if they lose, that would be so embarrassing! And if they lose to some newbies in the music industry? Then it would look even worse for them!"
"That's why I'm looking forward to it!"
"Do you guys think there will be any movie stars joining?"
"Yes, of course! A lot of movie stars can also sing great!"
"Hahaha, they're crossing over to perform. That's what's most exciting about the show!"
"I really can't wait for this show to start!"
"I've been waiting for a month already! Hurry up and broadcast it!"
"The only regrettable thing is that Zhang Ye is not the host! This is his show, but he ended up getting banned. He couldn't involve himself as the host and executive director! How damned maddening!"
"Dong Shanshan is also pretty good."
"Yeah, I quite like Teacher Shanshan too."
Soon after, a list was published!
King of Masked Singers' crew:
Executive Director: Hu Fei.
Executive Producer: Zhang Ye.
Music Director: Bai Yuanfei.
House Band: Miracle Wheels.
Host: Dong Shanshan.
Guessing Panel Guest Judges: Chen Guang (famous domestic singer), Zhang Xia (famous songstress), Amy (member of popular idol group Spring Garden), Chen Yidong (famous variety host), Yao Jiancai (famous crosstalk comedian), Wang Zhuishu (famous lyricist and composer).
The list was revealed.
The viewers burst into an uproar!
They already knew about some of the people on the list, such as Zhang Ye being the executive producer and Dong Shanshan being the host. But they had never heard any news of most of the other names on the list!
Bai Yuanfei?
Chen Guang?
The Miracle Wheels?
These were all famous people from the music industry!
"Even the Miracle Wheels were invited?"
"How cool is that! They're one of the best bands in the country currently!"
"The music director is Bai Yuanfei?"
"Boss Bai received an overseas music achievement award just last year!"
"Yeah, it was for his work in the development of our country's music industry. A lot of it was to the credit of Boss Bai. He also has very high artistic standards. For him to come and take the role of music director for King of Masked Singers, the show's professionalism and degree of excellence will be elevated to another level!"
"Why did Chen Guang join as a guest judge?"
"Damn, I was hoping to see Old Chen wearing a mask!"
"Hahaha, Old Chen must be scared and unwilling to take the stage!"
"C'mon! In the music industry, among the male singers, how many people can compare with Old Chen? In terms of singing and popularity, Chen Guang is top-class. Would he even need to participate?"
"Grandma Zhang Xia will be there too!"
"Yeah, there's definitely a need for the presence of a bel canto singer!"
"I like Amy!"
"The one that surprises me most is Yao Jiancai. Hahahaha, Old Yao has actually come to do a TV show too. There's no doubt he did so because of Zhang Ye. It's not like anyone has been able to get him on their shows in the past. I adore Old Yao so much! The crosstalks he did with Zhang Ye were all perfect. They're the perfect duo that appears only once in a century! With him as a guest, the studio atmosphere would surely be enlivened. Hai, if only Zhang Ye could also be on the guessing panel as a guest judge too. That would make things even more wonderful!"
"They're all big names!"
"This guest lineup is so cool!"
"Wouldn't Beijing TV have spent a lot on this?"
"I don't know, but isn't that to be expected?"
"Has the title sponsorship been finalized yet? How much are they getting for it this time?"
Subsequently, just as the netizens were discussing this, news regarding the title sponsorship of King of Masked Singers was released. This announcement once again set everyone off talking!
After several rounds of bidding, the title sponsorship of the show was won by a very large, domestic beverage corporation! The exclusive title sponsorship fee: 150 million RMB!
"What?"
"How much?"
"Holy crap, 150 million yuan?"
"This is insane!"
"This, this has broken another record!"
"Heavens!"
"It's even more than The Voice?"
"The Voice only got only 100 million for the title sponsorship fee!"
This title sponsorship fee was really too frightening!
When the industry heard about this news, it also caused quite a sensation. Domestically, there had not been any variety shows that had ever sold a title sponsorship for such a terrifying figure. However, when they found out about the details, a lot of the industry insiders could only wryly smile without saying a word. They heard that in the bidding war for the title sponsorship of King of Masked Singers, it was a knock-down, drag-out fight with more than a dozen companies taking part at the beginning. They bidded until the end when the three remaining companies were unwilling to give up and nearly even came to blows!
How did it end up like this?
Why was it able to get such a high price?
Even the other variety shows had a lot of big names on their shows. Although the guest lineup could not be compared to the King of Masked Singers' guest lineup this time, they were still quite good. For example, a recent large-scale singing talent show broadcast on Dragon TV had a title sponsorship of merely 50 million RMB. And that was even with all of their invited guests being more popular than Dong Shanshan. But why was King of Masked Singers able to sell theirs for 150 million RMB? How could they do that?
Some people could not understand.
But some clearly understood.
It was probably because of one name.
Not the name of a guest.
Not the name of the host.
And not the name of a participating celebrity.
It was the name of Zhang Ye.
To many advertisers, Zhang Ye's name alone was worth the 150 million RMB! As long as Zhang Ye's name was in the executive producer's role in the crew, they would be willing to spend that much money!
Since Lecture Room started, Zhang Ye's path in the television industry officially began. Then, he moved on to make Zhang Ye's Talk Show, The Voice, and A Bite of China, proving on more than one occasion his production skills. He was currently regarded by everyone as the best producer in the industry!
The genre of show Zhang Ye worked with?
It didn't matter!
Who would be directing the show?
It didn't matter!
Who would be the host of the show?
It didn't matter!
As long as it was Zhang Ye who produced the show, that was all they needed!
Even a food documentary like A Bite of China that did not have a host could go on to top the nationwide viewership ratings. Moreover, it topped those nationwide viewership ratings over a dozen times in a row, so what else could be more important than him? Zhang Ye's name was the greatest guarantee! Having gone through the days of not being shown any interest when the idea for The Voice was hatched, and the low regard for A Bite of China before its broadcast, Zhang Ye had shattered people's expectations over and over again. He had now come to this point in time when no one would ever doubt his production skills. To put it plainly, even if this fellow produced a shit show, there would still be someone willing to pay for the title sponsorship and believe that the show would become popular. This was what you called star power.
Therefore, for them to have managed to secure this 150 million in title sponsorship money, other than the advertiser being optimistic about the show and their trust in the appointment of the celebrity guests, more of it was to the credit of Zhang Ye's name! As a show that had yet to be broadcast, it was getting hyped to a ridiculous extent and was being talked about nonstop by the viewers every single day. Together with Zhang Ye's name on it, there was almost no chance for the viewership ratings to do badly. The advertiser was not dumb. With such a channel publicizing their brands, they simply couldn't let such a good opportunity slip out of their hands without a fight. So the title sponsorship fee was naturally pushed even higher!
It had broken all records!
The record for the highest title sponsorship fee for a domestic variety show was once again broken!
Importantly, this was just the exclusive title sponsorship fee. There were still many remaining advertisement spots, so with everything added together, it might even cross 300 million RMB in total. And this was not yet taking into account the exclusive online broadcast rights fee!
...
After the announcements.
At an industry dinner party.
"Did you hear about the title sponsorship fee for King of Masked Singers?"
"Yes, I did."
"It's insane!"
"This is a good thing. Zhang Ye has broken the record for the title sponsorship fee once again. With the standard raised, it will only get better for future shows, since the general title sponsorship fees across the industry should raise as well."
"Old Li, you're overthinking things."
"Ah?"
"No matter how many times the record is broken for the highest title sponsorship fee, it's got nothing to do with us."
"That's right. A show that our station just made went to lobby for title sponsors with heaps of confidence, but was only offered 10 million RMB in the end. The title sponsors even reeled off a long list of conditions."
"Yeah, it's the same for us too."
"Ai, it's not easy at all."
"Just look at King of Masked Singers. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of them!"
"There's no point in being jealous. There's only one Zhang Ye around. No one else's gonna get the same treatment as him!"