Chapter 132 A Big Net

  "Do you know how variety shows on TV stations are run?" Uncle Inoue asked.

  "Not very clear, you tell me." said Zhou Xiao.

  "In Japan, variety shows usually have two forms of purchase. One is where the TV station itself produces or buys the show and invites shallow hosts and guests. The main profit point in the middle, advertising, is also brought in by the TV station's people. Most golden time slot variety shows and even dramas are done through this method. Another way is for a production company, usually an integrated entertainment company, to buy a time slot and be responsible for its own profits and losses within that time slot. This method is most commonly seen in late-night TV programs."

  "So, we often see that the advertisements inserted in the middle of a TV program are from many different manufacturers, while the latter's advertisements are sometimes the same as the former, and are found by the program team itself. However, there is another type where the advertisement appears to be very single-minded, indicating that it was bought under a single theme and only plays during this time slot."

  Zhou Xiao nodded, he hadn't paid much attention to the fact that only a single unit's advertisements were played, but vaguely remembered that when watching AKB48's various programs in his previous life, sometimes there would be ads inserted in between, and most of them were AKB's album ads. It seemed that this situation belonged to the latter.

  "Of course, sometimes buying a program is not just for entertainment companies, some product manufacturers also buy them as promotional products," said Inoue Michi.

  At this point, Zhou Xiao nodded again, and there is a ready-made example of this, which is very famous in later generations and is quite fashionable. The co-rental program for multiple men and women, "Terrace House", which was also participated by Rie Kitahara from AKB48, was sponsored by Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

  "It seems that if we want to produce a program, we have to choose the latter way of buying time slots, but can we really attract advertisements?" Zhou Xiao asked.

  "It must be very difficult, the advertisements for late-night programs are not that popular to begin with. If we ask for too much money, the manufacturers won't agree, and if we ask for too little, there's no way to make a profit on our own, it can only become a simple promotional program for you. And if the ratings are too low, the scene will look very bad, even if the company can afford to pay for the time slot, the shortcomings in ratings will be magnified by the media and force us to give up the program. In short...if we don't do well, it'll be very tough." said Uncle Inoue.

  "To say that I now know a big factory and may be able to pull in an advertisement... there is indeed one... " Zhou Xiao said thoughtfully. The one he was referring to, of course, was Toshiba, which had done lighting advertisements for them.

  "Also, a company's singer can be used as an advertisement, like Being's." said Inoue-san.

  "Being? Makes sense. If I can really host a show in the future, I'll go find Mr. Zhang Houda to try my luck." Zhou Xiao nodded and said.

  "Mr. Zhou, what do you think about the debut of the Twelve Girls Band?" Zhang Yu asked beside him. He had been with these Chinese girls almost all the time recently, so he was also somewhat concerned.

  "There are some ideas. However, before they debut, it's necessary to do some proper promotion first, at least let them sell some on the day of their CD release." Zhou Xiao said.

  By the side of Du Jingzhi, Zhou Xiao nodded her head. Almost everything she had done before seemed to be a bit too much. Only in the Twelve Girls Band did she seem relatively down-to-earth.

  "How exactly should we promote it?" Zhang Yu asked.

  "I haven't thought of a specific plan yet, I just have an idea. If it's going to be implemented, it might have to wait until the TV show is confirmed. It would be better to do it together with the TV show, that way I can bring them along and use my popularity to pull them up." said Zhou Xiaodao.

  "It's a good idea. As long as the show is good." said Watanabe Keiko.

  "That's right, as long as the show is good." Zhou Xiao also nodded. In fact, everyone knows how difficult it is to produce a good show. Every season in Japan, countless shows are cut off, and maintaining a good reputation with extremely high ratings is extremely difficult.

  "By the way, I have a few songs here that you can take to the Twelve Girls' Band and let them practice." Zhou Xiao took out several sheets of paper with notes on them.

  "These are..." Zhang Yu took over and asked.

  "The top one is the song I'm going to collaborate with them on my album, and the ones behind are what I've prepared for their album. Ah, right, make a copy of the last four songs and give it to Uncle Inoue, Uncle Inoue please help contact the production company of these songs to purchase the altered copyright."

  Zhang Yu first saw was the first song prepared for cooperation with Twelve Girls Band: "Qing Hua Ci!? This song is......?"

  "That's right, this is a Chinese-style song using folk musical instruments," said Zhou Xiao.

  "Chinese style?"

  "Although I am strictly a Japanese now, I haven't forgotten about China. Apart from pursuing my own music and promoting the Twelve Girls Band, I also hope this song can make Japan's entertainment industry notice good Chinese music." Zhou Xiao nodded in agreement.

  "Alright, I'll teach you then. I'll definitely get it done for you!" As a Taiwanese person, he also wanted to let more people know about these arts, so hearing Zhou Xiao say this made him slightly excited and he quickly nodded in agreement.

  "Uncle Inoue, there's something else I wanted to ask you. I'm thinking of starting a blog and need investors or places with potential. Have you got any leads?" Zhou Xiao turned around and asked Inoue.

  "There are still a few, I've organized the specific information." Inoue handed over a stack of materials to Zhou Xiao.

  Zhou Xiao took it over and flipped through it casually, a hint of disappointment appearing on her face.

  "What's wrong?" Inoue asked.

  "There's nothing, it's just that there's a bit of a gap between what I thought and what actually is. So, Uncle Inoue, can you screen them out for me? List out all the information about these people, try to interview or visit the people around them, see their personalities, and finally find the ones with good personalities, who are tolerant, don't reject working under others, and are down-to-earth." Zhou Xiao said.

  "Is that all you need? What about their ideas for making websites?" Inoue asked, puzzled. All the things Zhou Xiao had just said were about what good qualities a person had, but he hadn't mentioned anything about the person's talent.

  "That's not important, now their so-called talents... in my opinion are of no use at all." Zhou Xiao said with a wave of the documents in his hand.

  "What?" Inoue was surprised at Zhou Xiao's words.

  "Don't worry, Uncle Inoue, just take care of it and don't look for someone who is easily jealous and thinks they can fly on their own when they grow up. When I find the right person, I'll tell them what to do." said Zhou Xiao.

  "Boss, you're so bold when doing things yourself, but when it comes to hiring people, you tend towards mature and steady ones?" Watanabe Keiko chimed in from the side with a joke.

  "That's natural, people need to complement each other. Since I'm this kind of person, I should find someone who isn't like me to balance out my overly radical temperament." Zhou Xiao said.

  Actually, Zhou Xiao's idea is very simple. As someone who has experienced over a decade of history, he knows that the things that truly last in the development of blogs are the ones that remain in the end. For example, in Japan, if we're talking about the two most popular types of blog websites, they would be Mixi and Ameba. The former focuses more on socializing, while the latter is more self-centered. However, Ameba has a special characteristic - the vast majority of popular artists' blogs are set up on Ameba. In Zhou Xiao's view, if he can persuade this group of artists to set up their own blogs on his soon-to-be-launched blog website outside of regular operations, then he would have succeeded by more than half.

  Among them, the four representatives of Ameba Hall are Uechi Hiroki, Nakagawa Shoko, Tsuji Nozomi and Wakatsuki Chinatsu. In 2001, Uechi Hiroki had just debuted as an actor, while Nakagawa Shoko and Wakatsuki Chinatsu were about to debut but were still small-time artists in the previous years. As for Tsuji Nozomi, she was still a newcomer in Morning Musume.

  To be successful in blogging, mastering the blogs set up by artists can account for half of the success. And to master the blogs set up by artists, mastering these four people is also equivalent to succeeding half!