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Since the turn of the century, China's film and television industry has developed at a breakneck pace, growing into a massive industrial ecosystem.
By 2014, the combined output of domestically produced and co-produced TV dramas had exceeded 20,000 episodes, making China the largest producer in the world. The level of competition in the market was intense, far beyond what most people could imagine.
Whether TV stations were producing their own shows or buying them, the business model revolved around selling advertising slots during the opening and closing credits, as well as mid-rolls. Therefore, TV ratings became the most important metric to determine the value of these ads, and ratings surveys became a critical industry process.
In the earlier days of booming television ad revenue, China once had more than a dozen TV ratings research agencies. But due to the lack of standardized metrics, and widespread black-box operations and under-the-table deals, the system was chaotic and unreliable.
Some companies, without any official accreditation, had the nerve to openly release ratings charts.
This disarray eventually forced government intervention. A new agency, New Vision Company, was formed under the leadership of a central government body, working with related departments. With the backing of a powerful platform, it became the sole authority responsible for television ratings surveys.
Today, New Vision Company is the only state-owned third-party agency in the country. Its data serves as the gold standard for the domestic television industry, authoritative and trustworthy beyond question.
'Autumn in My Heart' had premiered simultaneously on Haijin Satellite TV and WeChat Video. The first episode racked up 1.4 million+ views on WeChat Video, which was a far cry from the 7 million+ views achieved by WeChat's self-produced drama 'Sweetheart CEO'.
But in the professional showbiz world, this comparison carried very little weight.
Why? Simple, WeChat Video was the platform owner. If it wanted, it could inflate the view count to 70 million instead of 7 million, and no one would bat an eye.
Even among the more reputable streaming platforms, padding numbers for self-produced content was still common practice.
If a low-cost acquired drama were to outperform a high-budget original, that would be a PR disaster!
So yes, view counts could be used as a reference, but they were never to be taken at face value.
Neither Chen Fei'er, Lu Chen, nor Qiande Brothers Film took those numbers too seriously.
After all, the streaming rights had already been sold. Whether the drama pulled in millions or tanked wouldn't change how much the creators earned from WeChat Video. There was no revenue-sharing or profit guarantee agreement in place; no matter how high the views climbed, they wouldn't earn a penny more.
That said, the results would influence negotiations for the next project.
But the viewership stats from New Vision Company? Now that was a different story entirely. These numbers had a major impact across the board and were directly tied to the interests of everyone involved.
0.22%!
Since Lu Chen had decided to venture into the TV industry and chose 'Autumn in My Heart' as his launchpad, he had done extensive research into what TV ratings actually meant. He had read up on the topic thoroughly.
Generally speaking, for a new drama without A-list stars or a massive promotional budget, if the premiere scored 0.1%, it was already considered a success, a sign that the show had potential and the right to continue.
For 'Autumn in My Heart', Chen Fei'er was the only big name attached. But her reputation alone saved the show a huge amount in marketing expenses.
Still, she was a Heavenly Queen of the music world, not a Film Queen. Though she had a massive following online, her draw on traditional TV screens was understandably weaker.
That's why, back when negotiations were underway with Beijing TV and Zhedong TV, both offered low licensing fees for 'Autumn in My Heart'.
In their view, a newcomer's drama airing on a major network was already fortunate. How much more could they ask for?
Even Haijin Satellite TV, which eventually signed the deal, offered a low per-episode rate, though they added a performance-based bonus clause.
And that clause? The benchmark reward trigger was set at a national average viewership of 0.25%.
To put it bluntly, Haijin TV never believed 'Autumn in My Heart' could hit that number.
Qiande Brothers Film didn't expect it either. Internally, their estimates for the show's premiere rating ranged from 0.15% to 0.18%, and if the 20-episode series could average 0.18% to 0.20%, that would already be considered a win.
But the just-released premiere rating? It exceeded almost everyone's expectations.
According to New Vision Company's latest report, 'Autumn in My Heart' achieved a 0.22% rating, ranking 6th among similar TV dramas and 11th among all domestic dramas aired that day.
That was a remarkable result!
Lu Chen was, of course, overjoyed, pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
To be honest, he had been under a lot of pressure lately.
This drama had been a major undertaking for him, requiring immense effort and risk, and was meant to be his first serious step into the television industry. If it had flopped, it would've been a crushing blow.
Lu Chen wasn't afraid of failure, he was young and had the resilience to bounce back, but he really didn't want to become a laughingstock.
Unfortunately, this was only the first episode's rating, and Chen Fei'er wouldn't appear until episode 3. Otherwise, they could've used the numbers to slap Jing Yao in the face,
Who cares about view counts? Let's compare real ratings!
In the entertainment industry, when judging a celebrity's tier or status, two things mattered most: box office numbers for films and TV ratings.
Streaming views? That's a joke.
Seeing Lu Chen's joyful expression, Chen Fei'er couldn't resist splashing some cold water: "Don't get too happy just yet, let's talk again after next week."
'Autumn in My Heart' hadn't spent much on early promotion, but the results were still solid. In particular, Haijin Satellite TV's "Love Song Cover Show" promotion on the blogosphere had been a massive success, attracting huge attention.
So it wasn't surprising that the first two episodes pulled decent ratings, viewers' curiosity had already been piqued. Whether or not the show was truly great, most people would still tune in just to check it out.
After the first two episodes, the real test would come the following week when episodes three and four aired, that's when the true viewership ratings would start to show.
Lu Chen understood this well and nodded in acknowledgment.
The next day, December 13th, episode two of 'Autumn in My Heart' aired on Haijin Satellite TV, with a simultaneous release on WeChat Video.
By midday on the 14th, the New Vision Company website updated its homepage rankings once again.
'Autumn in My Heart' suddenly jumped to #3 among all similar TV dramas, with a viewership rating of 0.26%!
As of 12 p.m., the total on-demand views on WeChat Video had reached 8 million+. While it was still far behind 'Sweetheart CEO''s 20 million+, the gap had noticeably narrowed.
This result left many people surprised, shocked, jealous, even in disbelief!
Capital City, New Era Art Park.
In an office within the film and TV production department of Baolong Pictures, Deputy Manager Zhu Minghe sat in front of a computer screen.
His expression shifted constantly, cloudy one moment, dark the next.
Onscreen were red-colored figures, blindingly vivid:
'Autumn in My Heart': 0.26% / 0.24% / 003 / 009
These were the official viewership statistics from New Vision Company:
First: Latest rating
Second: Average rating
Third: Rank among similar genres
Fourth: Rank among all domestic dramas
To put it simply, this show was performing extremely well!
But Zhu Minghe's mood was terrible.
He remembered very clearly how Lu Chen had once approached him with this very script, and how he had turned him down.
Rejecting a script was routine business for him. Lu Chen's demands were too high, and Zhu had rejected him confidently and justifiably. No one could say he did the wrong thing.
Lu Chen had offered the script on the condition that he'd invest, star as the male lead, and hand-pick the female lead and director.
Who in their right mind would agree to that?
But what Zhu never expected was that the female lead Lu Chen wanted was actually Chen Fei'er.
That changed everything. He suddenly felt that he might have been too dismissive, that perhaps if he had been more open to discussion, Baolong Pictures might've picked up this series.
He tried to console himself by thinking: Even with Chen Fei'er as the lead, this urban melodrama doesn't really have broad market appeal. Ratings are unpredictable, and the investment risk is high.
He even said as much to his colleagues.
And then, he moved on, or so he thought.
But 'Autumn in My Heart' kept stubbornly appearing in his line of sight.
It was one of the top trending topics on Langchao Blog, its theme song "Your Eyes" was blowing up, and the Love Song Cover Show campaign was everywhere…
It became impossible to ignore.
And so, feeling anxious and conflicted, Zhu began to track the show's performance.
Episode 1: 0.22%. Episode 2: 0.26%!
These numbers left Zhu completely speechless, his face burning with shame.
He really didn't want to admit it, but his professional instincts told him that 'Autumn in My Heart' was very likely to be a hit.
What truly stood out was the 0.04% increase from episode one to two.
It might seem minor, but even a 0.04% bump in ratings meant a lot; it showed that the show had successfully retained a large portion of its audience, keeping them hooked. That was a strong signal of a show going viral.
Otherwise, for a brand-new drama, a drop in viewership by the second episode was the norm.
What made Zhu's heart skip a beat was the fact that neither of the true leads had even appeared yet. The show's biggest draw, Heavenly Queen of the music world, Chen Fei'er, wasn't set to appear until episode three.
And he knew all too well: if nothing unexpected happened, episode three's ratings would rise again.
It might even break past 0.3%!
At this thought, Zhu couldn't help but feel agitated.
He loosened his necktie, gritted his teeth, and closed the New Vision website.
Out of sight, out of mind!
But just a few minutes later, he couldn't resist anymore. He opened his browser again.
This time, though, he didn't go to the New Vision site. Instead, he typed in the WeChat Video homepage.
Since he knew 'Autumn in My Heart' was also streaming there, Zhu wanted to check out viewer comments, hoping to predict the show's future performance based on audience feedback.
But what Zhu had forgotten at that moment was, ever since he'd rejected Lu Chen's proposal, this drama no longer had anything to do with him.
He really had no reason to care this much.
And yet…
He was obsessed.
(End of Chapter)