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Xiangnan Satellite TV reigns supreme among all local satellite stations, and its success is no fluke. It is also the most marketing-savvy television station in the country. Every major program or TV drama they broadcast is backed by a massive promotional campaign before airing, aimed at firmly capturing public attention.
Such investments in publicity have translated into ratings far surpassing competitors and generated astonishing advertising revenues.
This forms a positive feedback loop that makes Xiangnan Satellite TV's position in the industry nearly unshakable. Their mastery of marketing strategies has become an industry benchmark.
As the flagship drama kicking off 2016, Xiangnan Satellite TV naturally poured a huge amount of promotional funds into "'Soaring Heart'", stirring up hype online half a month before it even aired.
Especially on Langchao Blog, many online influencers and big-name bloggers were fanning the flames for 'Soaring Heart'. However, the dark horse "'Autumn in My Heart'" suddenly emerged mid-race, inevitably drawing wary eyes.
As a result, blogs began to surface that openly praised 'Soaring Heart' while subtly belittling 'Autumn in My Heart'. So-called market analysts even claimed that the rise of 'Autumn in My Heart' was merely due to a lull in major TV dramas at the end of 2015, like a monkey proclaiming itself king in the absence of a tiger.
'Autumn in My Heart' would surely be exposed for what it really was once it clashed with 'Soaring Heart'! This kind of rhetoric gained traction and even sparked arguments among fanbases.
However, when the latest TV ratings chart came out, every one of those doomsaying predictions became a joke. Those who confidently claimed that this drama's viewership would drop got metaphorically slapped in the face, hard.
On the evening of January 3rd, 2016, the 8th episode of 'Autumn in My Heart' aired.
The next day, the updated ratings chart showed 'Autumn in My Heart' at 1.21%, firmly seated at the top of the viewership rankings!
At that point, all the skeptical voices online vanished completely. No one could deny anymore that 'Autumn in My Heart' had become a breakout hit, with the potential to reach phenomenal, even culture-shaking popularity.
That same day, the 3rd episode of 'Soaring Heart' registered a rating of 0.54%, down 0.03% from the previous episode! The internet marketers, the so-called analysts, even Xiangnan Satellite TV itself, fell completely silent.
The film and television industry is relentlessly harsh. It's not about how deep your pockets are or how many superstars you've hired. Spending billions doesn't guarantee a hit movie or drama. It's not unthinkable for a low-budget production to upset a high-budget blockbuster.
Of course, in most cases, high-budget dramas do crush their low-budget counterparts.
But 'Autumn in My Heart', with an investment and promotional budget barely one-tenth that of 'Soaring Heart', was undoubtedly a bona fide miracle!
Once that week's ratings were released, a new superstition began circulating in the blogosphere: Lu Chen is Xiangnan Satellite TV's nemesis.
Their feud could be traced back to when Lu Chen first debuted, and Xiangnan's show "Strongest Singer" deliberately excluded him. As a result, Lu Chen joined "Singing China", causing Xiangnan to lose serious face.
Back then, Singing China had higher ratings than Strongest Singer.
Now, Xiangnan's major drama of the year went head-to-head with Lu Chen's self-written and self-starred 'Autumn in My Heart', only to get thoroughly outclassed and beaten down, it was downright humiliating.
Though this superstition carried a touch of malice, it wasn't far from the truth.
Meanwhile, on another battleground tied to TV drama popularity, WeChat Video, 'Autumn in My Heart' also scored a complete victory.
The drama was being simulcast on Haijin Satellite TV and WeChat Video.
This synchronized TV-and-online release is a common strategy for modern dramas. Although online streaming often reduces TV ratings to some extent, it's an inevitable consequence.
With the rise of the internet age, more and more young people are abandoning traditional television in favor of getting their information and entertainment via computers and mobile devices. This enormous market is impossible for any capital player to ignore.
Selling 'Autumn in My Heart''s streaming rights to WeChat Video was a strategic decision:
--On one hand, it recouped funds quickly.
--On the other, it captured a larger share of the market and increased its influence.
Had the show aired exclusively on TV, it never could have reached such levels of popularity. Also, piracy in the online drama space is notoriously rampant. While movies generally avoid piracy during their theater run, TV dramas are a disaster zone.
That's why more and more dramas are now opting for simultaneous online releases, to minimize losses and maximize exposure. On WeChat Video, 'Autumn in My Heart''s direct competitor was their in-house original production: "'Sweetheart CEO'".
'Sweetheart CEO' had a much larger investment budget than 'Autumn in My Heart'.
And being WeChat Video's "biological son," it obviously received far more favorable treatment and disproportionate resource allocation than the "adopted" 'Autumn in My Heart'.
At first, 'Sweetheart CEO''s play counts were firmly ahead of 'Autumn in My Heart'.
However, as the latter began heating up on TV screens, the situation rapidly shifted.
'Autumn in My Heart''s play counts skyrocketed, quickly catching up with the now-declining 'Sweetheart CEO'.
This put WeChat Video in a very awkward position; they had to resort to "technical measures" to try to regulate the competition between the two.
But Netizens Aren't Fools, And Streaming Viewers Even Less So
'Sweetheart CEO' was ruthlessly criticized until nothing was left untouched. On WeChat Video, its rating actually dropped below 5, while 'Autumn in My Heart' continued to hover around 9.
Compared to traditional television, the greatest strength of video streaming platforms is interactivity. Netizens actively comment on web dramas, especially those they like. These discussions often explode online, leading to the formation of strong fan communities.
The fanbase of 'Autumn in My Heart' was expanding like a rolling snowball.
They didn't need cold, hard data to judge whether a TV drama was good or bad; their feelings were enough.
So when they saw the highly-praised 'Autumn in My Heart' being pushed below the rankings by the reviled 'Sweetheart CEO', countless viewers were outraged. They flooded the comment sections, fiercely criticizing WeChat Video for its shamelessness.
"WeChat Video is ridiculous! The difference was only ten million views, and after one night it suddenly surged past a hundred million!"
"'Sweetheart CEO' is trash! WeChat Video is shameless!"
"Sisters, let's rally behind 'Autumn in My Heart'! Victory is ours!"
"Heh, why am I not surprised at all? Because this is just so typical."
"All I'll say is this: I hope Lu Chen doesn't release his next work on WeChat Video!"
"Yeah, let WeChat Video play with itself, go ahead and fake a billion view count!"
Besides cursing WeChat Video, the fans also shared their thoughts on the show.
Many of them admitted to watching while crying and cursing at the same time. The emotional rollercoaster of the plot made them feel miserable, but like they were under a spell, they couldn't stop watching. They couldn't bear to let go.
Female viewers, in particular, made up a huge portion of the fanbase.
They emotionally immersed themselves as Enxi, fell deeply in love with Junxi, were moved by Taixi's unwavering devotion, and felt a mix of love and hate for Xin'ai, gritting their teeth in frustration. Their emotions were completely at the mercy of the story.
Some thought the love quadrangle at the heart of the plot was clichéd and overly dramatic, and couldn't understand why the ratings were so high. But that's just how audience taste works, once something connects emotionally, logic no longer matters.
And most importantly, the main cast gave outstanding performances.
Chen Fei'er's portrayal of Yin Enxi won over a huge number of male and female fans. Even if her acting wasn't the absolute best, her appearance and presence were near perfect.
Lu Chen's role as Yin Junxi had no flaws in either appearance or acting. Just the surge in his fan count on Langchao Blog was enough to show how popular he had become.
Zhang Liwei, Hu Yang, Zhang Junzhi, and Ye Mingmei also became household names overnight!
Faced with such momentum, even WeChat Video couldn't hold out under the pressure.
Bombarded by furious 'Autumn in My Heart' fans, they had no choice but to give up suppressing the show.
After all, if they offended Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er too much, how could they expect to collaborate again in the future? Rumor had it that YouVision Video, who missed out on acquiring the show, regretted it so badly their guts turned green, and they were secretly hoping WeChat Video would shoot itself in the foot.
In fact, the explosive success of 'Autumn in My Heart' was still a net positive for WeChat Video, it was just that their ego took a hit.
But now, even WeChat had to bow before 'Autumn in My Heart'.
Without any further tampering from the platform, 'Autumn in My Heart''s momentum became truly unstoppable. Because online dramas can be re-watched indefinitely during the contract period, its view count rapidly overtook 'Sweetheart CEO'.
By January 4th, 'Autumn in My Heart''s total view count surpassed 500 million, overtaking 'Sweetheart CEO' by nearly 100 million!
This stat was gleefully thrown by Chen Fei'er's fans into the blog of Jing Yao, the lead actress of 'Sweetheart CEO', as mockery fuel. Jing Yao had previously subtly insulted Chen Fei'er's acting skills in an interview, claiming that 'Sweetheart CEO' would crush 'Autumn in My Heart'.
Now her face had been thoroughly slapped and she didn't dare make a sound anymore.
Faced with endless sarcasm from fans, she closed her comment section and played dead.
Even so, her personal forum exploded overnight!
But Jing Yao wasn't the only one who got humiliated. So did Ultron Pictures and Baolong Films, who had rejected Lu Chen. Both studios became laughingstocks in the entertainment industry, examples of what happens when you fail to recognize a golden opportunity.
With dominating TV ratings and online views, 'Autumn in My Heart' had truly soared to the top.
Now, others couldn't sit still any longer, they began making moves.
Capital City TV and Zhedong TV came knocking once more, along with several other domestic satellite networks, competing for the rebroadcast rights to 'Autumn in My Heart'.
The variety channel under Capital City TV especially regretted passing on the drama; they had been the most likely to secure it, but somehow let it slip away.
At the same time, investors, advertisers, and talent agencies also came flooding in.
(End of Chapter)