Because of differing policies, pricing standards, signal coverage, and viewing preferences across regions, the average viewer in each area tends to stick to either the most popular national channels or their own province's local stations.
Jinhui Television, while not influential nationwide, was quite popular in Lan Province. As the clock approached 8 PM, many households across the province—especially students and housewives—were already sitting in front of their TVs, ready for the premiere.
The internet age might be a nightmare for traditional TV, but in the current era of the Great Zhou, computers were far from widespread, and even online games were rare. For most people, entertainment still meant watching TV or going to the movies.
"No idea what this show's even about."
"The leads are so good-looking, though! I've been waiting for this ever since I saw the trailer last week. I don't even care what the story's about, as long as they keep looking that pretty."
"I just hope the plot holds up. I'm tired of clickbait shows. That drama from two months ago had such a nice title, but the plot was absolute garbage."
"Honestly, I wish White Lovers were airing. I'm a big fan of Tang Yidong's looks. Too bad she delayed filming."
"Please, just let this 'filler' show be at least decent."
"Ugh, don't remind me. Last year, Shui Meng TV had a similar situation and aired this detective show for three weeks. It was so bad, it insulted our intelligence. My fourth-grade nephew guessed the killer and the whole plot in the first episode—and he was right."
In a group chat for TV drama fans, Zhou Yinyin scrolled through the messages. She and a few single, working women liked to unwind after work by watching new shows and chatting about them in real time.
Her eyes were fixed on the screen, watching the preview for A Date with the You of Yesterday.
It was only fifteen seconds long—practically nothing, certainly no spoilers—but the male and female leads looked stunning.
Stretching lazily, Zhou Yinyin grabbed her British Shorthair cat and squished it a few times until the little thing stretched out its claws in protest. Only then did she release it—no need to get scratched.
She had a late-night snack date with friends at 9:30, so she had about an hour to spare.
"Don't let me down," she murmured.
8:00 PM sharp.
One second, it was an ad for some cold medicine for kids. The next—showtime.
There was no opening theme.
With only two episodes to tell the entire story, Jing Yu didn't waste time on a title sequence.
It opened with a shot of Yu Youqing's face, bathed in morning light—delicate, dreamlike, stunning.
Zhou Yinyin took a deep breath.
She had to admit—she felt a twinge of jealousy.
Then, cut to the second scene—Jing Yu's Gao Shan on the subway, dazed and hesitant, staring at her.
His looks stunned Zhou Yinyin all over again.
Ah...
Love at first sight?
Ugh, unfair.
Zhou Yinyin had been single since birth, 26 years old, attractive, but still single. And all because...
"All I'm missing is a guy like that in my office," she sighed.
Within ten seconds, 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday's leads had already outshone White Lovers in terms of pure visuals.
TV dramas are, after all, a sensory experience. Good plot, good-looking cast—ratings are almost guaranteed.
And even if the plot is bad, good looks can still carry a show—people will watch just to enjoy the eye candy.
But even a great story can't save a show if the leads are unattractive.
Jing Yu remembered a beloved anime from his previous life, Clannad, which had been adapted into a live-action drama. He loved the original anime—but the drama? He tried over ten times to watch it and never made it past ten minutes. It was painful to watch.
Not even divine storytelling could salvage that.
But 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday's opening?
It had already won over a horde of picky viewers—Zhou Yinyin included.
At least for the "eye candy club," this show passed with flying colors.
Who cared what the plot was? The cast looked great.
"On the subway to university, I fell in love—just like that."
Gao Shan, the body's original owner before Jing Yu transmigrated, really was a male lead type, minus the emotional fragility.
But that wasn't really his fault. His father had coddled him too much, and he'd never faced real hardship. Then, in one week, he lost the family fortune to debts, had creditors knocking—including relatives he barely knew—lost his father to a sudden illness, was betrayed by his girlfriend, fired from his job, mocked by coworkers and so-called friends... and finally, tried to end it all.
But aside from that emotional fragility, there was little to fault.
He was 1.81 meters tall, handsome, and even had a nice voice.
Jing Yu's voice alone made Zhou Yinyin forget about the show's cheap sets and the laughably fake subway window backgrounds.
The story began with Gao Shan chasing after Aimei off the subway.
"I fell in love at first sight, so... I'd like your number."
He confessed—straightforward and bold.
And got rejected.
"No way, do guys like this still exist?"
"These days? You smile at a straight guy, and he pretends you're invisible. And the hotter they are, the colder they act."
"Why don't guys around me have this kind of confidence?"
"Girl, if you looked like the female lead, those cold-faced Adonises would be lining up."
The group chat exploded with excitement—single women, housewives, office workers—all thrilled by the eye candy.
In the first three minutes alone, Jing Yu and Yu Youqing's visuals had already hooked a massive number of viewers.
Then the story unfolded:
Gao Shan fails to get her number, thinks he's been rejected.
But the girl keeps talking to him.
And when they part—
"Will we... see each other again?"
Aimei turned back, wearing a sorrowful yet beautiful expression.
What's going on...?
Zhou Yinyin was confused.
It was their first meeting. Even if a handsome guy confessed to you, surely things wouldn't get that emotional right away?
She was even crying?!
Hey, hey, it's literally the first time you've met him! And you're sad to part already?
But confusion early on isn't a bad thing—it hooks the viewer.
Casual viewers might think the heroine was overly emotional, maybe even unstable.
But experienced drama fans, from the tone of the music, the background cues, and those close-ups, could sense there was something more going on between Aimei and Gao Shan.
At the network, viewership analysts were closely monitoring the show's performance.
It started strong:
Lan Province ratings hit 8.11%, nationwide 0.71%.
But when White Lovers fans tuned in expecting their usual drama and found something else, many immediately changed the channel.
Ratings dropped:
Lan Province down to 5.32%, nationwide to 0.54%.
A rough start—honestly, a little low.
The Sunday primetime average for Jinhui TV is about 7.9% in Lan Province, 0.7% nationally. 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' had dropped just below that.
Only nationally renowned stations could pull 10%+ nationwide. Jinhui's signal might technically be nationwide, but people in other provinces needed a reason to tune in—and most didn't have one.
With only Lan Province viewers carrying the load, this was the best they could hope for. But with Great Zhou's population in the billions, even a 0.7% national share meant tens of millions of viewers—enough to sustain the production costs.
That kind of performance was already considered upper-mid among all TV stations.
Plenty of stations in poorer provinces had primetime shows pulling 0.1% or 0.2%.
On the other hand, hit dramas on high-profile stations could break 10%, creating massive disparities—some drought-stricken, some flooded.
White Lovers was taken so seriously by the network precisely because of its explosive results: a whopping 1.38% national average.
'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' had inherited its time slot while White Lovers was on hold, so it naturally carried over some of the same viewer base. That's why Chu Post required that Tomorrow's viewership reach at least 60% of White Lovers'—otherwise, it wasn't even pulling its weight.
Given the borrowed audience and modest expectations, 60% of White Lovers' performance would be roughly equivalent to the average ratings of past shows in this slot.
Even though 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' had a low budget and almost no promotion, its "firefighting" nature gave it some advantages too—it all evened out.
And the show was just beginning.
If it could hold viewers with its plot, the ratings might bounce back quickly.
As long as it was good, more people would stay—and fewer would change the channel.
The early plot of 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' focused on sugary slice-of-life romance between the leads.
Day 1: The male lead confesses, but gets no response.
Day 2: They randomly meet again and visit a zoo. That evening, encouraged by a friend, Gao Shan calls Aimei and asks her out again.
Day 3: They eat street food, enjoy the night view, and walk through the park. There, he confesses again—and this time, she accepts.
"I'm not a healing-type girl," Aimei says with a smile.
And with that, the two officially start dating—just three days after meeting.
What kind of fairy tale romance is this?!
Zhou Yinyin instinctively felt this was unrealistic.
Three days? Seriously?
Three days and you're dating already?!