"You could say that," Jing Yu replied after thinking it over.
In his memory, he had countless stories he could draw from. While most weren't on par with 'Hikaru no Go', they weren't bad either—many of them had been popular works in his previous life, each with unique strengths and appeal.
It was just that 'Hikaru no Go' was already such a massive undertaking to adapt, and Jing Yu hadn't had time to consider those other projects seriously.
"If that's the case..." Cheng Lie pondered for a moment.
After all, the golden prime-time slots in a week were limited.
The top networks typically coordinated among themselves, each claiming a prime slot for their seasonal flagship dramas. Mid-tier and smaller networks? They had to fend for themselves. If they wanted to challenge the big players in those same time slots, that was their choice. Even the non-flagship shows from the Big Six didn't get fixed slots—they had to find what was available.
If Imperial Capital TV's non-flagship drama wanted to go head-to-head with Xingtong TV's top drama, no one would stop them.
A drama wanting to air in a prime-time slot inevitably meant clashing with big-name shows—it was just the nature of the game.
If Jing Yu wanted YunTeng's flagship shows to directly compete against the Big Three's flagship dramas, the network obviously wouldn't agree. But if he was talking about lower-budget, non-flagship productions? That was different. It was unavoidable that some would air in the same slot as high-profile dramas.
It's not like the entire country would shut down and refuse to air anything on Sunday at 8 p.m. just because Xingtong TV scheduled Fireworks for that slot. YunTeng had a low-budget self-produced drama airing at the same time, too—it just had a sub-1% rating, so nobody cared. Meanwhile, during Huanshi TV's 'EndBlade', YunTeng was re-airing a summer drama from two years ago.
"If you're really interested in producing another drama for the summer season, I can bring it up with the station," Cheng Lie said. "With the results you've achieved, they'll definitely approve. But if you explicitly intend to air it in the same time slot as the Big Three's flagship dramas, they probably won't allocate much funding or promotional support."
"That's fine by me," Jing Yu said with a smile.
"You really..." Cheng Lie gave him a weird look. "Are you seriously this petty?"
"It's not just about that," Jing Yu replied with a chuckle.
"Like you said—even if a regular drama airs against the Big Six's flagships, it won't necessarily affect them much. I just want to try. If it works—if it actually performs well and pulls viewership away—then great! That's a win and a bit of payback. If it doesn't do well... I still have confidence. With a small budget, it won't cause losses for the station."
Besides, he had quite a few stories he'd been itching to adapt into TV dramas. This was as good a chance as any—a mix of professional ambition and personal indulgence.
The conversation between Jing Yu and Cheng Lie ended there, and the filming of 'Hikaru no Go' resumed for the day.
The next day, Cheng Lie personally visited the station to speak with Meng Yu.
"A new show for the summer season, and you want it airing in the same time slot as the Big Three's flagship dramas?" Meng Yu frowned when he heard this.
He could immediately tell that Jing Yu was acting out of spite.
This young man clearly believed that even without big backing or resources, as long as he had a script, he could cause some serious headaches for the Big Three.
If it were anyone else, Meng Yu would have immediately shut it down—told them to get lost. The station's budget wasn't bottomless, and they weren't going to throw money away on some petty vendetta.
But Jing Yu... gave him pause.
From his debut up to now, the lowest-rated drama Jing Yu had produced was 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'.
That drama had a tiny 1-million-yuan budget and aired in direct competition with Xingtong TV's Sunday night flagship show.
Before 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' aired, that Xingtong TV drama was pulling 6.12% in ratings. But during the two weeks it aired against Tomorrow, its average rating dropped to around 6% and didn't climb again until 'White Lovers' returned to the slot.
Audience numbers don't magically increase—if 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday' got viewers, it had to have pulled them from someone else. And since the subject matter was similar, the hit clearly landed on Xingtong TV.
Jing Yu's track record had already proven to Meng Yu that even his small-budget shows could deliver a big impact.
Letting a flagship show from YunTeng battle the Big Three's flagships directly? No way. But if Jing Yu's summer drama, produced with a low budget, could hit 1.7% or 1.8% ratings like 'My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday'?
That would be worth it.
Besides, who knows what kind of story Jing Yu has up his sleeve this time?
Even with 'Hikaru no Go', Meng Yu never expected the show to hit 3.3%, and yet here they were—already over 5.6%. Maybe this new drama would surprise him, too.
As for Jing Yu's motives—trying to snipe the Big Three's ratings—Meng Yu didn't really care. That wasn't the point. The point was: Jing Yu had talent, and if he wanted to write a new drama, the station should invest.
"This is something we can consider. March is just around the corner," Meng Yu finally said. "If Xiao Jing has a new idea, have him submit the script. I'll bring it up in our internal meetings and we'll review it together."
He didn't give a clear "yes," but his tone showed definite support.
Sunday. 'Hikaru no Go' Episode 8 airs.
This week's plot centered on Hikaru becoming an "Insei."
Of course, "Insei" was the term used in the original manga—referring to an intensive training program for children aspiring to become professional Go players. The teachers in these institutions were all professionals or above.
After all, the only way to improve at Go is to keep playing—and to play against high-level opponents.
In Great Zhou, similar institutions and Go dojos existed everywhere—even in Modo City, there were many. Jing Yu made some localized adjustments to reflect this.
The story arc of Hikaru's journey toward becoming a pro was beginning to take shape.
There were no over-the-top scenes like Sai's grandstanding, but watching Hikaru grow and develop was satisfying in its own right.
Thanks to the lingering attention from last week's Go exhibition, expectations were that 'Hikaru no Go' would see another spike in viewership this week.
But when the numbers came in for Episode 8...
5.31%.
For the first time since it began airing, 'Hikaru no Go''s rating dropped instead of rising.
That evening, Cheng Lie sighed.
Based on its growth trend, they'd expected this week's rating to be around 5.8% or even 5.9%. But it only hit 5.31%.
This confirmed that the three dramas that moved into the same time slot had siphoned off at least 0.6% of viewership.
As for those three dramas?
They got hit even harder.
All three saw ratings drop by over 1%.
While they intended to suppress 'Hikaru no Go', they ended up cannibalizing each other, too. When multiple shows fight in the same slot, the weakest quality show will inevitably suffer the most.
Huanshi TV's drama, for example, dropped from 2.9% last week to 1.7% this week.
But for Huanshi TV, that was still a win.
Because their flagship show, 'EndBlade', held onto third place in the ratings rankings.
This week, 'EndBlade' scored 5.79%, maintaining its #3 position.