"Denied!"
Derek Hastings could already feel his blood pressure rise hearing his son's request. He had expected his son to do some outrageous things. That he was prepared for. But, what he hadn't prepared for how quickly he would do it.
"So, let me get this straight," Derek spoke, trying to control his temper. "You went to the office for the first time. Spent two hours in the office at most. And now, you are here, wanting to fire everyone, apart from the receptionist. Am I right?"
"Yes, that's the gist of it," Liam nodded amicably.
Good boy, are you even hearing how outrageous this sounds?
Derek couldn't control his temper anymore. He directly opened his hair dryer mouth and started lambasting Liam. Liam could only sheepishly endure the scolding for a few minutes before he dared to cut in.
"Father, I am really not playing around. You told me that this was a venture you had high hopes for. How come such a promising venture turn out like this? How could your vision fail without rhyme or reason? You have been in this industry for so long that you must have grasped the basics of it already, right? Aren't you even a bit curious why this turned out to be such a dud? I can tell you why," Liam spoke rationally, while trying to stroke his father's ego a bit.
"What do you mean?" Derek's eyes narrowed.
"The idea itself has merit. I see great potential in the channel. However, the direction it has developed is very wrong. The problem is there. And the blame entirely falls on these people's shoulders. That's why I want to fire them," Liam spoke candidly.
"The aim of the channel is to grab the youth market pie, right? However, have you seen the types of songs they are playing? It is all old country music and blue songs. This isn't catering to the youth market. I can tell as a youngster that no youth today would listen to them."
"We need to focus on pop and rap music. We need to be looking at new songs that are coming out, not at those old dusty songs. The youth today are always chasing after new things. They dislike the old. And the kind of songs our channel plays are the ones that came out even before they were born. Then, how can the ratings improve?"
"This abysmal song selection is not the end. I looked at the scheduling of those songs. There is no rhyme or reason behind the scheduling. There was no structure to it at all. You know how important scheduling is to a channel. This shows how unmotivated these people are. That's why I want to fire them."
"It's not like I have some vendetta against them. Their work is atrocious. Moreover, they are choosing songs they like to listen to. They are all above forty. They can't really grasp what the youth today likes. So, I'm not doing this on a whim," Liam explained patiently.
Hearing Liam's explanation, Derek's temper cooled down a bit. It was clear his son had truly thought about this. He had never considered this factor. Maybe, with the right changes, the channel could bloom in his son's hands. Still, he decided to test his son and see how thorough his son's considerations are.
"If you are going to fire them all, what are your plans for revamp?"
"I plan to hire young men and women. Mostly in the early twenties. This is a channel targeting the youth market. It needs people who can understand today's youth and think along the same lines as them. Moreover, it will add some vibrancy to the workplace. Right now, it is like walking into a retirement home."
Hearing the first half of his son's answer, Derek was happy. But, the second half made his eyes twitch.
A group of young, inexperienced people all congregated together under his son. He didn't like the sound of it at all. Knowing his son's wild tendencies, he was afraid of what the office would look like at that time. Moreover, he had a sneaking suspicion that his son's motives weren't entirely pure either.
Furthermore, if he left the hiring to his son, he was sure those who would be hired will all be young women. Who knows what his son would be doing with that much power and that many susceptible young girls under him? Even if he started a harem in the office, it wouldn't be out of character for his son.
No, he can never allow such a thing to happen.
"Alright, I understand. However, you won't be firing anyone. But, I agree with your view of hiring young people. I will allow you to hire ten or fifteen young men and women. Preferably men," Derek watched his son's face fall and felt lucky he didn't cave in to his son's request.
"You will need those experienced people to help you navigate the problems you might face in your channel. Having them there would only be advantageous for you. You aren't allowed to fire any of them. After a year, I will recall them back. By then, the young people you hired would have gained enough experience."
"Now that you are present at the helm, you can choose the direction of the channel and develop it slowly. I have confidence in you. For now, let's keep it this way," Derek added hastily and dismissed his son.
Liam felt a bit unwilling, but could only nod and accept his father's arrangements. Anyway, his father had agreed to call back those good for nothings in a year and had allowed him to hire some young people. That was enough for him now. He could endure those waste of spaces for a year.
Heading back to the office, Liam quickly immersed himself in work. By the end of the day, he had reviewed and understood all the contracts, license agreements, channel finances, and almost everything about MusixZ to the core.
Just then, Evan Johnson entered his office with a fawning smile on his face. Under Liam's unimpressed stare, he hurriedly handed over the revised scheduling sheet to him. Liam looked over it with a critical eye and felt his lips twitching.
These people have done what he asked for and only that. There were still several improvements to the schedule that could be made if one followed the line of logic and applied the same principles. They could have allocated a slot dedicated to a particular artist or grouped together some party songs and the like. These people had no initiative at all.
Letting out a sigh internally, Evan made some changes to the timing of some particular slots. He also rearranged the schedule in some places and handed over the scheduling to Evan.
"May I know why you rearranged the schedule in this manner, Mr. Liam?" Evan asked hesitantly.
For the first time, Evan Johnson's face looked pleasing to Liam's eyes. This man at least had the wherewithal to learn from his mistakes. Liam wasn't afraid of his employees making mistakes, what he was afraid of was employees making mistakes and not learning from them.
"That slot in the afternoon was going to play disco songs. Who the hell will listen to disco songs in the afternoon? The youngsters will be in school or college, most of the breadwinners will be at work, the only ones who will have leisure to watch them are housewives. And housewives aren't very keen on disco songs. At least not in the daytime. If they are going to let their hair down, it will be at night. Have you ever seen clubs playing disco songs in the afternoon?" Liam explained calmly.
" So, I changed the slot to play country music. It will be followed by folk music and the blues. From 11 AM in the noon to 3 PM in the afternoon, the primary audience are housewives. Playing these kinds of songs while they are active on the TV will give us some improvement in the ratings."
"Likewise, playing blues and country music after 9 PM might suit your tastes, but don't forget that the primary audience of this channel are youngsters. If we play such music at that timeslot, they will nod off to sleep. Who the hell wants them to sleep? They must stay awake and watch our programming. For that, we need them to be energetic. So, I put rock songs, disco songs, and other passionate songs to be played after 9 PM."
"Do you understand the logic behind the schedule now?" Liam asked calmly after instructing Evan.
"Mr. Liam is truly a genius. To be able to grasp the psychology of audience and play them in the palm of your hands like this, you are truly remarkable, Mr. Liam. I have learned a lot from you," Evan spoke ingratiatingly.
Evan had a look of enlightenment on his face. Liam didn't bother to understand if Evan was truly enlightened. He didn't know how much of the concepts Evan had understood. Regardless, he didn't care about it much.
Tossing the reworked schedule back to Evan, Liam spoke, "Follow this scheduling arrangement for now. There will be changes later. I will formulate some special programs and add them to the schedule later. Implement this new arrangement from tomorrow."
"I understand, Mr. Liam."
"Who is in-charge of purchasing the songs?"
"That will be Donna, Mr. Liam."
"Ask her to come in. I have some instructions for her."
Evan quickly vacated Liam's office room and left him alone.