Hollywood (我就是好莱坞) Part II

CHAPTER 217- Negotiations Concluded

Murdoch smiled with "sincerity" and replied, "Eric, everyone knows that Nielsen is responsible for the ratings statistics."

"Nielsen is a commercial market research company. It exists to make money, doesn't it?" Eric asked in response.

Since Nielsen was a commercial company, it could very easily tamper with the ratings statistics, in exchange for a sufficient profit.

Murdoch cursed in his heart. Their negotiation today might end up determining who dominates Fox TV Network in the future. How could he be willing to let it go easily?

If it weren't for Eric's countdown act, Murdoch would never have agreed to his terms. However, he was aware that since he had been defeated in the negotiation and Eric had dodged his following tricks, it is very likely that he would have to pay him the 10% equity as promised. This was because, even until now, he was unaware of Eric's bottom line. He was still not sure if Eric would be willing to default on their contract and transfer Friends to one of the other networks. He also didn't know what exact conditions the three major TV networks had offered Eric. However, conversely, Eric had figured out his bottle line. The moment he accepted his terms, Eric knew that even if he had to introduce a new major shareholder to Fox Network, Murdoch would never allow Fox to lose Friends. This alone allowed Eric to occupy an absolute advantage during their negotiation.

Since it was now irreversible, Murdoch wished to obtain as many benefits as possible. After all, he was someone who always wanted to be in control. Even if Eric's Firefly was destined to become the second-largest shareholder of Fox Network, he still regarded Fox as his personal property.

Murdoch recalled that Fox had originally wanted to be involved in the production of Friends but was rejected. He realized that Firefly couldn't be allowed to have the sole copyrights to the two new TV shows. In case, he and Eric have some irreconcilable contradictions in the future, it was obvious which side the shareholders would stand on in order to keep Fox from losing the hit shows.

After hesitating for a moment, Murdoch softly said, "Alright, Eric, I... agree. We will talk about the specifics later. But regarding the two shows you mentioned, since Firefly is about to become a shareholder of Fox, I hope that you can submit the ideas of these two programs to Fox for production."

Eric could tell that Murdoch had really agreed this time. He was secretly excited about how many folds this equity would appreciate in the future. Rather than being just a simple stake in Fox Network, this deal signified that his business empire had expanded to a whole new domain. Of course, since Murdoch gave him such a positive answer, he also needed to express his sincerity.

What Murdoch said previously was actually correct. If Firefly's wants 10% equity of Fox Network, just Friends alone is far from enough.

Although he was somewhat reluctant, Eric replied, "Mr. Murdoch, I can't hand over complete control of the two shows to Fox. But, I promise that they will be jointly produced by Fox and Firefly and the investment and copyright will be divided equally."

Murdoch didn't expect Eric to hand over the two programs to Fox so easily. His purpose had been to gain some say regarding the production and copyright of the two shows, so that a repeat of the crisis with Friends doesn't happen. Eric's proposal was in line with his expectations, so he didn't have any other conditions.

In fact, during their short negotiation, Murdoch had gotten far more exhausted from dealing with Eric rather than the other way around.

"In that case, deal."

Although there was some wine in the cabinet next to him, Murdoch didn't have the energy to fetch it, so he simply raised his coffee cup towards Eric.

"Deal." Eric also brought his coffee cup up and lightly touched it with Murdoch's.