King of Hollywood

Chapter 375: 99 Michael Ovitz

Chapter 375: Chapter 99 Michael Ovitz

“Well, that’s it for now, meeting adjourned,” Claude announced, and the attending executives secretly breathed a sigh of relief as they quickly rose to their feet and headed out.

“They seem quite terrified,” Adrian noted half-jokingly once everyone had left. He hadn’t said much during the entire meeting; aside from the necessary topics, most of the time, it was Claude adjusting, arranging, and criticizing, which is no wonder he always seemed to be overshadowed.

“Most of them are just putting on an act,” Claude said nonchalantly, waving his hand dismissively. “I didn’t put that much pressure on them. They just want to show they’re working hard. You have to be able to distinguish who the real workers are.”

“It’s okay, I don’t need to worry about that with you here,” Adrian spread his hands, appearing rather smug.

“You…” Claude glared at him, though he probably couldn’t help feeling a bit proud deep down.

“Alright, Crow, although there were some minor issues, overall, it’s a really good start. It’s not enough to support drastic changes to ABC yet, but we can’t wait much longer.” Adrian said, pointing at his head, “I still have lots of ideas up here.”

“Everybody Loves Raymond” finally premiered on ABC in mid-January ’96 after hurried casting and production due to well-positioned promotions plus Adrian’s antics, as well as the previous efforts to ensure the script didn’t leak out. The first episode’s ratings hit 10 percent, which meant that roughly 12 million people tuned in! Although these numbers couldn’t compare with “Friends,” it was a record high for ABC in recent years. And according to feedback, many people loved the show; it was warm, funny, humorous, and suitable for the whole family, so the viewership remained steady for the second episode.

This was undoubtedly a shot in the arm, not only filling the restructured ABC executives with joy but also making many critics start to think highly of them.

“Acquisition by AC Media has proven to be very correct. It’s only been half a year and things are already looking up. It may not be certain that this will continue, but it’s undoubtedly a great start. Had it been Disney, it would be unlikely for ABC to see such a dawn this quickly,” a financial magazine wrote thus.

However, although “Everybody Loves Raymond” had anticipated success, the reality show “Survivor” airing in the same period didn’t receive as warm a response. There was a high number of applicants, given the substantial reward for the winner, but the viewership was mediocre, neither sizzling hot nor too terrible.

“A group of people spending time in the wild, failing the goals leads to elimination – the concept is interesting, but… it feels like something is missing,” one viewer expressed during a survey.

“It sounds like it should be thrilling, but in reality, it’s different from what I imagined. So if I had better choices, I would definitely switch to another show,” another viewer opined.

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