Chapter 462 Terrifying Viewership Ratings
Witnessing the resurgence of Hong Kong's real estate market, Chen Songqing's ambitions reignited. He decided to further accelerate Ka Nin Group's expansion in the property sector.
After two years of rapid growth, Ka Nin Group had already secured a spot among Hong Kong's top three real estate giants.
What made Chen Songqing even more excited was the fact that Jardines Matheson had recently offloaded several real estate projects, and Ka Nin Group had been lucky enough to take over part of them.
At this moment, a bold idea sprang into Chen Songqing's mind—he wanted Ka Nin Group to challenge for the throne of Hong Kong's leading real estate enterprise.
"I must acquire more projects. I'll arrange a meeting with Yeung Cheong-do, the general manager of Yumin Finance, to secure additional funds and speed up our expansion.
At our current scale, Ka Nin Group has a real chance to surpass Jardines Matheson within two years!"
Thinking he might soon become the leader of Hong Kong's property sector, Chen Songqing was filled with passionate excitement.
However, if Lin Haoran had known about his plan, he would surely have scoffed at it, believing Ka Nin Group was blindly rushing forward, digging its own grave.
Time quickly passed, and by 4 PM, Hong Kong was brimming with undercurrents.
At Government House, officials continued to search for more evidence, aiming to officially recover the government's massive losses.
The sudden shutdown of three major media outlets had sent shockwaves through the media industry.
At Jardines Matheson, Simon Keswick waited helplessly for his brother Henry Keswick to arrive and take control.
Meanwhile, all major real estate developers celebrated a day worth remembering.
In Kowloon Tong, at Broadcast Drive, inside TVB headquarters, Shao Yifu finally put down his work and massaged his tired forehead.
Having rushed from Shaw Brothers Film Company to TVB without much rest, the man in his seventies had worked tirelessly all day.
Most businessmen his age would have already handed over their careers to the next generation.
But not Shao Yifu—his ambition only grew stronger with age.
"I'm only the second-largest shareholder of TVB. The real biggest shareholder is Lin Haoran. Yet here I am, working so hard—what am I doing it for?" Shao Yifu thought as he glanced at the documents on his desk, a bitter smile playing at his lips.
Despite occasional self-questioning, he never regretted it.
He foresaw that with the spread of television sets, soon every household in Hong Kong would own one.
Recognizing this, he realized that television would eventually pose a serious challenge to the film industry.
Thus, after fierce competition with Golden Harvest throughout the 1970s, he decided to gradually shift his focus from film to television.
He had no desire to expend more resources on movies.
Instead, he fully devoted himself to developing TVB.
The death of his old rival Lee Siu-kei had, from a business perspective, also worked to his advantage.
Although he mourned the loss personally, he accepted it as part of life's cycle.
Having already experienced the deaths of his parents and brothers, he felt little emotional turbulence this time.
The most important thing was that after Lee's death, Shao Yifu had successfully consolidated his control over TVB, which he viewed as his greatest achievement of the past year.
It marked a major step forward in his career and added a new cornerstone to his business empire.
Since taking charge as TVB's Chairman, he had poured his heart and soul into strengthening the station, spending less and less time on Shaw Brothers.
The only regret he harbored was failing to acquire Lee's shares.
But fortunately, Lin Haoran, the majority shareholder, had no interest in managing the company directly.
That was a critical factor motivating Shao Yifu to devote himself so thoroughly to TVB.
He saw TVB as his future and safety net—if the film industry collapsed, television would keep him afloat.
While he was lost in thought, a knock came at the door.
"Come in," Shao Yifu called.
"Chairman Shao, the ratings for yesterday have just arrived! Great news, incredible news!" TVB's general manager Yu Bo-kwan burst in, visibly excited.
"Oh? Yesterday's ratings—were they very high?" Shao Yifu asked with a smile.
"More than high—they're insane! Look at this!" Yu Bo-kwan said, handing him a ratings report.
These ratings were compiled by Hong Kong's most reputable research company, supervised by government officials, and thus highly authoritative.
TV advertising rates were largely determined based on these viewership figures.
Higher ratings meant higher ad revenue—and advertisers were happy to pay.
Especially since yesterday was January 1st, the beginning of a new year, a strong start was crucial.
Shao Yifu studied the report carefully.
As his eyes scanned the figures, his expression brightened, and a smile crept across his face.
Indeed, the ratings were beyond anything he had dared to hope for.
It marked the highest ratings in TVB's history.
Throughout the rest of the day, ratings remained as usual, between 60% and 70%—normal compared to previous months.
This meant TVB held a strong lead over its only real competitor, RTV, whose ratings stayed between 30% and 40%.
But during the prime time slot from 7 PM to 10 PM—the New Year's Gala hours—the numbers skyrocketed.
At first, Shao Yifu couldn't believe his eyes.
He even rubbed them, thinking he had misread the report.
But double-checking confirmed it:
TVB's total ratings during prime time had surpassed 90%, reaching an astonishing 91.3%.
Of that, Jade Channel alone captured a staggering 90.1%.
The impact of these numbers was staggering.
"Is this confirmed?" Shao Yifu asked, still doubting his ears.
"Absolutely confirmed! I also couldn't believe it at first, but after multiple verifications, it's accurate!" Yu Bo-kwan laughed.
More than 90% viewership meant that RTV's ratings had plunged below 10%!
In a two-network market like Hong Kong's, such a massive disparity was unprecedented.
Nothing like this had ever happened before—it would surely cause a sensation.
Shao Yifu had watched RTV's New Year's show himself the previous night.
In all honesty, it wasn't bad.
Sure, it was a little inferior to Jade Channel's programming, but it wasn't terrible.
Such an overwhelming gap was shocking.
"According to deeper analysis," Yu Bo-kwan continued, "most viewers were initially drawn by Chairman Lin's speech.
Afterward, captivated by the speech and its implications, they stayed tuned to Jade Channel rather than switching stations."
Hearing this, Shao Yifu finally understood.
He recalled how everywhere he went today, he had overheard people discussing Lin Haoran's speech.
"So, it seems we really owe this unprecedented rating to Haoran!" Shao Yifu said sincerely.
"Exactly. Without Chairman Lin's speech, even with our superior programming, we would have just maintained our usual lead," Yu Bo-kwan agreed.
"For tonight's 6 PM news, we must publicize this achievement widely.
I want everyone in Hong Kong to see TVB's glory!" Shao Yifu said, gripping the ratings report with determination.
"Understood, Chairman Shao. I'll make the arrangements immediately!" Yu Bo-kwan nodded firmly.
He knew full well what surpassing 90% ratings meant—it heralded a brilliant start for TVB in 1981, with a surge in revenues sure to follow.
Meanwhile, Shao Yifu, unable to contain his excitement, picked up the phone to call Lin Haoran immediately and share the news.
Even a titan like Shao Yifu couldn't hide his joy.
At Connaught Centre, Lin Haoran was still discussing real estate developments with Ma Shimin when his pager suddenly buzzed.
Seeing it was a call from Shao Yifu, Lin Haoran quickly returned the call.
"Sixth Uncle, is there something urgent?" Lin Haoran asked as soon as the line connected.
"Haoran! Great news! TVB's ratings last night exceeded 90%!" Shao Yifu's voice was filled with unconcealed excitement.
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