Kapitel 46: National No. 1

Every Thursday is a pretty busy day for those on the TV set.

When shooting a TV series, you get the script on Monday, memorize the lines on Tuesday, rehearse on Wednesday and Thursday, and officially record on Friday. Everyone knows that the day can be pretty busy and stressful. No one would shout indiscriminately on the set if there were no particular reason.

But this time, when Alexander, one of the producers of CSI, rushed over with a yell, everyone forgave him. Although his yelling was indeed wrong, the words he yelled made everyone feel excited.

"No. 2 in ratings! The No. 2 TV series in the United States! Guys, you have produced the No. 2 TV series in the U.S.!"

His words stunned everyone in the studio. Today is Thursday, which is the day when the actors are rehearsing. Almost all the actors were in the studio, and at this moment, they all heard the news. Unlike the ecstasy of hearing the news last week, they were stunned this time.

Ratings, the second in the United States?

"Beyond 'Friends,' beyond 'Law & Order,' second only to 'ER?' God, what kind of TV series did we make?" Bob also came to stop Alexander, but at this time, he heard Alexander's words. He also stopped, dumbfounded. He knew that the No. 1 rating in the United States was the show 'ER' with ridiculously high production costs and high advertising costs, but he did not expect that his TV series could be close to that one. "No. 2 in ratings in the United States, how could it be so easy to get to No. 2!"

Of course, they all know that the second rating refers to the second rating of seasonal TV programs, not all TV programs. The ratings of the program are second. If all programs are counted, the American football program, Super Bowl, will always be the first, with ratings of more than 20 in every game and more than 50 million in major games, which are the highest among any other programs. No TV show can be compared with that. Comparing with that kind of program is suicidal.

However, even if it is the second place in the TV series, it is scary enough.

17.5 million viewers - a full 4 million more than the previous week. Everyone can't believe this horrible number, whether it's Bob or Clark. They initially thought that their TV series could do something similar to 'Law and Order,' and they had already reached their peak. They initially thought that even if the number of viewers exceeds 'Law and Order,' because of CBS's age group, it would be difficult for them to surpass in the near future and that this would become a long-term competition to become the number one crime drama—but who knows, in just a few days, they welcomed another new piece of good news after producing a TV series with hot ratings: their TV series crushed 'Law and Order,' and took away the status of the number one crime drama. The difference in the number of viewers is 3.5 million. No matter how the ratings are calculated, this is no longer a TV series of the same level.

NBC said that their TV series were not as good as NBC's. 'Friends' immediately slapped CBS successfully, but CSI immediately slapped it back. NBC is the king of TV dramas because they are the top three most popular dramas in crime, emergency medical treatment, and comedy, but now, the throne of 'Law and Order' has been given up.

NBC's kingship has already begun to be shaken.

And if it is the best in the United States, then it is naturally the best in the world—although people here have not carefully analyzed the level of TV dramas in other countries, this statement is not wrong. "We actually succeeded!" Bob looked at Clark in disbelief. "Because we are very strong." Clark didn't bother to think about the ratings for the comedies.

Fifteen million is basically the limit for non-comedy shows. 'Law and Order' has been on the air for too long, causing the number of viewers to drop. "We are very strong, so we succeeded. Now, we are great; we are better than them all! What is 'Law and Order?' It can go to hell! We are the new order; we are the new law!"

[T/N: "The One After the Superbowl," aired on January 28, 1996, is the most-watched episode in the history of 'Friends,' with a total of 52.9 million viewers tuned in after the Super Bowl ended. The episode generated a 29.5 Nielsen rating and a 47 percent audience share, making it the highest-rated episode of any show ever (scripted or otherwise) to debut after the Super Bowl.]

Clarke's declaration received a lot of applause: Whether it's the actors or the crew, they all know the meaning of the second-highest ratings in the United States. In ER, all the protagonists have high salaries, and the most handsome of them, George Clooney, was even pulled away to make a movie. There were even rumors that he was going to play Batman in a film because of his handsome jawline—a movie with an investment of hundreds of millions. The leading actor in the big-budget film? Such an opportunity is a dream for everyone here!

"Our TV series is the most popular crime drama, the best crime drama in the United States and the world!"

Alexander and his partners embraced one by one: To be honest, the 12 million viewers of 'Law and Order' surrendered. In his opinion, it is an impossible dream number, but now, 12 million for CSI was a failure!

"We should have asked CBS to move us to Thursday. If it came to Thursday, our ratings would be higher. Maybe even higher than the show ER. Wednesday's ratings are not as good as Thursday, and we suffered. Yes, we have suffered a great loss."

Alexander was still muttering, but at this time, Levi had already walked over and laughed out loud when he heard his words, "What do you need to say? Now, I am afraid, even CBS itself is all thinking about how to adjust the broadcast time for us."

"Then I'll urge them? They shouldn't refuse me?"

"It's another day." Levi shook his head, "And we'll wait and see. 17.5 million is a lot of people, but not enough to make people satisfied."

"It's already the second in the United States, are you still not satisfied?" Alexander's eyes widened, "Do you want the number one ratings in the United States? The show ER has 21 million viewers!"

"21 million is a lot?" Levi shook his head, "Look, we are not worse than them."

Levi is confident enough that his TV series will win more favor: CSI represents a crime drama with a new concept, and such a crime drama with 20 million viewers is not a problem.

In terms of competition for ratings, crime dramas have significant innate advantages. They are more adaptable to the crowd, and it is easier to create attractive suspense and plots, which are more thrilling and exciting, which makes this type of drama inherently more engaging than comedy and other genres. It is easy to attract the audience. Now that CSI has been a great success since it aired, it can be said that it has been confirmed. This TV series has basically locked in the top five ratings this year.

And in the long run, this show has the potential to become the number-one TV series in ratings. With this level of popularity, as long as you don't kill it yourself, you can definitely film more than five seasons. The production of TV series has reached this level, and it is definitely quite successful.

Medical dramas and crime dramas are always the most popular dramas. 'Friends' is known as the best sitcom among American dramas, but in fact, it only won the rating championship for one year, and shows like CSI and Gray's Anatomy are always used to compete for the number one rating.

Now, what CSI needs to compete with is ER-a TV series with a market share that can reach 50 million viewership several times and has successfully promoted George Clooney.

This time, both NBC and CBS are ready to fight this battle.

CBS announced early that, out of consideration for broadcasting new dramas, CBS adjusted CSI to Thursday-this approach is a blatant challenge to NBC. And NBC was not to be outdone, and they immediately began to promote the show ER. On the one hand, there were rumors that there were big-name stars who wanted to appear in TV dramas. On the other hand, there are various interviews of the cast, and of course, they did not forget to advertise ER under other programs. For them, the throne of the number one rating cannot be lost. And they announced that they would produce a TV program related to forensic medicine on their own TV station, hoping to increase the ratings of the TV series.

At this time, CSI also began to release the trailer for their third TV episode directly on the TV. The trailer is very simple. It just tells people that the whole episode of the third episode will revolve around a case named Buffalo Case. However, even if it is a simple notice, people will pay attention to the themes of extermination and child abuse. What's more, the little girl named Lindsay Lohan, who starred in this case, became very popular in just a few tens of seconds of the preview.

This time, the two works are about to collide.

When the third week came, the people in the crew came much earlier than before, and when they were rehearsing in the morning, they all raced against the clock as if they wanted to finish all the work in the afternoon. They knew that at noon, Alexander would bring the rating report for the third week-the news on it was what they were most concerned about.

And Alexander didn't come by himself this time - CBS entertainment president Leslie Moonves accompanied him.

"Guys, today, let's witness a great moment together." Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Leslie Moonves immediately knew what people were thinking. He jumped on the table and shouted loudly, "This is a moment worth cheering and celebrating, and this moment must be remembered by everyone who was lucky enough to participate: The ratings of our show CSI have reached 13.7/24 with more than 24 million viewership. Our rating is more than that of ER, and our TV series is the number one TV series in the United States!" His voice rose, "Every one of you is our star of tomorrow!"

[A/N: The buffalo case in CSI is the seventh episode, and the response to this episode is very enthusiastic, so the third episode is mentioned in the book. The young actor used in the original play was Dakota Fanning, but she was only two years old in 1996, so Lindsay Lohan was changed to a more suitable age in the book.]

*****

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