(Don’t look yet, adding a title means it’s revised)
First, let’s talk about Asahi TV Station.
Since the show started, Toshiba Daifuku has been closely monitoring the changes in ratings.
As the flagship program of Asahi TV Station, their team isn’t under much pressure regarding ratings, at least not to the point where they have to worry about being canceled for low ratings.
With their show’s established history, plenty of viewers watch out of habit, so it’s uncommon for the ratings to plummet suddenly.
However, the ratings still matter a lot, as they affect the team’s bonuses and his prospects as a rotating director to be viewed favorably by higher-ups.
"Director, the station’s real-time ratings report is out," a subordinate reported, holding the ratings report.
Toshiba Daifuku immediately took it. Follow current novels on NoveI-Fire.ɴet
The complete ratings statistics have to wait for the data from the Visual Research Society. This is a simplified stat based on internet-connected set-top boxes, not official data, but it’s sufficient for reference.
After taking it, he immediately flipped it open to check.
"9% ratings at the opening?"
Toshiba Daifuku nodded internally. Their ratings had been slightly declining over the past two years, with an average of around 8%. So starting with a point higher was pretty good.
"Is it because of inviting Meteor Youth Group, or the conflict between Meteor Youth Group and that Hua Country celebrity?"
He speculated inwardly.
He continued to look further, and as he did, he was taken aback.
"Huh, how did the ratings suddenly rise by over 1.6 within less than five minutes?"
He stared at the report in shock; that shouldn’t be possible.
The show had just started, and not much had happened. How could the ratings rise so much suddenly?
Unable to resist, he took out his phone, opened the saved recording of the show, and wanted to see what happened at the five-minute mark.
"Next is Mr. Goki, a celebrity from Hua Country."
Toshiba Daifuku watched the introduction of Kitayama Norika on the screen and the Hua Country celebrity appearing, feeling a bit speechless.
This is so blatant. Their program’s audience shouldn’t just be pure music listeners, right? How could the ratings increase so much just because the contestant looked good? Where are your purity and persistence?
Clearly, the increase in ratings was due to viewers stopping their channel-switching when Wu Mu appeared.
Toshiba Daifuku felt odd, as if the show’s persistence and purity were easily overshadowed by shallow factors.
He took a closer look at the screen, examining the appearance of this Hua Country celebrity. Although he knew this person was eye-catching, he didn’t expect the audience to favor his appearance so much.
According to the feedback from the data, this Hua Country celebrity’s appearance was more popular among Japanese viewers than he had imagined.
He continued to examine the data.
Following that segment was when Meteor Youth Group and others appeared, leading up to Wu Mu’s appearance.
The data showed that during this time, some viewers marked as loyal users switched channels and left, which evidently was due to a slight deviation from the show’s previously steadfast direction, and the theme shifted from appreciating music to being slightly more entertaining.
But... the ratings increased to 12.1, rising by more than one point.
While viewers were continuously leaving, for the ratings to climb that much just shows that for the majority, slightly more entertaining content is more appealing.
"There’s no universality. As exposure increases, looks and program effects will ultimately level out," Toshiba Daifuku shook his head, not overly concerned. It’s okay to play around occasionally, but he thought it might not be effective to do so every time.
One cannot blindly trust the data.
Next, he looked at the segment where Wu Mu appeared and sang.
"It should go up to about 14, considering he sings quite well," Toshiba Daifuku speculated internally, acknowledging the Hua Country celebrity’s singing ability.
Toshiba Daifuku glanced downward at the numbers.
Toshiba Daifuku: "???"
Toshiba Daifuku immediately stood up, holding the report with a shocked expression.
An increase of two or three points was acceptable, but jumping by five or six points!?
This already reached the data from the golden era of their program two decades ago!
The people at Asahi TV Station were stunned; when they watched the live event, they felt this episode would likely be popular.
Not to mention, the song was great, the singing was powerful, there was a celebrity conflict set-up, an explosive scene, and even a bold stunt of flipping the bird on the show—various sensational elements all stacked into this one explosive episode.
They anticipated popularity but didn’t expect it to be this overwhelmingly so; the show’s performance indicated the viewers were more accepting of this person than they had imagined.
This was actually true.
Take Sasaki Anko, for example.
She was just staring blankly at the Hua Country celebrity flipping the bird at her idol on the TV.
How could anyone directly flip the bird on TV in an insult!
This Hua Country celebrity really had guts!
Especially since this was directed at her idol, with no regard for face, equivalent to openly insulting them on the show!
Moreover, coupling with what he said before singing, about avoiding any future shows with the Meteor Youth Group... this was tantamount to a slap in the face.
Yet, having watched the program from start to finish, Sasaki Anko realized she didn’t feel much negativity inside.