Chapter 257 End of the Radio Drama? (1/2)
"I heard that RCA has been spending a lot of effort on public relations recently?"
Inside a laboratory at the Messenger Television Factory in Brooklyn.
Philo Farnsworth vaguely expressed his uneasy thoughts. As the media attacks and defenses of Colin's "Daily Courier" and RCA became more and more fierce, even Philo also felt the pressure from the media.
This overwhelming media offensive can easily sway people like Philo Farnsworth who have not experienced it.
He was afraid that if the Courier Daily failed, he and the TV patent party represented by Colin would be in a very unfavorable situation.
"Don't worry, Mr. Philo Farnsworth."
Seeing the uneasiness on Philo Farnsworth's face, Colin immediately spoke to comfort him.
"We are the one with the advantage. RCA's approach is just to gain a little advantage in public opinion before the patent lawsuit officially begins."
In fact, some of the overwhelming news coverage in newspapers came from the Courier Daily under Colin.
Including his previous interviews with reporters, he also held his own goals.
RCA plans to gain an advantage through a public relations war. Colin also holds a similar idea. Even going a step further, he also plans to use this media offensive and defensive war to expand the popularity of the television and pave the way for the television he will promote in the future. industry to pave the way.
After all, under normal circumstances, promoting the development of an industry often requires several years of publicity work.
Even radios, which are now popular in thousands of households, have actually gone through more than ten years of hard work and development since their development.
Therefore, if Colin wants to promote the development of the TV industry in a short period of time, he will naturally need some special means.
And among them, there is nothing more appropriate than his patent lawsuit with the Radio Corporation of America.
Through this patent litigation legal battle, Colin has succeeded in getting more than half of the citizens of New York City to know about the TV patent, and with the attacks and defenses of both parties in the media, this number is still expanding, even if only ten of them are aware of it. One, no, one percent of the people are willing to accept the emerging machine of television, which is a considerable number.
This is why Colin is willing to be interviewed by reporters.
Newspapers need news topics, and he needs to maintain the popularity of advertising to let more people know the details of this patent lawsuit and the most critical invention of the television.
On this point, although Colin and RCA did not make it clear, they both cooperated to maintain a tacit understanding.
In many business competitions, a suitable opponent is sometimes more important than a partner.
Although the two parties have serious differences on TV patents, this does not mean that they cannot cooperate tacitly on other matters.
After all, both Colin and RCA are very optimistic about the prospects of future televisions.
Perhaps influenced by Colin's calmness, Philo Farnsworth's original uneasy mood was slightly reduced, and then he brought the topic back to the invention of the television. ….
"The idea of picture tubes that you mentioned before, Colin, may be a possibility, but we still need to find the materials..."
"There's no need to be too anxious. Black and white TV is currently the mainstream."
…
After finishing the conversation with Philo Farnsworth, he came out of the factory's laboratory.
"CBS Radio."
Colin got into the car, and Louis cooperated by telling the driver of the next destination.
During this period of time, the public opinion war between Colin and RCA has become a household name.
Even CBS Radio's attitude has become reserved because of this.
Radio Corporation of America has a huge influence in radio, and the most critical thing about a radio station is its signal receiving station.
However, after recently learning that NBC was in contact with Colin again, CBS Radio has obviously become a little anxious. Relying on the popularity of the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama, the radio station finally surpassed NBC in terms of listening ratings. If Colin leaves CBS and goes to NBC, it will not only mean Colin's departure, but also " "Adventures of Superman" and an entire radio drama falling apart.
This obviously has caused extremely adverse changes to the development of CBS Radio.
This is why CBS Radio immediately invited Colin to meet after learning the news.
Colin was not surprised that CBS wanted to meet with him.
After all, he was the one who arranged for this news to be released.
The purpose is to force CBS Radio to make a decision in advance. In the future, if he wants to promote the development of television, radio station is obviously an indispensable part.
Of course, even if the outcome of the negotiations between CBS Radio and him is not as expected, Colin will not be worried.
His contact with NBC is not some fake news.
…
"Mr. Colin."
Once again on CBS Radio and William Paley, this time the expression on the other person's face was obviously not as relaxed as before.
He received instructions from the senior management of CBS Radio and must retain Colin.
"Sorry to disturb you under such circumstances..."
The lawsuit between Colin and the radio company was also reported by CBS's news station, so in the first sentence of the meeting, William Paley first expressed his apology.
"You're welcome. Even if we don't meet, I will arrange for someone to send the script for the new episode to the radio station."
As he spoke, Colin gestured to Louise Walton beside him, who quickly took out the prepared script.
"The Mystery of the Wax Man"
On top of the script Colin presented, William Paley saw the name of the latest episode of the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama.
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In the plot of this episode, a boy wearing a red uniform and a cape with the letter R printed on it appeared. He claimed to be Batman's assistant Robin and came to Metropolis to seek help from Superman because Batman was missing. .
This is the first time Batman is mentioned in The Adventures of Superman and the first time Batman appears in a radio drama.
As the head of CBS Radio, William Paley is also listening to the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama.
Looking at the newly written radio drama script in front of him, William Paley suppressed the thought of reading it in his heart and returned his attention to the conversation with Colin in front of him. ….
"So, William, why are you looking for me this time?"
Although, Colin knew very well in his heart that William Paley or the CBS behind him had the purpose of interviewing him.
But on the surface, he still asked with a puzzled expression.
"Is it because you have already studied and judged the cooperation proposals you made before?"
Hearing Colin mention the fact of cooperation, the expression on William Paley's face became even more bitter.
If possible, William Paley naturally hopes that the TV cooperation can be postponed for a while, at least until the patent lawsuit between Colin and RCA is resolved before CBS can make a decision.
But obviously, Colin in front of him did not intend to give them such time.
"Concerning the matter of cooperation, CBS has already started a heated discussion within CBS. I believe it will not take long before we can give you a satisfactory reply to Mr. Colin."
Thinking of this, William Paley gave a thoughtful reply.
From William Paley's words, Colin could already roughly see CBS's cooperative attitude. He nodded and did not dwell on this matter to avoid being too aggressive. Instead, he changed the subject and returned to On top of the meeting issues.
Seeing that Colin didn't press for more on the issue of cooperation, William Paley breathed a sigh of relief, and then brought up the topic.
God scanned the radio drama script in front of him and asked Colin in a tentative tone: "So far, the radio drama "Adventures of Superman" has been broadcast on CBS for nineteen episodes, and the listening rate has always ranked first among radio dramas. The position of No. 1 also brings considerable advertising revenue..."
"It can be said that in terms of cooperating with the radio drama of "Adventures of Superman", the radio station has been working hard to cooperate with you, Mr. Colin. Whether it is your previous changes to the radio drama or the promotion of the ending, CBS Radio has not done anything about it. Any complaints."
After careful consideration, William Paley decided to use the emotional card in his collaboration with Colin on "Adventures of Superman."
"I am also grateful for the cooperation and assistance of CBS Radio. The success of "Superman Adventures" is not only due to me alone, but also the efforts of CBS and the Mercury Theater Company that dubbed it. Without them, there would be no "Superman Adventures" now. "The success of the radio drama."
Since William Paley wanted to play the emotional card, Colin naturally cooperated with him.
In front of William Paley, he expressed his gratitude and also vaguely revealed the difficulties he was currently experiencing.
"But, as you know, William, in order to complete the creation of the weekly "Adventures of Superman" radio drama, I also expended a lot of energy. After all, I have more than just radio dramas in my hands. In addition to the newspaper office The operation and creation of comics are also time-consuming and labor-intensive work. Especially in recent times, things in the media have affected a lot of my energy, making me feel a little overwhelmed. "
With Colin's current physical condition, there will be no problems like what he said.
But this did not prevent him from using it as a reason to tell William Paley in front of him.
I don’t know Colin’s real situation, but from a practical point of view, William Paley was indeed persuaded by Colin. ….
After all, if he were in the other party's shoes, he would have to be responsible for so many things every day, which would not be an easy task.
Seeing the touched expression on William Paley's face, Colin smiled inwardly and said with a difficult expression on the surface.
"So, even if we don't have this meeting, I actually plan to find a time to contact CBS Radio. Regarding the follow-up broadcast of the "Adventures of Superman" radio series, it may be forced to end."
"What, it's over, absolutely not!"
Immediately hearing that Colin wanted to end "The Adventures of Superman", William Paley immediately objected.
"Sorry, Mr. Colin, I was a little too excited when I suddenly heard such news."
Immediately afterwards, he reacted and apologized to Colin, but he still said firmly in his attitude.
Taking a deep breath and suppressing his emotions, William Paley looked at Colin in front of him. Although he didn't know the real reason why the other party ended the radio drama, he thought of the impact behind it once "Adventures of Superman" stopped playing on CBS. William Paley felt a headache when he saw the commercial interests, especially the problems between advertisers, and the subsequent impact on radio listeners.
There was no way the "Adventures of Superman" radio series should be allowed to end, at least not by his hands.
What's more, once the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama is broadcast on CBS and other stations, such as NBC, the impact on CBS will be unprecedentedly huge.
Suppressing the possibility of this horror, William Paley tried to control his emotions and asked Colin: "Mr. Colin, have you already made a decision about ending the "Adventures of Superman" radio series? ..."
"This is just my current personal thought."
Fortunately, the answer given by Colin made William Paley feel a little more at ease, at least it was not something that had been confirmed.
"In this case, I hope Mr. Colin you can think about it seriously. After all, the cooperation between CBS Radio and you has always been quite pleasant. I hope this pleasant cooperative relationship will not only be maintained now, but also will be maintained in the future. Even this kind of cooperative relationship,
It can not only be limited to radio dramas, but as you mentioned before, Mr. Colin, cooperation on television is also a direction..."
"As for the issue of TV patents, CBS Radio has actually inquired with lawyers and determined that with formal patent protection, RCA's actions have no legality. Therefore, even if the radio station cooperates with you , it won’t be affected too much.”
CBS Radio, ended the program talk.
William Paley watched Colin leave, and the smile that had been hanging on his lips gradually faded away.
Regardless of whether Colin's statement that he wants to end "Adventures of Superman" is true or false, he has already expressed his attitude, and CBS Radio must also respond. Otherwise, the "Adventures of Superman" radio drama may really be canceled due to End for this reason.
"The TV..."
However, thinking of what Colin had mentioned intentionally or unintentionally during the conversation, the expression on William Paley's face began to become a little helpless again.
He sighed silently before putting away the expression on his face.
Anyway, he has done what he should do, and now it is up to CBS radio executives to discuss it.
Stealing the Heart on the Moon
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