Chapter 86: Rounding Off, Net Worth Reaches Ten Million (Jiangshan Yue Ru Hua Alliance)

Late March, "Conquest" premiered on the Beijing TV network.

The ratings were quite good, steadily hovering around 8% locally, and the drama frequently cracked the top three among Tongqi TV dramas.

Compared to Nanjing and Tianjin, where viewership was hot but influence remained largely local, with only minor buzz mostly riding on the coattails of "Demigods and Semi-Devils."

But Beijing was different—it was the national center, home to numerous media outlets, many of them nationwide.

Thus, after "Conquest" became popular in Beijing, it quickly drew coverage from multiple authoritative media outlets, rapidly expanding its influence from isolated regions toward a nationwide scale.

Not only print media, but online discussions also surged.

Yan Li personally saw netizens asking where to buy DVDs of "Conquest."

This pushed him to accelerate negotiations for the "Conquest" DVD rights; with the SARS outbreak looming, he was willing to accept less profit rather than risk delays.

The current TV drama DVD rights market was dominated by buyout deals, with revenue sharing being rare.

Mainly because piracy was rampant, with pirated copies outnumbering legitimate ones nearly 7:3—this was even being generous; in some regions, the ratio might reach 9:1.

DVD audiovisual companies held multiple rights, allowing them to leverage volume to spread risk.

A single film or drama project carried too much risk and a long payback period; better to take a lump-sum buyout fee.

Yan Li used the system to uncover the audiovisual company’s bottom line!

Buyouts were priced per episode: ordinary dramas ranged from 5,000 to 20,000 yuan; popular dramas cost more, roughly 30,000 to 50,000 yuan per episode.

According to Yan Li’s research, "The Golden Powder Family," which had just aired on CCTV-8, had sold its DVD rights before premiere at a conservative rate due to its high episode count—25,000 yuan per episode, totaling 1 million yuan for forty episodes.

"Conquest" had strong initial data and fewer episodes; the audiovisual company offered 30,000 yuan per episode, totaling 600,000 yuan.

As for revenue sharing, the audiovisual company’s floor was a maximum of 20%.

According to current market standards, popular TV dramas typically sold 100,000 to 300,000 legitimate DVD sets, with each set priced between 20 and 50 yuan.

Taking a midpoint, if "Conquest" sold 200,000 sets at 35 yuan each, that would total 7 million yuan; a 20% share would be 1.4 million yuan.

Even ignoring whether "Conquest" could reach that sales volume, this figure included all cost deductions.

Even if the pure profit were 1.4 million yuan, market norms dictated a payback period of at least one to two years.

Because of this, Yan Li immediately abandoned the idea of revenue sharing.

It wasn’t that Yan Li believed he could earn more than 1.4 million yuan using the 600,000 yuan buyout;

it was that he wasn’t sure whether the audiovisual company would even survive one or two years later.

The DVD market wasn’t booming at all—it was fiercely competitive, squeezed by piracy and the internet, with audiovisual companies going bankrupt left and right.

Given this market environment, film and TV companies universally preferred buyouts over revenue sharing.

Yan Li didn’t try to be unconventional; after understanding the situation, even though he knew "Conquest" might have explosive DVD sales, he still signed the buyout contract.

Don’t force yourself to earn money beyond your capability!

Greedily chasing maximum profit isn’t wise; know when to stop, and cooperate for mutual gain.

Let the audiovisual company earn more this time; next project negotiations might go smoother.

Besides, the intelligence only said "Conquest" DVD sales were booming—it didn’t specify whether it was the legitimate or pirated market.

…

Compared to the uncertainty and minor gains of DVDs, Yan Li focused his main efforts on satellite TV rights.

This was the real profit engine for TV dramas!

Although Beijing’s ratings were strong, Beijing Satellite TV and Tianjin Satellite TV remained cautious, watching to see if "Conquest"’s influence could grow further.

They wanted to see whether there was still room for further momentum.

Instead, Hebei Satellite TV, which Yan Li had never dealt with before, seeing the drama’s impact in Beijing and Tianjin, proactively reached out and became the first local satellite channel to directly bid for "Conquest."

The price wasn’t high: 150,000 yuan per episode, totaling 3 million yuan!

But considering Hebei Satellite TV was the first buyer, bearing the risk, and would likely trigger other channels to follow suit, Yan Li accepted the contract.

Almost immediately after Yan Li and Hebei Satellite TV reached an agreement, the previously ambivalent Tianjin Satellite TV grew restless.

Tianjin Satellite TV had been the first to approach Yan Li and negotiate, but had delayed making a decision—never expecting an outsider to suddenly jump in.

It was like watching meat simmer in a pot, waiting for the perfect flavor before taking a bite, only to have someone else with no manners snatch it first.

If that’s the case, then no more waiting—the meat would be gone.

Once Tianjin Satellite TV made up its mind, it quickly reached an agreement with Yan Li.

180,000 yuan per episode, totaling 3.6 million yuan!

600,000 + 3 million + 3.6 million—two satellite contracts plus DVD rights—Yan Li received 7.2 million yuan in one go.

Rounded off, his net worth had reached ten million yuan!

After this, other satellite channels approached, but lacked sincerity, so Yan Li held back.

Now that he had money in hand, and all the long months of effort hadn’t been in vain, Yan Li’s mindset grew calmer and steadier.

If more satellite channels came to buy, he’d push for a higher price.

Nowadays, although there was no official rule limiting how many satellite channels could air a single drama simultaneously, industry consensus, based on data, held that:

Unless it was a super-hit, a normal satellite drama could support at most three to four channels airing it concurrently.

Otherwise, viewership would scatter, resources would be wasted, and everyone would end up with nothing.

Thus, after selling "Conquest" to two satellite channels, he could sell it to at most one or two more, then wait several months for the second round.

————

Beijing, a residential community

Yan Li handed Gao Qunshu a bank transfer slip and smiled: “Director Gao, I know you’re short on cash—I’ve gathered 2 million yuan for you, use it first; the rest should be settled before year-end.”

In reality, Yan Li could have scraped together enough to clear Gao’s entire balance right now.

But paying too quickly might make Gao suspicious—he’d rather drag it out a little, play the victim, and let Gao feel better about it.

Gao Qunshu glanced at the transfer slip and sighed: “Director Yan, thank you this time.”

"Conquest" was doing so well now, yet he’d handed the golden mine over to someone else—no one would believe he had no resentment.

But when he couldn’t sell the drama at all, it was Yan Li who stepped in and took the hot potato off his hands—Gao owed him that favor.

Moreover, without Yan Li running around, handling distribution and promotion, selling "Conquest" to one TV station after another,

the drama might have just sat rotting in a warehouse, and Gao might never have enjoyed today’s fame.

So although Gao’s feelings were complicated, his overall impression of Yan Li remained positive.

Yan Li had seen this through the system, which was why he came in person to deliver the money and actively mended ties with Gao.

Human grudges and favors always boil down to money!

When interests are involved—especially millions or tens of millions—it’s not enough to be right; you can’t just argue your way clear.

To be honest, when "Conquest" started making money, Yan Li had already prepared to end the contract with Gao and cut all ties—even to become enemies.

Fortunately, Gao had good character and perspective, able to understand and accept this gap in profit.

Since Gao understood, Yan Li was happy to keep in touch—there might be future collaborations.

“Director Gao, I should be the one thanking you. As I always say: you shoot well, I sell well.”

“No, no, no—I say the same thing: even fine wine fears a deep alley. The same drama is dog shit in your hands, but fragrant everywhere in mine—that’s talent.”

The two exchanged flattery so thickly that Liu Weiwei, bringing over fruit, couldn’t take it anymore.

“Enough. Neither of you needs to thank the other—you’ve mutually elevated each other, a perfect match.”

Gao slapped his thigh: “That’s right!”

Yan Li glanced at Gao Qunshu’s bulky frame and fierce face, and corrected Liu Weiwei’s wording.

“Complementary and perfect match—that’s for you two as a couple.”

Holy hell, being a perfect match with Old Gao—he’d jump off the rooftop right now…

————

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(End of Chapter)