Chapter 86: Rounded Off, Net Worth Reached Ten Million (Jiang Shan Yue Ru Hua Alliance)

Late March, "The Conquest" premiered on Jingcheng's television network.

The ratings were quite strong, consistently hovering around 8% locally, and it repeatedly ranked among the top three TV dramas in the region during its broadcast period.

Compared to Jin Ling and Jinmen, where viewership was hot but influence remained largely local, with only minor buzz mostly riding on "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

But Jingcheng was different—it was the national center, with a large number of media outlets, many of them nationwide.

Thus, after "The Conquest" became popular in Jingcheng, it quickly drew coverage from multiple authoritative media outlets, and its influence rapidly expanded from isolated regions toward the entire nation.

Not just print media, but online discussions also surged.

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

This accelerated his negotiations for the DVD rights; with the SARS outbreak looming, he was willing to take less rather than risk delays.

The current TV drama DVD rights market was dominated by buyouts, with few revenue-sharing deals.

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

DVD audiovisual companies held multiple rights and could leverage volume to spread risk.

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

Yan Li used the system to probe the audiovisual company's bottom line!

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

"The Conquest" had strong opening 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 bottom line was a maximum of 20%.

In today's market, legitimate DVD sales for popular series typically ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 copies, with each authorized DVD priced between 20 and 50 yuan.

Taking a midpoint, if "The Conquest" sold 200,000 copies at 35 yuan each, that would be 7 million yuan; 20% of that is 1.4 million yuan.

Never mind whether "The Conquest" could even reach that sales volume—this figure already included all cost deductions.

Even if it were 1.4 million yuan pure profit, according to market norms, payback would take 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 with the 600,000 yuan buyout;

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

The current DVD market wasn't booming—it was fiercely competitive, squeezed by piracy and the internet, with audiovisual companies going bankrupt everywhere.

Given this market environment, film and TV companies generally chose buyouts over revenue sharing.

Yan Li didn't try to be unconventional; after understanding the situation, even though he knew "The 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 make more this time; next time, other projects might be easier to negotiate.

Besides, the intelligence only said "The Conquest" DVD sales were hot—it didn't specify whether that meant the legitimate or pirated market.

…

Compared to the uncertainty and small-scale nature of DVD sales, Yan Li focused his main efforts on satellite TV rights.

This was the real profit engine for TV dramas!

Although it performed well in Jingcheng, Jingcheng Satellite and Jinmen Satellite were still holding back, observing.

They wanted to see whether "The Conquest" had further potential to grow.

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

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

But considering Hebei Satellite was the first buyer, bearing the risk, and would likely trigger other satellites to follow, Yan Li agreed to the contract.

Almost immediately after Yan Li and Hebei Satellite reached an agreement, the previously ambivalent Jinmen Satellite could no longer wait.

Jinmen Satellite had been the first to contact and negotiate with Yan Li, but had delayed making a decision—only to have Cheng Yaojin suddenly appear.

It was like watching meat in a pot, waiting for the perfect moment to take it, only for someone else to sneak in and grab it first.

If that's the case, then don't wait anymore—otherwise the meat will be all gone.

Once Jinmen Satellite 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!

After this, other satellite channels approached him, but their offers lacked sincerity, so Yan Li held off.

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

If any satellite channel came to buy the drama now, he'd aim to sell it for as high a price as possible.

Nowadays, although there was no official rule limiting how many satellite channels could air a single drama simultaneously, the industry had reached a general consensus based on data.

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.

So after selling "The Conquest" to two satellite channels, he could sell it to at most one or two more, then wait several months before a second round of sales.

————

Jingcheng, a certain 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 cleared Gao's remaining payment in full if he'd really squeezed his funds.

But paying too quickly might make Gao suspicious—he could afford to delay slightly, play up his own hardship, and make Gao feel better about it.

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

"The Conquest" is airing so well now, yet you let the treasure mountain slip through your fingers—if Gao Xin really had no grudge, no fool would believe it.

But back then, when he couldn't sell the script for anything, it was Yan Li who stepped forward to lend a hand, taking over the hot potato—this debt Gao Xin must acknowledge.

And furthermore, without Yan Li running around tirelessly to handle distribution and promotion, selling "The Conquest" to one television station after another—

"The Conquest" might have just sat rotting in some warehouse, and Gao Xin might never have enjoyed the fame he has today.

Thus, though Gao Xin's inner feelings were complex, his overall impression of Yan Li remained largely positive.

Yan Li, having seen this through the system, was willing to come in person to deliver the money, actively easing tensions with Gao Xin and drawing closer emotionally.

In this world, grudges and debts never escape the word "money."

When interests are involved—especially interests reaching millions, even tens of millions—it's not enough to be right to settle things clearly.

To be honest, when "The Conquest" was making money, Yan Li had already prepared to terminate his contract with Gao Xin and cut all ties forever, even braced himself for enmity.

Fortunately, Gao Xin's mindset and perspective were good enough to understand and accept this disparity in profit.

Since Gao Xin could see it clearly, Yan Li naturally preferred to maintain closer ties—there might be future opportunities for collaboration.

"Director Gao, if anyone should thank, it's me. As I always say: you directed it well, so I could sell it well."

"No no no, I'll say the same thing: even fine wine fears a deep alley. The same drama is dog shit in my hands, but fragrant on every street in yours—that's talent."

The two exchanged compliments, mutual flattery, until Liu Weiwei, carrying fruit, could no longer bear to listen.

"Enough. Neither of you needs to thank the other—you've mutually elevated each other, a perfect match."

Gao Xin slapped his thigh: "That's true."

Yan Li glanced at Gao Xin's bulky frame and fierce face, and corrected Liu Weiwei's phrasing.

"Complementary and perfect match—that's for you two as a couple."

Good heavens, to be a perfect match with Old Gao—he'd just step outside and jump off the rooftop right now…

————

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(End of Chapter)