America 1982-Chapter 262 - 4: The Program Approach of BT Television_2

"Everything seems true to type, not a single character that the other party holds copyright to, we just need to let the viewers understand, no need to spell it out, leaving no opportunity for them to trouble us. I will avoid all risks," Rick said immediately upon hearing his boss’s concerns:

"Otherwise, if we continue to shoot those simple movies with hardly any plot, we will eventually be eliminated by the market."

"You know what? You’re the first to be eliminated." His boss threw his plan back at Rick like it was garbage: "I’m giving you a long vacation, during which you can prepare a new plan for me or use it to find a new job. We are a small movie producer in San Fernando Valley, not Hollywood blockbusters. We only focus on the body."

"Perhaps by the time my vacation is over, your company will have closed down." Rick picked up his plan, sighed, and finally pushed back his chair and started to walk out.

...

"You haven’t seen those previous program scheduling plans from BT Television, have you?" Tommy asked Rick.

Rick Russo shook his head, running a hand through his tousled red hair: "I only know that the station wants to attract black audiences, beyond that, I’m clueless; nobody talks to me about anything related to program production."

"Good, because those previous plans are all useless. I’ve designed roughly over thirty program proposals, all of them... the kind of trash that Wolfe Tuck loves; he’s black, but in the strict sense, he’s really not black anymore," Tommy said frankly as he took a sip of coffee:

"But I hope you’ve looked at the dozen or so survey data Wolfe Tuck and his team helped BT with initially." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"BT Television previously conducted seventeen surveys on TV programs for the majority of low-income black communities in California, I’ve reviewed all the data," Rick nodded: "The surveys were excellently conducted."

"You think I pay them for no reason?" Tommy said matter-of-factly upon hearing Rick’s praise for the surveys before asking, "Got anything to say?"

"Lower-class blacks prefer programs that satisfy voyeuristic and exhibitionist cravings, and all the survey data eventually point to these two aspects," Rick rubbed his chin thoughtfully before saying to Tommy:

"Actually, voyeurism is innate in humans, but due to self-discipline, morals, or decent education, people from other classes can suppress and control this desire, unlike those at the bottom. If they had self-discipline, they wouldn’t be at the bottom. Their voyeuristic desires are the strongest. They want to see, so we’ll show them, cater to their desires, show them what they can’t see in reality but often fantasize about."

"I agree on that point," Tommy said with satisfaction.

Truth be told, Mark had shown Rick’s profile to him for the first time, and he was quite pleased. First, he was a professional, a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in film production. Second, it was the 1980s, porn wasn’t as overt as it became later, but this guy was already thinking about refining it to avoid homogeneity and viewer fatigue. This meant he had his own judgment about the market, not flowing with the tide, knowing what kinds of programs to create to fit the market. Whether or not his programs actually fit was another question, but the fact that he was good at thinking was already far superior to many stagnated industry veterans.

Rick continued: "Next is exhibitionism. What do low-income black men and women care about? Hairstyles that garner admiration, cheap but beautiful clothes, flashy shoes—if they possess any of these, believe me, they would want to flaunt it to everyone, in hopes of winning envious gazes and getting immense satisfaction."

"And disproportionate greed compared to their social status—the lower the class, the more the greed. In fact, when I first looked at the survey data Miss O’Connor handed me, I couldn’t help but speculate, and now I’d like to confirm something," Rick said while looking at Tommy, tentatively asking:

Tommy put down his coffee cup and asked: "What’s your question?"

"Is it that BT Television has never considered targeting all black demographics? Those high-income, middle-class blacks aren’t our target audience at all, or in other words, BT Television is only focused on the largest base of low-income blacks," Rick said, looking directly at Tommy, voicing his inner speculation.

Tommy nodded slightly, speaking in an even tone: "I won’t deny it, because there are too few blacks in the other classes, they aren’t the main viewers; from a ratings perspective, it’s indeed like that."

"Because I feel voyeurism and exhibitionism, traits like those, will make the well-off blacks dislike our station’s style," Rick said, scratching his head: "Well-off blacks mostly subconsciously avoid watching programs that low-income blacks like, I learned this problem during my time in college from my black classmates."

Tommy nodded: "Based on your summary of the voyeurism, exhibitionism, and greed of the lower-class black community, do you have any suggestions for the station’s program production and scheduling? Let’s chat casually, we have plenty of time."

"By using the ’Prime Time Restriction Regulations,’ secure a place in prime time. Although there are twenty-four hours in a day, we only have one hour to seize the opportunity," Rick confidently said: "Every independent station aiming to snatch some ratings, to acquire a batch of regular viewers, starts with this precious one hour."