America 1982-Chapter 339 - 28: Things Are Getting Interesting
Tommy was prepared to treat everyone himself, bringing up the idea of a night of mild madness at the nightclub with Rick and his team who came up with "How to Marry a Millionaire." However, his plan was disrupted by a call from Sean, the vice president of public relations.
In the end, Tommy could only have Rick apologize on his behalf to the employees below, changing the plan to a casual visit to the nightclub at their leisure, with the bill being covered by him, who couldn’t make it in person.
Sean’s tone on the phone was very rushed, only telling Tommy not to entertain tonight and to either wait at the company for his call or rush back in person. His exact words were:
"Tommy, we need to prepare to help a widow."
This one sentence got Tommy excited.
Indeed, how could a man refuse to lend a hand to a widow? So Tommy specially canceled his evening swimming and fitness classes, staying late at the office, working overtime in anticipation of the opportunity Sean would give him to help a widow.
The presence of this vice president in charge of public relations was not prominent within the television station. Frankly speaking, people from other departments at BT Television almost forgot about this chubby, honest-looking middle-aged man, who hardly ever appeared at the station. His office was mostly vacant, with only a few ordinary clerks from the public relations department moving about the company, handling various documents, proving that BT Television still had such a department.
But Tommy knew that Sean was perhaps the busiest person at BT Television. If others simply carried out their tasks according to instructions, then Sean was like the antennae of BT Television, a tiny ant released to explore all the unknowns and then relay back the information he discovered.
He had to fly to Washington once every week to ensure he could track or obtain the latest developments from government departments and industry associations, policies, and regulations in a timely manner because waiting half a year to get these seemingly insignificant but industry-impacting updates from newspapers and news available to any ordinary American was not an option.
He also needed to be responsible for establishing communication channels with state governments, city governments, local television industry associations, and national television industry associations for BT Television.
He needed to review the television station’s programs for potentially offensive content that might upset racial minorities, promptly communicate with Rick’s programming department to meet Rick’s needs, and help him slowly build a program library for BT Television. He dealt with various sellers in the syndicated programming market on Rick’s behalf and engaged in networking with other genuinely powerful, not small-scale ones like the Big Jack Three Brothers, local friendly stations in California, searching for cooperation opportunities with large television networks’ flagship stations like CBS, NBC, and ABC.
He even had to draft contingency plans for all sorts of emergencies that may arise after broadcasting BT’s various programs.
So when he said to Tommy that they needed to help a widow, it definitely wasn’t as simple as seeing a pretty widowed woman and looking for an opportunity to hook Tommy up with a chat.
It wasn’t until 9:40 PM that Sean appeared at the company, his face reeking of alcohol. He first pushed open the door to Tommy’s office, giving him a wait-a-moment gesture, then quickly stepped into the restroom to vomit out the alcohol, splashed his face with cold water, dried it off, and chewed on two pieces of gum before sitting across Tommy, staring straight at him.
However, soon he rose again, dragging his hefty frame around the office in a zigzag pattern in front of Tommy. His clumsy steps, combined with his physique, made Sean look like a limping duck.
"Know what this is about, Tommy?" After performing this ridiculous routine, Sean sat back down and said to Tommy, "KNBC’s public relations expert, Marco, sat across from me for three damn hours, boasting about his brave actions during a school shooting he experienced as a child. He got so carried away that he even demonstrated to me the nimble footwork he used to dodge the shooter’s bullets."
KNBC is NBC’s flagship station in the California region and one of the seven main stations directly owned by NBC, a true linchpin within NBC’s network.
In America, nearly 200 television stations broadcast NBC’s programs, classified as the NBC television network, but NBC Group directly owns only seven stations. The other hundred-plus stations are all brought into NBC’s fold through partnerships.
Tommy watched Sean with amusement, then got up and poured him a glass of water himself: "I’m not concerned with how a man survives, Sean. I’m more interested in how to help a widow."
"To help a widow, one must first watch that jerk wiggle his ass for three hours. You’re luckier, boss. You only had to watch me wiggle once. Moreover, my rear end is clearly more perky and fuller than that old guy’s withered buttocks," Sean said with a laugh, pulling out a cigarette from his suit pocket and lighting it:
"After viewing our pilot episode, KNBC is willing to help us persuade their brother stations in Philadelphia and Chicago to buy our show’s regional broadcasting rights through the syndicated programming market. They think the substantial African American communities in those regions will like our show, but that’s on the condition we offer an attractive price and do a small favor for KNBC."
"Help a widow?" Tommy nodded slightly and asked.
