America 1982-Chapter 345 - 29: Things Are Getting Interesting_3
"Earl Rash?"
"Earl Rash."
"Then this woman is truly pitiable, seeing her tumultuous experience in love, perhaps she will find compensation in business."
"Thank you, goodbye."
...
At three in the morning, in the conference room of KTTV’s headquarters, situated on Sunset Boulevard in West Los Angeles, at the Metropolitan Media Plaza.
KTTV President Jamie Crosby stood in front of the conference room window, gazing at the tranquil night outside.
Behind him, the spacious conference room, well over a hundred square meters large, was now filled with all the mid-level and higher employees of KTTV. The men wore tired expressions, while the women were bare-faced, clearly having been roused from their beds by a sudden phone call to attend this extraordinary meeting.
Each person clutched a cup of strong coffee, meant to stimulate their minds.
Yet the convener of the meeting, Jamie Crosby, remained with his back to them all, looking out the window, without uttering a word.
This imposed silence by the leader, as it prolonged, became more effective than the coffee in their hands at awakening them.
"You’ve been in this room for fifteen minutes already," said the forty-seven-year-old Jamie Crosby, who wore tortoise shell round glasses. He turned around, lightly pushed his glasses with his finger, and glanced over the crowd with an emotionless face:
"So, if you haven’t blinded yourselves, you should have noticed that this room is missing eleven familiar faces. Including myself, there are only fifty-two people left. I received Mr. Rupert Murdoch’s tacit approval, and then after speaking individually with each useless vice president and his foolish team—who were sent by Mr. Murdoch to ’help’ me but did nothing but meddle and boast about the most beautiful picture of an English woman’s breasts he had taken for Mr. Murdoch—I purged them from KTTV. Now, this room is filled with people I personally brought over or poached from CBS, my own people."
Although Jamie’s voice sounded emotionless, his words visibly relaxed everyone in the room. Their boss was indeed an iron-fisted figure, and it seemed that after Fox’s acquisition of KTTV, the three-faction struggle within the station had finally concluded, with Jamie Crosby leading their CBS faction to a sweeping victory, gaining sole dominance over KTTV.
The original KTTV team, who had different philosophies from Murdoch, had been exiled by Jamie to Seattle under the guise of Murdoch’s name.
Then came the vice president and his management team, sent by Murdoch to supervise them, who were now completely ousted that night.
Everyone’s spirits were lifted; no longer could anyone interfere with their ideas, work, or even their preferred tastes in tea and coffee.
"I wouldn’t advise you all to feel too happy too soon. The reason I spoke to those people individually was that I maintained the most basic respect for them, something you obviously do not deserve. That’s why I summoned all of you here, you’re not worthy." Jamie Crosby walked to the conference table, picked up a cup of coffee from in front of one of his subordinates, and sniffed it, then looked at everyone:
"It doesn’t smell like it’s from Los Angeles."
A woman from the administration department spoke up, "It’s Guatemalan imported coffee beans, purchased at ten dollars per pound."
"Nice benefits, right? Imported coffee beans flowing like water. When I first recruited you to follow me, I promised each one of you that you would have a job with higher pay, a position higher than your roles at NBC, and that I would be like a minesweeper, clearing all obstacles from your path. As of tonight, one year and two months later, I’ve made good on my promises. Our relationship, as of tonight, moves from the first stage into the second," Jamie Crosby set down the coffee cup, looked at everyone with a calm face, and spoke in a nonchalant tone:
"If during the first phase, you were my close comrades and indispensable family members, then in the second phase, you became the dog shit in my eyes that I can’t wait to toss out at any given moment."
The crowd was instantly in an uproar.
Jamie looked at the crowd, spread his hands wide, and asked, "How many of you think KTTV’s ratings aren’t too bad?"
Most of the people present raised their hands. After all, before they joined KTTV, its ratings in California were ranked sixth, but with the acquisition by Fox and the costly hiring of Jamie Crosby to take charge of KTTV, along with their support, the ratings had stabilized at third to fourth place within just one year, and they would even occasionally surge to second place. The progress was obvious.
Perhaps, this achievement was also the main reason Murdoch could tolerate Jamie Crosby ousting the trusted aides he’d sent to oversee KTTV.
"You seem to have forgotten that you come from CBS, the number one television network in the United States, from New York WCBS, the flagship station within CBS with the highest ratings. You were a group of aces among aces. I always remember the late nights we spent together at WCBS, but since coming to Los Angeles, you seem to have forgotten what hard work is. Every night at seven o’clock, I see nearly all the lights in your offices go out. So, did I ask Mr. Murdoch to fork out a hefty sum to ask you to come to Los Angeles for retirement?" Jamie’s gaze swept over everyone with the sharpness of a hawk:
"Without those series and variety shows made from Fox’s genuine cash, could KTTV maintain its third to fourth place? Don’t kid yourselves; you can’t even beat local youngsters like CNNfn and FNN from California’s television scene. I’ve been focused on cleaning up internally; thus, I had to stabilize your morale. But now that the internal enemies have been cleared, I must tell it to you straight—you are piles and piles of dog shit. For instance, the news department’s self-produced news talk show that you’re so proud of, where the host and guests look as somber as if they are fucking the Allies and the United States in a negotiation, so full of depth that I feel like I should pray devoutly before watching it with due respect!"
Upon hearing Jamie mention the news department, the members of the department all looked up at him.
Jamie looked back coldly at the members of the news department: "Don’t bring the WCBS news routine here. We need more sensational social news, not fucking in-depth talks. The audience group that loves to watch ’America’s Most Wanted,’ do you think they are interested in your carefully prepared topics about economic inflation? Maybe they can’t even spell the word ’inflation.’ Do you know what sensational means? A tabloid reported that a Democratic Party congressman claimed a strong correlation between AIDS and the black race. Which tabloid? Of course, it’s from Mr. Murdoch’s New York Post. He has already prepared various eye-catching news stories for us in the paper. Based on that news, provoking the viewers’ emotions, that’s called sensationalism."
"But Jamie, a news program isn’t a talk show; news doesn’t need to pander to the lowest common denominator but should be deep, teaching the audience to think," countered a middle-aged man from the news department while holding a coffee cup.
"Johnny, right? Johnny Moore, I remember you. You’re fired. Go home, get some good rest, then come in tomorrow to deal with the handover," Jamie first called out the man’s name, then bluntly announced his decision, and immediately looked at the others:
"Anyone else trying to explain to Rupert Murdoch, the pioneer of tabloid-style news with The Sun, that news needs depth? If so, leave with Johnny. If you don’t even know your boss’s preferences, it’s better not to stand out and flaunt your supposedly correct yet laughable opinions. Your stupid suggestions are overshadowing your merits, Johnny."
Johnny Moore, who had rushed in late at night, stood there cup in hand, dazed and confused by the fact he had been singled out and fired.
The others were silent as the grave.
At that moment, footsteps were heard in the corridor. Jamie Crosby’s secretary, who had worked for him for many years, walked in, not minding the others present, and said to her boss with an urgent tone, "Jamie, the PR department just confirmed some news – it seems there’s a new twist in the broadcasting rights for the next season’s away games of the NFL Los Angeles Rams."
"That’s normal; there’s always someone who can offer a higher price. So, is it NBC’s KNBC, or CBS’s GCTV?" Jamie reacted calmly to the bad news.
In the television industry, everything went to the highest bidder. If one failed to gain something, it was certainly because someone else had offered a higher price.
"No, the colleague from the PR department said, it’s a TV station called BTTV that seems to have entered into a deep partnership with Georgia," said the secretary, not mentioning the two powerful competitors Jamie had in mind but an entirely unfamiliar name.
Jamie turned around and looked at his secretary: "What, did they spring up from a watermelon field? How come I’ve never heard of this name before?"
"That’s exactly what I’m about to speak of—not only you, but our colleagues from the PR department never heard of this TV station before," the secretary said, somewhat uneasily looking at Jamie.
Jamie walked back to the window, looking out at Los Angeles at three in the morning: "Things are starting to get interesting."
