America 1982-Chapter 349 - 31: They Have the Right to Know the Truth
Investigating the sudden emergence of BT Television was not a challenge for Jamie Crosby, a seasoned insider in the industry.
The industry was essentially transparent, and anyone who was determined could uncover the general state of any television network.
It took him almost half an hour to flip through the information about BT Television until he reached the last page, which showed that BT Television’s latest activity was a collaboration with Marvel Animation Production Company, a subsidiary of New World Entertainment, to launch a cartoon aimed at attracting young African American male viewers.
The data indicated that this cartoon was adapted from Marvel Comics’ 70s issue "Black Panther: Jungle Action," which had poor sales at the time.
In addition to this cartoon, the data revealed that the network had a large number of television programs either already produced or in post-production, including a show similar to a Black version of "The Godfather" called "NiggerBoss," a crime comedy about a single black mother taking risks to start a business to raise her child called "Single Poison Mom," efforts to acquire broadcast rights for Los Angeles Rams’ away games, and a series of reality shows similar to FOX’s style but with even lower moral standards.
Looking at the list of BT Television’s self-produced variety shows, even Jamie Crosby, who had been in the television industry for years, couldn’t help but exclaim with a "Wow."
"Finding Daddy in America," a show that helps single black mothers looking for a steady meal ticket find husbands who disappear after a night with them.
"All-Around Gun Modding King," an educational show that teaches viewers how to live frugally, like how to buy the cheapest gun and modify it in various ways to maximize its performance and make it more practical and effective.
"The Mothers of My Child," a reality show mainly about a wealthy man’s extravagant life with his wives and mistresses.
"The Ultimate Pregnancy Makeup King," a reality show that claims to focus on pregnant women, featuring single pregnant women who, with the aid of the show, conceal their baby bumps as they flirt and interact with men, deceiving them into bed and marriage registration. The one who finds a long-term provider for her unborn child and herself can win a prize of a hundred thousand dollars from the show.
"Big Brother is Watching You," a program that satisfies voyeuristic desires and allows viewers to play God over the participants.
"Who Wants to Marry a Rich Man," where fifteen gold-diggers battle over a wealthy bachelor. Except for physical harm, any means are fair game to tarnish other women’s images in the man’s eyes and emerge victorious, ready to walk down the aisle.
"Wife Swap Game," where two families swap their matriarchs. Both women must adopt a completely new family life amongst strangers, being called ’Mom’ by kids they’ve never met and ’Dear’ by a man they’ve never seen.
In Jamie’s view, these programs were clearly designed to gather lower-class African American viewers, similar to FOX’s objective. Nowadays, the big three American television networks are all strategizing around cable TV, treating subscription-based models as the new trend, and releasing more and more premium content on paid channels, asking their audience to pay for it.
But in reality, demographics like Black and Latino viewers, especially the lower-class, still primarily watch free television networks because the idea of paying a subscription to watch TV is unacceptable to them.
Before launching FOX undertook significant research, revealing that the number of black people watching free television was 44% higher than non-black demographics, predominantly consisting of lower-class African Americans.
That’s also why FOX keeps launching more intense free shows than the big three networks, such as "America’s Most Wanted" and "Temptation." If it weren’t for the backing of the Republican Party and the recent clearance of some broadcasting industry entry barriers with their help, making it inconvenient to contradict the ruling party, FOX would have long since leveraged criticism against the Republican government’s racial issues to attract and court more African American viewers.
"Tommy Hawk, Tommy Hawk..." Jamie gazed at the name of BT Television’s elusive owner Tommy Hawk, lost in thought.
A young man who made a name for himself in the software industry with a degree in computer science from Stanford, instead of joining the thriving industry, he chose to venture into the cutthroat world of television.
And he had built up such an extensive array of original programs even before the launch? 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
To bear in mind, even large TV networks would not take such enormous risks. They usually select a project, then reach out to six to eight sponsors to ensure those sponsors are willing to pay and cover costs, and only then they move on to official production without spending their own money.
"Who is this guy, really?"
Besides the original programs, the documentation also showed no understanding of BT Television’s broadcasting network; it just mentioned that BT Television did not hold any records of owning an independent TV station to anchor a broadcast network.
On seeing this, Jamie even specifically asked his secretary if there was an error, as it seemed improbable for such a substantial endeavor to overlook such a critical aspect. A television network must have its own stations to establish a foothold.
For example, FOX went all out to purchase six television stations as their flagships, with other cooperation stations to aid them, allowing FOX programming to reach audiences in most areas of America.
