Heads Up Hollywood

Tang En's strong statement made the atmosphere in the car suddenly cold.

Chris Albrecht asked confused: "How are we going to do it?"

Tang En snorted coldly: "At the beginning, I handed over the operation rights of STA to Comcast, and the contract was for 3 years."

"3 years?" Chris Albrecht frowned, understanding what he meant, "But if we don't renew the contract, who can we hand over the operation services of the STA TV network?"

Tang En said lightly: "Why do you have to hand it over to others? Since you have said it all, a strong STA will become a target for threats. Of course, it will be more stable if you hold it in your own hands!"

Chris Albrecht was shocked.

The operation industry of cable TV needs to go deep into every family, which requires enough installation personnel, business personnel and service personnel, as well as offline fund management, signal debugging, signal transmission and other businesses, which are very complicated.

This is a low-threshold, high-input, high-return industry!

It's not hundreds of millions at all, billions of dollars can be played.

For example, Comcast acquired AT\u0026T's cable business assets this year, spending as much as $47.5 billion!

Tang En wants to operate the STA TV network independently, and it is impossible to start from scratch, which will paralyze STA.

It is necessary to acquire a cable TV operating company with sufficient strength and channels covering the whole United States.

But for such an enterprise, will the price be low?

More importantly, TV is a sunset industry!

Maybe in another 30 or 40 years, the TV industry will collapse collectively.

At this stage, is it appropriate for Tang En to spend tens of billions of dollars to acquire a cable TV operating company?

Or……

Does Tang En have the ability to prolong the vitality of the TV market?

After the advent of streaming media, it was really difficult!

Perhaps in China, TV can still crush streaming media. With the policy preference of radio and television, monopolized channel supply and rampant piracy, streaming media companies have been losing money year after year.

But the United States is different. Once streaming media appeared, it was almost a disaster for the entire TV industry!

In addition to the strict protection of intellectual property rights, it is because the TV fees in the United States are too high!

Take 2001 as an example——

The basic package, including CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX, four free public TV stations, and a small number of cheap cable channels, such as MTV Channel, Disney Kids Channel, etc., cost $20.

The premium package, which includes four public free-to-air stations, and hundreds of cable channels, including the beloved ESPN, CNN, USA, and more, costs $70.

In addition, professional cable TV stations such as HBO, STA, and SHO need to pay additional subscription fees.

In addition, the content of individual events must be subscribed on demand.

On average, each household spends $80 per month!

Price is too high!

If you can choose, home users will definitely only choose CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX these free TV stations, plus several popular channels such as ESPN, CNN, National Geographic, and Discovery.

Hundreds of other cable TV stations are completely tasteless!

The bundling of packages is defrauding consumers.

Streaming media is different. Netflix costs $10 a month. You can watch most types of programs and meet basic entertainment needs, which is completely enough.

The income of the American people is high and they are rich, but no one would throw money out for nothing in a foolish way.

The high TV fees caused the TV industry in the United States to develop very rapidly for a time. The TV giants were all giants, and many media empires started from TV.

But also because of the high fees, after the rise of streaming media, the American TV industry has been hit like never before.

Many media giants are therefore devastated.

Tang En was clear about the future situation, and the current predicament made him worry and uncertain.

However, in front of his subordinates, Tang En had to maintain his image of being strong, tough, and uncompromising. With a big wave of his hand, he said in a deep voice, "Disney is a big enemy, Viacom and Time Warner have also had friction, one more Comcast, it’s no big deal! I don’t like things like fish and fish, but Comcast really dares to play dirty tricks, at worst, it’s a big deal!”

Chris Albrecht moved his lips, swallowed the words he wanted to blurt out, and said in a low voice: "I hope this is just a guess, little Roberts should not be so reckless."

This is just a perfunctory sentence.

As a professional, he certainly knows how difficult it is to engage in cable TV operations.

If the relationship between Tang En Pictures and Comcast really froze, the best situation is that small cable TV operators can quickly merge and integrate in the next few years to form a new large company.

Even if it cannot reach the strength of Comcast and Time Warner, at least it must have the ability to cover the entire North America.

At that time, the STA TV network will have more choices and room for maneuvering.

...

On the way back, Tang En closed his eyes and meditated, thinking a lot.

Penelope Cruz sat beside her, blinked her beautiful big eyes, and asked cautiously, "Dawn, I... can I ask a question?"

"Ah?" Tang En opened his eyes, smiled, and pinched her cheek, "Sure, why are you so reserved? Are you scared by me?"

"Not really." Penelope Cruz pursed her lips and asked softly, "Didn't you say that the Internet is a new medium and will gradually replace television in the future?"

"Ah? Ah, yes!"

"So are you going to go further into television?"

Tang En took a deep look at her.

This is really a problem. Even John Malone, the father of American cable television, has withdrawn. Tang En is still deeply involved in this field, which seems to be biased towards Tiger Mountain.

"AT\u0026T sells the cable operation business mainly to raise funds and develop mobile operations, which is also the wireless communication business for mobile phones. In fact, the difference between TV operations and network operations is not big. It is completely possible for one team to do two jobs. Television will gradually become obsolete, but the Internet will continue to grow. One will ebb and the other will ebb and flow. As long as we grasp this business with both hands, there is no need for a collapse.”

Tang En casually responded with a few half-truths, and then looked at her with a half-smile, "What are you doing? You want to learn management and start a company?"

"How could I know that!" Penelope Cruz shook her head. "I have a deposit in my hand, more than 700,000 US dollars. It's a pity to put it in the bank. I still want to buy Internet stocks."

After listening to Tang En, he waved his hand, "Don't worry, with your little money... you won't make much money by buying stocks. Before my company's IPO, when I do an internal IPO, you can buy some original stocks, which is enough."

"Really?"

Penelope Cruz's eyes sparkle and shine.

Tang En pulled her into his arms, and said with a smile: "Anyway, it is beneficial to expand the shareholder team before going public. I must give priority to my own people."

Penelope Cruz tilted her head and asked, "Not a company employee?"

Tang En didn't expect that she knew a lot, "Employees will have it, and you will too!"

Penelope Cruz said: "Okay, then... When will Tang En Pictures go public?"

"Uh...if things go well, before 2006!"

After pondering for a while, Tang En said an answer.

In the second half of 2006, real estate prices began to plummet on a large scale, and the subprime mortgage crisis began to emerge. In the following two years, there was an economic depression.

Listing at this time period will greatly reduce the issue price, which is not cost-effective.

Penelope Cruz smiled and said, "Your company must have great investment prospects!"

"So confident in me?"

"Of course! HBO is so good, and you defeated it casually. Tang En Pictures will definitely develop very well."

"It all depends on the ratings of Band of Brothers."

"Does it need to be said? It must be a hit! Super hit!"

Penelope Cruz was obviously in a great mood, her face was rosy and excited, and she seemed... more confident than Tang En.