Chapter 508: Confirming Cooperation

Chapter 508: Chapter 508: Confirming Cooperation

Irene raised her hand to answer the phone, her tone relaxed and calm: "It’s rare for you to take the time to call me. Is Fox finally unable to help themselves and coming to snatch my show?"

Adelaide’s low, gentle laughter came from the other end of the phone: "Hehe, that’s right. This time, it was collectively authorized by the company’s upper management, asking me to personally talk with you about cooperation.

But I’ll tell you in advance, business is business, and personal relationships are personal relationships. I won’t lean on our relationship to make you choose something that puts you at a disadvantage."

"Saying this might sound a bit exaggerated, but across all television stations in North America, no one understands the track logic of talent variety shows better than Fox.

Having made American Idol for so many years, we’ve stepped into every pitfall, figured out all audience preferences, ratings regularities, and promotion rhythms, and we are also clear on the bottlenecks and flaws of current veteran talent shows."

"Your The Voice happens to bypass all the routines of veteran talent shows. It’s fair, pure, emphasizes strength and content, is brimming with freshness, and has infinite potential.

We have the most mature broadcast channels and national audience, and you have the top-tier program content and innovative model. Combining the two is a win-win situation."

Irene listened quietly, her fingertips lightly rubbing against the desktop, and calmly asked in return:

"You know very well that I have my own television station, and independent broadcasting is completely fine; it’s just that its influence is inferior to the Big Four networks.

I can completely hold onto all rights and interests in copyright, operations, and derivatives, without having to share revenue with any platform, nor do I have to be restricted by anyone. Why should I choose to cooperate with Fox?"

This was her core concern and the bottom line of all cooperation negotiations.

Hearing this, Adelaide did not defend it at all, but instead candidly acknowledged Irene’s thoughts, its tone open and lucid:

"What you said is completely correct. With independent broadcasting, you possess absolute autonomy, zero restrictions, zero division, and maximize your profits. But you also have to see the reality: your platform is too new."

"Right now, the network-wide popularity has broken 100 million, and national expectations are maxed out. This is the optimal window for your program’s premiere.

If you waste this wave of top-tier popularity due to limited broadcasting channels and insufficient audience coverage, wanting to top the national ratings list later will take several times the effort."

"What Fox can give you is a nationwide fully-covered prime-time broadcasting channel, a decades-accumulated national ratings foundation, and a mature, reliable variety show promotion system.

It can make your program explode upon premiere, directly top the annual ratings list, and completely transform the current network-wide suspense and national expectations into solid national popularity."

Adelaide’s words were incisive, precisely piercing straight to the most critical issue at hand.

Irene fell silent for two seconds, having to admit that the other party’s judgment was objective enough.

She could guard all copyrights, all rights and interests, and all initiative, but she could not guard the fleeting industry popularity.

The variety show track trends changed in a flash, and the current phenomenal explosion was the ultimate superposition of favorable timing, geographical convenience, and harmonious human relations.

Once the optimal premiere window was missed, even higher-quality content later would find it difficult to replicate the national grand occasion of this moment.

Seeing Irene silent, Adelaide continued to add, its tone extremely sincere: "I know what you are most worried about. It is nothing more than the platform meddling in content, dividing copyrights, binding contracts, and depriving you of your creative initiative."

"Then let me lay things out clearly for you now: Fox only provides broadcasting channels, promotional resources, and prime time slots.

We only earn a reasonable broadcasting revenue share, do not touch your core IP, do not interfere with your content creation, and do not bind you to long-term contracts. Simply put, we are just your broadcasting springboard, not your capital controller."

These words truly differed from the overbearing clauses of the other three television stations, brimming with sincerity.

The other platforms were all thinking of seizing the IP and dividing interests while the popularity lasted; only Fox was currently willing to use a pure cooperative posture to leverage its strength and help push the program to the top.

A trace of emotion flashed across Irene’s eyes, though her tone remained calm and prudent:

"Can you represent all the attitudes of Fox’s upper management? What I need are black-and-white contract terms, not verbal promises. All copyright ownership, content independence, derivative rights and interests, and no binding renewals must be fully implemented within the contract, without any ambiguous space."

"Of course."

Adelaide answered without hesitation, exceptionally resolute: "Have your legal team review all terms one by one. Whenever details involving copyright, interests, and content leadership are concerned, your side will take precedence entirely.

It’s not your first time cooperating with us at Fox; since we promise not to play word games, we won’t quietly set up hidden clauses."

"And let me say one more selfish thing to you, purely reminding you in the capacity of an old friend."

Adelaide’s tone slowed down, gaining a bit of private earnestness:

"Among the Big Four networks, only Fox has deeply cultivated the talent show track for many years, understanding your program, audience preferences, and variety show operation logic.

The other three are all comprehensive satellite TV stations where talent shows are just a side business, making it hard to give you the most precise promotional and operational assistance. ℯℯ𝘭.

Cooperating with us allows your program to shine and radiate to the maximum, while also guarding all core rights and interests."

As the saying goes, dealing with acquaintances is better than dealing with strangers. She had cooperated with Fox for many years; although they had encountered some friction, generally the other party followed the rules of the game.

Furthermore, through so many years of socializing, she knew Adelaide’s character very well. Since it personally stepped forward to guarantee and finalize the bottom line of cooperation this time, there would absolutely not be situations of the platform reneging later, terms changing, or secret checks and balances occurring.

Compared to the calculations of the other three platforms, Fox’s cooperation model was currently the optimal solution that allowed her to leverage the top-tier television station’s reach to top the national ratings while completely guarding program sovereignty, retaining creative freedom, and controlling all future value of the IP.

After brief reflection, Irene spoke with a resolute tone, formally giving her reply: "We can cooperate. I agree to the broadcasting authorization docking with Fox."

"But I reiterate my bottom line, which is also the absolute red line of the contract."

Irene instructed clearly, word by word: "All copyrights, content editing, competition system adaptations, and subsequent seasonal broadcast planning of the program shall independently belong to the production team.

Fox only has the broadcasting rights for the main feature this time, though of course you also have the rights of first refusal for cooperation."

Adelaide on the other end of the phone immediately responded: "Completely no problem. I have long since explained it clearly to the upper management; we will not taint ourselves with even a fraction of these core rights and interests."

It added with a smile: "You don’t need to have any psychological burden; we’re doing business strictly by the book.

If we can talk it out and the terms are appropriate, we can cooperate peacefully and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results; even if subsequent detailed negotiations have differences and break down, you don’t need to worry about my face.

You can terminate the docking at any time, and my side will completely understand. It won’t affect our personal relationship, nor will there be any industry-level harassment."

With these words, Irene completely lost any burden.

In many industry collaborations, what was most feared was human-relationship binding and the inability to distinguish between public and private affairs, being forced to compromise and cede profits out of consideration for face, ultimately suffering losses that outweighed the gains.

Meanwhile, Adelaide took the initiative to draw a clear boundary between public and private, which not only demonstrated the greatest sincerity of cooperation but also preserved the decency and bottom line of both sides, making this commercial cooperation pure and secure.

"Alright."

Irene nodded gently, her tone completely relaxing, "Then next, let both legal teams dock on the contract details, finalize the broadcast schedule, prime-time slots, promotional plan, and revenue-sharing ratio, and land the premiere preparations as soon as possible."

"No problem."

Adelaide responded, its tone becoming much lighter, "I will immediately arrange for the team to dock, handle it with expedited processing throughout, cooperate with your premiere rhythm, and never waste the current network-wide top-tier popularity.

I am very much looking forward to the brand-new talent show created by you thoroughly subverting the North American variety show landscape on Fox’s platform and creating a new ratings myth."

Hanging up the phone, the morning light of New York outside the office window was just right, and the clear light paved across the desk, illuminating the full table of popularity reports and cooperation plans.

Irene let out a long breath, a trace of resolute smile flashing across her eyes.

It looked like she had given up alone monopolizing all profits and chosen to cooperate with Fox Broadcasting Company, which understood the talent show track best; doing so might reduce her profits.

But leveraging the national influence of a top-tier platform to let The Voice completely leap out of the niche circles, walk into thousands of households across the United States, and become a true national-level variety show—that was ultimately the final purpose of her developing this project.

On one side was the national dissemination power, mature operational power, and massive audience base of a top-tier satellite TV station, assisting the program to peak right upon premiere; on the other side was absolute independent copyright control, free creative space, and an infinite commercial future.

This was an absolute win-win, a top-tier cooperation that was a sure win without any risk.