Chapter 13

At exactly nine o'clock, it was time to start work.

Zhang Ye was typing away, replying to listener emails.

Tian Bin and Li Si arrived together, a few minutes late, but no one in the public institution really cared about that, as it was much more relaxed compared to private companies.

As soon as Tian Bin arrived, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Everyone's gaze involuntarily focused on Tian Bin and Zhang Ye.

The victor is always magnanimous. Zhang Ye greeted him as if nothing had happened, "Good morning, Teacher Tian." It was as if they hadn't argued yesterday.

Tian Bin simply ignored him, thinking resentfully, "Mr. Zhang, don't be too smug. Your 'Ghost Blows the Lamp' might not be so great. Tomb raiding? This is inherently illegal, and those two words are unhealthy. Readers won't accept it, and you'll be done for. When the listenership rate drops to a new low, you'll be out. You won't last long. The listenership rate from yesterday will be out soon, just wait and see!"

Tian Bin was waiting for the listenership rate.

Zhang Ye was also waiting. He actually didn't know how well the audience would accept it. Although he received many compliments from listeners, the feedback was mixed, and there were also criticisms. Moreover, this was just the reaction of a part of the audience; the final results would need to be tested by the entire market.

The door opened, and Zhao Guozhou, with his large belly, came in for an inspection. He first spoke to a few older colleagues, then communicated with an editor, and finally saw Zhang Ye and smiled lightly, "Little Zhang, you did well yesterday. Regardless of the listenership rate, your story was very timely." Remembering something, he asked others, "By the way, has the listenership rate from yesterday been compiled? Why hasn't anyone given it to me?"

Wang Xiaomei looked up and said, "I just came back from upstairs. They are still working on it, but it should be done soon."

Suddenly, the female assistant Xiao Fang, who had timed Zhang Ye yesterday, quickly walked in with a sheet of paper. She first gave Zhang Ye a complicated look, then handed the paper to Zhao Guozhou, "Leader, the listenership rate is out. This is the statistics for yesterday!"

Zhao Guozhou hummed and took a look, unable to hide his surprise, "Did you get the wrong one?"

Xiao Fang smiled bitterly, "Definitely not. The people doing the statistics gave it to me like this." As she spoke, she glanced at Zhang Ye a few times.

This question from the leader naturally piqued everyone's curiosity. "Huh? What's wrong with the listenership statistics?"

"Everyone, put down what you're doing. I'll read out the rankings." This was a routine for their cultural radio station. Zhao Guozhou almost always announced the listenership rankings from the previous day to put pressure on everyone. Programs that ranked high had high listenership, high advertising fees, and high bonuses. Programs that ranked low were at risk of being cut, such as Tian Bin's "Midnight Ghost Stories." The previous novel "Ghost at Midnight" had many parts cut, and the ending was broadcast directly, reducing the program by over ten episodes, all because of poor listenership.

This was unavoidable.

The station replayed the previous day's programs after 1:00 AM, meaning "Midnight Ghost Stories" was the last program on the frequency. The listener base was naturally limited. How many people would listen to the radio in the middle of the night? So, this late-night program couldn't compare to the prime-time programs at 7:00 or 8:00 PM, which had a listener base that was dozens of times larger. The cultural radio station had about twenty programs, including a few on weekends. "Midnight Ghost Stories" had always been in the bottom two, a position that never changed. It wasn't that their program was bad; their listeners were actually the most loyal in the entire cultural time slot. However, the number of listeners was too small, and the broadcast time was too late. Competing for listenership rates? It was a joke!

Zhang Ye was eagerly waiting, not having high hopes, just hoping not to be last again.

Zhao Guozhou announced, "First place, 'Words of the World.'"

This was Wang Xiaomei's program. She and her editorial team and program staff were not surprised. For years, Wang Xiaomei's program had always been the top listener, never dropping. Not only in their cultural radio station, but even in the Beijing radio station, it was one of the top programs, a prime-time slot with a beautiful host. It was second to none except for the traffic and news radio slots.

"Second place," Zhao Guozhou continued, "is 'Daily Entertainment.'"

The cultural frequency naturally had entertainment news, which, while not as broad as the news frequency, had a very fixed audience. This program was also a regular second-place holder.

It was time to announce the third place.

But Zhao Guozhou was silent for a long time, as if studying the listenership curve.

"Old Zhao?" A leader who was close to him called out in confusion.

Zhao Guozhou paused for a moment before announcing, "Third place... third place is... 'Midnight Ghost Stories'!"

What?

"Midnight Ghost Stories" in third place?

Tian Bin was stunned from head to toe! He had been hoping that Zhang Ye would continue the program's long tradition of being at the bottom, but the result was the opposite! The statistics must be wrong! They must be wrong! Tian Bin thought to himself, how could their half-dead, obscure program have such a high listenership rate?

Li Si's eyes widened in shock!

Zhang Ye was equally surprised, completely shocked by the result!

As for the others, the office area erupted in chaos. No one could believe their ears!

"Midnight Ghost Stories" in third place? Was this a joke? This program had always been at the bottom or second to last in the cultural radio station! Okay, even if it was the first day of a new story and had been heavily promoted, the listenership rate would naturally increase. Listeners were curious, and old listeners would listen to the first day to see what the story was about. If it was good, they would continue; if not, they would stop. After the分流 (分流 means分流, but in this context, it means the分流 of listeners), the listenership rate would gradually decline and eventually stabilize. However, even with a significant increase on the first day, it shouldn't be this extreme!

Directly in the top three?

Higher than the 5:00 and 9:00 slots?

Did this mean that the listeners who were attracted by the promotional efforts didn't change the frequency or turn off the radio after listening to "Midnight Ghost Stories" at midnight? Did almost everyone stay for the story, thus pulling the average listenership rate to such a terrifying level?

Even Wang Xiaomei, the host of the top-rated program, was moved. Even her program couldn't retain all listeners; people usually changed the frequency after a while, so the initial high listenership rate would gradually decline, and the average listenership rate would drop by more than half!

But how did "Midnight Ghost Stories" manage this?

The average listenership rate was too shocking!

For a moment, everyone's gaze toward Zhang Ye changed. A new employee who had only been there for a few days, with a novel no one had heard of, "Ghost Blows the Lamp," had managed to push a midnight program to the top three in the entire frequency? Damn! You must be on a high!