Chapter 15

When *The Voice of China* dominated various media, Wang Zixuan was hiding at home all the time.

On October 20th, the Greek government suddenly announced that the fiscal deficit for the year would exceed 12% of the GDP, far higher than the 3% limit allowed by the EU.

Wang Zixuan also posted a Weibo: "The European debt crisis begins."

However, those who followed Wang Zixuan were mostly young people, and the most active were women and those chasing *The Voice of China*. This Weibo post didn’t get much forwarding or commenting.

After Greece announced that its fiscal deficit and public debt far exceeded the EU's limits, the price of gold in London did not rise as expected but instead adjusted. Fortunately, Wang Zixuan’s previous long position was low, so there was no margin call.

Almost every day, Wang Zixuan would release a lavish news item, taking over the entertainment headlines and making a group of stars who wanted to be on the front page grind their teeth in frustration.

The enthusiasm for the celebrity judges in the preliminary selection had not yet subsided when Wang Zixuan started throwing other deep-water bombs.

"The budget for the stage setup of *The Voice of China* is 50 million yuan."

"The peak night will be held at the Bird's Nest, and the champion will be decided by the on-site audience vote. No professional judges, no media judges, the one the audience likes is the champion. Apart from a small number of complimentary tickets, the rest will be distributed free of charge to the audience of *The Voice of China*."

This Weibo post once again drew widespread attention.

In the past, when off-site voting was allowed, the off-site audience used text messages to vote, and the number of votes for the champion could reach several million.

But after the broadcasting authority banned off-site voting, the rankings in talent shows were decided by professional judges and media judges.

To represent as many people's opinions as possible, you invite fifty judges, and I invite a hundred judges.

When everyone was still competing at this level, the lavish spender directly organized a live audience vote of 60,000 people.

Without comparison, it would be fine, but now with the comparison, other talent shows were clearly shoddy and deceptive to the audience!

While the industry was spitting blood, they also saw another way to make money—selling tickets for concert competitions.

Just with the influence of Zhang Xueyou, Tan Yulin, Han Hong, and Huo Chengqing, the tickets for the peak night wouldn’t be hard to sell.

The Bird's Nest can accommodate 60,000 spectators. Even if all the tickets were sold for 100 yuan each, that would be 6 million yuan. In reality, different seats have different prices, and some good seats can be sold for several thousand yuan, even tens of thousands.

If the peak night sold tickets, the revenue would definitely exceed 10 million yuan.

But this lavish spender was actually preparing to distribute the tickets for free.

More than 10 million yuan!

Just throw it away like that?

You have money, you are a lavish spender!

But what about others who want to hold a concert final?

*The Voice of China* has free admission with gods of singing, which program dares to charge?

If any program dares to sell tickets for a concert final, it would likely be boycotted by the audience.

What do industry insiders feel?

It's like the lavish spender pointed them to a golden path, but immediately buried a landmine on that path, making it impossible for them to walk.

Industry insiders spewed another mouthful of blood.

Ordinary audiences, however, praised Wang Zixuan for his generosity, and the champion selection model was also better.

Some netizens left comments on Wang Zixuan’s Weibo, worrying whether the lavish spender would go bankrupt early and cause *The Voice of China* to fail.

Wang Zixuan, however, had a look of loneliness, stubbornly releasing a lavish news item every day to bombard everyone.

"25 million yuan to sign Hu Shao for five years."

Hu Shao was already a rising star, hosting multiple programs like *I Love Lyrics*, but an annual salary of 5 million yuan still made people’s eyes drop.

Not long ago, Zhu Dan, who had partnered with Hu Shao, revealed in an interview that her annual salary was only 600,000 yuan, and even with endorsements and commercial activities, her annual income was only 2 million yuan.

Hu Shao’s annual salary was now 5 million yuan, and with additional endorsements and commercial activities, his annual income would far surpass Zhu Dan.

In fact, this was also a high salary that Wang Zixuan offered to compensate for Hu Shao’s potentially reduced exposure, as Hu Shao hosted multiple programs and the New Year’s Eve concert on Zhejiang TV, ensuring ample exposure.

Endorsements and commercial activities also require exposure to be obtained.

Evolution Media currently only had *The Voice of China* and could not guarantee ratings, so Hu Shao’s exposure might be significantly reduced, and his endorsements and commercial activities might also be affected. Therefore, Wang Zixuan directly offered a high price.

In fact, the lavish spender Wang Zixuan initially offered 10 million yuan, but Chen Zuming, an insider, persuaded him to cut it in half.

Sure enough, an annual salary of 5 million yuan won over Hu Shao.

To be safe, Hu Shao signed a five-year contract with Evolution Media to avoid any reduction in his salary if the company’s profits were poor.

Wang Zixuan was also generous, directly paying 25 million yuan to bind Hu Shao.

Of course, he was not stingy with the benefits. As long as the program was good, he was not reluctant to give out bonuses.

Everyone being good is truly good.

Many netizens felt that the lavish spender spent a high price but hired a host who was not a top-tier one, purely being deceived.

However, Wang Zixuan naturally knew the benefits of Hu Shao. When Hu Shao started spitting out words and raking in advertising fees, it would be clear whether he was deceived, and Hu Shao’s talent was also top-notch in the industry.

This news had not yet subsided when the next day, Wang Zixuan released another deep-water bomb.

"20 million yuan annual salary to hire Hong Tao as the director of *The Voice of China*."

In fact, Hong Tao had been contacted early on, but the news was only released after he confirmed his resignation.

At this time, although Hong Tao was not yet as well-known as the host of *I Am a Singer*, he was already a pillar of Hunan TV, having served as the chief director of *Super Girl*, *New Year’s Eve Concert*, and *Dancing Miracle*.

Of course, no one is irreplaceable.

Wang Ping, the mother of *Super Girl* and the former head of Hong Tao’s team, had been poached by Travel TV with a high salary.

Long Danni, the mother of *Fast Girl*, was also poached by Shanda with a high salary of 30 million yuan.

What attracted Hong Tao, besides the model of *The Voice of China*, was the 50 million yuan budget for a top-notch stage, program control, and a 20 million yuan annual salary offered by Wang Zixuan.

Hong Tao was not as worried as Hu Shao about not being able to return to the TV station or having his salary cut if Evolution Media failed. He had rich experience in producing programs, and many TV stations would invite him.

He did not want to be bought out by Evolution Media and only signed a one-year contract. If the development was poor, he could seek other opportunities after the contract expired.

Wang Zixuan’s lavish spending behavior also shocked everyone.

Some people on the internet also did the math.

The mentor fees, champion prize, mentor reward for the champion, Hu Shao’s fee, Hong Tao’s fee, and stage setup, the lavish spender had already spent 143 million yuan.

However, Hu Shao’s 25 million yuan was for five years, and Hong Tao’s 20 million yuan was for one year, allowing them to produce more programs.

But the total expenditure of *The Voice of China* had already exceeded 100 million yuan.

This did not include the celebrity judges for the preliminary selection, who might only need one or two days, but the total fee for more than thirty top-tier singers would certainly exceed 10 million yuan.

The fees for various teams behind the scenes, venue rental, equipment purchase or rental, preliminary selection, recording, promotion, and other expenses had not yet been calculated.

Industry insiders believed that *The Voice of China* would have a final cost of more than 150 million yuan, or even 200 million yuan, based on the current expenditure level.

Moreover, this was the first truly separated production and broadcasting program in the country, and no TV station would dare to buy it for more than 50 million yuan.

A loss was a certainty, and the only question was whether it would be a few million or over 100 million yuan. Based on the current situation, the possibility of a loss over 100 million yuan seemed greater.

Lavish spender.

Wang Zixuan seemed to have solidified this reputation.

(Additional chapter for the first apprentice "Up80後丶战御". Yes, an additional chapter will be added for the first fan at each level. Thank you to the reader "司徒天天天" and "(り亦云100" for the support, and I continue to seek recommendations.)

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