Chapter 66: A Friendly Price

Seiko found a fast-food restaurant nearby and sat down to talk with Watanabe Shuichi.

“Speaking of Saitama Television, I don’t recall Bubble Witch sending you a sample videotape, did we?”

Seiko and Saori sat on one side, while Omori Ryo and Watanabe Shuichi sat opposite them at the table.

Aiko was nestled in Seiko’s lap, eating the french fries ordered especially for her.

Although she didn’t have her own seat, Aiko was very happy; ever since graduating from kindergarten, she hadn’t had the privilege of eating while sitting on her sister’s lap.

“Uh, yes…” Watanabe Shuichi lowered his head, somewhat embarrassed. “I saw the sample tape when I was on a business trip to Chiba Television.”

Saitama Television was a local private television station in Saitama, with a coverage area limited to Saitama Prefecture and a few surrounding cities.

Mother was undoubtedly a high-quality drama.

As the first television series produced by Bubble Witch, Seiko had some ambition for it, even harboring expectations akin to “making Bubble Witch an overnight sensation,” so she naturally wanted to choose the best possible platform for its premiere.

A small, local station like Saitama Television was something Bubble Witch had never even considered.

“But, my intentions for this visit are extremely sincere,” Watanabe Shuichi quickly explained. “We at Saitama Television very much want the drama Mother, and the price we are willing to pay will be no lower than any other station.”

After a moment of thought, Seiko said, “Since you’ve already seen the sample tape for Mother, you should know that it is a very well-produced television drama.”

“Yes.”

Watanabe Shuichi had not only seen the sample tape Bubble Witch sent to Chiba Television, but he had also viewed the fourth and fifth episodes, which Omori Ryo had not yet finished post-production on, confirming that there were no signs of a decline in quality.

It was precisely for this reason that he was even more desperate to secure this drama.

“The production cost for such a high-quality drama is not low,” Seiko said. “Our company, Bubble Witch, is just a small enterprise. To produce the first three episodes of this series, we have already invested almost all of the company’s liquid assets.”

“The company’s future depends on this drama, so we need a large enough viewership… You should be able to understand that, shouldn’t you?”

Watanabe Shuichi could certainly understand.

Her words were clearly a tactful way of saying: ‘We don’t want to sell our high-quality drama to a small television station that only covers Saitama Prefecture.’

This was not the first time Watanabe Shuichi had encountered such a situation in his daily work.

Due to the unique nature of the Japanese market—where television stations are accustomed to being deeply involved in the production and investment of dramas—it was rare for Japanese television series to have their broadcasting rights traded for a second run domestically.

Without a market for second-run rights, whichever station premiered a show would essentially hold the exclusive broadcasting rights.

Therefore, when renowned screenwriters, directors, and producers were choosing a partner station for their high-quality dramas, they would naturally consider: ‘If my show airs on your station, how many people will actually see it?’

Often, when faced with such a question, Watanabe Shuichi would have to admit defeat on the spot—a station that could only cover one prefecture simply couldn’t compare to the nationwide coverage of NHK and the five major commercial broadcasters.

But this time was different.

This time, Watanabe Shuichi wanted to try his best.

Watanabe Shuichi gritted his teeth and said, “Our programs don’t just cover one prefecture. Our station has a joint broadcasting agreement with Chiba Television and Kanagawa Television. A drama aired on our station can be broadcast simultaneously on Chiba Television and Kanagawa Television as well.”

Saying this, it was clear that Watanabe Shuichi had made up his mind.

While Saitama Television, Chiba Television, and Kanagawa Television did have a joint broadcasting agreement, the resources for joint broadcasts were limited.

After all, each station also had to produce its own local programming, and the joint agreement between the three only covered the broadcast of five programs per week.

Therefore, Watanabe Shuichi was determined to fight for one of those five slots for Mother back at his station.

‘Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa…’

Seiko calculated it in her mind.

Local television signals usually spilled over into the surrounding areas.

Broadcasting around the Tokyo metropolitan area was almost equivalent to the entire Tokyo audience being able to watch.

If all of Tokyo could see it, that was practically equivalent to half of Japan being able to see it.

‘That wasn’t entirely unacceptable…’

After nodding slightly, Seiko continued, “The production cost for a single episode of Mother is as high as twenty million yen. As I said before, Bubble Witch cannot afford to spend any more money to continue production.”

“Regardless of which television station wants to buy Mother, we hope they can pay the remaining production costs upfront.”

When Watanabe Shuichi heard this, he felt a great sense of relief.

Seiko’s willingness to discuss specific production costs was a clear sign that her stance was softening.

Of course, the twenty million yen figure contained an element of boasting from Seiko.

The original version of Mother might have cost twenty-five million yen, but it was now 1985, and drama production costs were relatively cheaper.

Moreover, Omori Ryo was a master at saving money, and the cast of Bubble Witch’s version of Mother consisted mainly of amateurs and AV actresses.

For the series’ cost to reach thirteen to fifteen million yen would already be quite remarkable.

But twenty million was completely within Watanabe Shuichi’s acceptable range, as this happened to be the threshold for the per-episode production cost of a prime-time, high-quality drama at Japan’s major television stations.

It wasn’t that there were no blockbuster hits made for less than this cost; on the contrary, there were always one or two each year.

However, when investing in production, the major television stations wouldn’t rashly bet on such odds.

After repeatedly calculating in his head, Watanabe Shuichi gave a price he considered reasonable: “Our station can advance sixty percent of the production costs. At twenty million per episode, for a total of eleven episodes, that would be one hundred and twenty-two million yen.”

Seiko was fairly satisfied with this figure.

She finally asked, “So, what is your station’s expected purchase price for Mother?”

“Per episode… twenty-three million yen?” Watanabe Shuichi said hesitantly.

“For a high-quality drama we’ve invested so much in, you’re only giving us a profit margin of three million yen per episode? Isn’t that a bit too shabby?”

Seiko smiled.

“Twenty-three million is already quite a lot,” Watanabe Shuichi haggled. “Besides, we are covering sixty percent of the production costs, so your company’s actual cost per episode has dropped to eight million. Earning three million on eight million is a profit of nearly forty percent.”

Seiko shook her head. “That’s not how we calculate our profit. This drama was originally intended for one of the five major commercial broadcasters. By selling it to you at Saitama Television, we’re taking a huge loss in terms of viewership ratings. Shouldn’t your station compensate for that loss in the purchase price?”

“Then… twenty-four million?” Watanabe Shuichi made a small concession.

“Let’s make it twenty-five million,” Seiko stated her desired price. “And we are only selling the exclusive television broadcasting rights.”

“That price…”

To Watanabe Shuichi, it was a little expensive.

But then Seiko spoke again, “Let’s just consider it making a friend. Saitama Television is in Tokiwa-cho, Urawa, isn’t it? Our Yamagami-gumi is always willing to take care of local friends.”

‘Yamagami-gumi?’

Watanabe Shuichi’s eyes gradually widened, and then he slapped his forehead.

‘Urawa City, the surname Yamagami…’

‘I was really so carried away by this high-quality drama!’

‘I didn’t notice at all.’

However, twenty-five million was only a little expensive, not so outrageous that it was impossible to buy.

‘I’ll just consider it an extra eleven million yen in protection fees.’

“Alright…” Watanabe Shuichi conceded one more step, finally compromising. “Twenty-five million it is!”