Okay, so I had a crazy idea and I'm gonna do an omake with it... because I can.
I actually have a shit ton of ideas right now and I just need to start writing them down. Most of them pitches. But I'll start with this idea.
Murdoch Strikes Back
Rupert Murdoch had been sitting for a long time, watching the numbers... and he didn't like it one bit. Lucasfilm Unlimited, once again, was the first that was the trailblazer by starting their own channel, far and away from the old and known channels such as NBC, CNBC and the like. It was also one that required a subscription, which was almost unheard of.
Disney followed suit with their own Disney Channel, and while their success was much more limited in comparison to Lucasfilm, the numbers showed that it was a great success with analyzers believing it would grow even further in the future to bring in hundreds of millions into Disney in the future, if not more.
This pissed off Murdoch even more, and while he had been busy trying to make damn sure that the production of the Alien sequel starts as soon as possible (while being at the highest quality as possible, of course. Can't fuck up with these movies if he wanted to make a high quality, money making franchise), he had began making other plans, ones that would be very costly for Fox and for him. However, if it was done right, then it could bring in the same success for Fox and he would be able to compete with Bruce O'Brian and Roy Disney.
And he was not going to be last place. He was not going to wear the silver medal. He intended to win on this battlefield.
He sat in the board meeting alongside the rest of the board members and shareholders of the company. He needed the attention of every bigshot in the company now that he had made a plan.
He could feel the tension in the air, of everyone sitting in their chairs, waiting for him to speak. So he did. "Gentlemen, I have come before you all today because I news for you all. Tell me, how many of you at home are subscribed to LucasTV or to the Disney channel?"
He saw as slowly everyone raised a hand above their head with a bit of shame plastered over their faces. He couldn't blame them, as he himself allowed his hand to slash the air above his head, raising it high, not afraid to admit that even he had done the same as every single person in this room.
And how could they? He knew for a fact that LucasTV had some of the best television programs on air right now and had the extensive library containing every film they ever made or released, including films brought over from Japan and other countries, some (mostly the Kurosawa films) were considered among the best films of all times alongside the Star Wars Trilogy and the Godfather Doulogy.
When everyone lowered their hands, he continued. "This is why I called you all here today. We can't be left behind by the competition. Television is growing in stride in an attempt to match the film industry and we need to take a part of that cake while it's still swelling." why the hell did he use a cake metaphore? Fuck it, as long as they got the point.
"So you want us to make a television division for 20th Century Fox?" asked one of the board members.
"No." Murdoch said, causing everyone to start talking among themselves with caution and curiosity. "I want more than one channel for what I will henceforph call the 'Fox Initiative'. It might not match our competition in quality, but we will outmatch them in quantity."
Getting up and going to a board, he showed several charts that he had written down during his spare time as he tried focusing the idea he had into details. "Now, the 'Fox Initiative' streamlines the names of the channels, making them easy to say in a quickly in a way that rolls off the tongue. The first of the channels will be Fox News. It will be a channel that throughout the day will only broadcast the news in a continuous 24/7 cycle, much like CNN."
"That does sound like it could help us compete with other channels and would bring in an extraordinary amount of advertisers for funding. This could help immensely."
Murdoch was thrilled to know that he had managed to gain their attention and some of their approval. He needed them all on board if he was going to go with the Fox Initiative. It was going to cost a lot of money and would require a hefty amount of negotiations with outside parties, so the more people in the company were backing him, the better.
"Up next is the second channel, Fox Sports. This is meant to compete with ESPN and go into a nitch that could bring forth the most viewers: sports." he said as he prepared to explain probably the hardest sell of the initiative. He could see the skepticism in their eyes and knew that the idea of competing with ESPN wasn't one anyone would be excited about.
"As we saw this year with the success of the USFL and with ESPN currently thriving, a 24-hours cycle of sports broadcast is extremely profitable right now, though I will admit, it is risky. My idea is to get the broadcasting rights to as many sporting events as possible, with the NFL at the top of the list. If O'Brian's USFL wants to compete with the NFL, we will gladly join this competition and provide the NFL with another platform for broadcast." Murdoch explained to the peopl in the room as he started selling them the idea.
"And what if we can't get them?"
"Trust me, I believe I can convince them to see the benefit of this kind of partnership. As I said, we will try to gain the broadcasting rights to as many sports as possible, but I'm not just talking about the obvious such as the NFL, NBA, MLB or even the college teams. Those are for the hours that the entire family is at home." he then took out a blank piece of paper and wrote down "Football" on it.
"Football, or soccer as you call it in America, is the most popular sport in the entire world. Thanks to the very generous and valiant efforts of Bruce O'Brian, America has had many immigrants coming from Vietnam and Romania into the country. Countries which have established football leagues for decades. Many of them are likely fans of the sport as you are fans of baseball. If we can get the rights to broadcast not only the most prestigious leagues on our channel, but also their countries' leagues, we could gain a bump in viewership."
He could now see the people talking among themselves again, with plenty of skeptical shaking of heads and a few nods here and there.
When the noise died down, he continued. "But football is not everything. We could try and get the right to as many lesser popular fields as well. Tennis, cycling, golf, rugby, athletics, the possibilities are simply endless. Of course, we won't be able to get everything, and having a wide variety of sports that might not catch the interest of the general public is a risk. Despite that, it would separate us from ESPN and we might assist in causing a sport field become more popular in the United States. I admit that committing to it is a risk, but it's one I believe we should take." he finished with firmness and confidence in his voice.
He could see now that the people in the room were swayed more with the confidence he was showing, but whether it would be enough to convince them to take that risk is another matter.
He cleared his voice before continuing. "The third channel would be Fox TV, a channel which would focuse entirely on making television programs, which would vary in genres. Some would be fictional police procedurals shows and courtroom dramas, some would be comedy shows for the entire family and some be doccumentaries and cooking shows. We want a large variety that could cover a 24-hour cycle, or at the very least an 18-hours run from 6 AM until midnight."
Upon finishing detailing his desires of the third channel, he could see that there was far more support of that idea, which was good. Not something that required too much convincing, it seemed.
"The fourth and final channel of the Fox Initiative would be Fox Films, which would be dedicated to the entirety of 20th Century Fox's films. This studio has an extensive library of films that goes further than 40 years. Some of them are considered great films that had won Academy Awards. We have enough to have an entire channel focused solely on showing these movies to the people at home. This would also include newer films which we will make."
Again, he saw a near unanimous support of that idea, he just needed to push a little further.
"Gentlemen, this studio for many decades has created quality motion pictures and competed with Titans of the industry. It even survived the collapse of Warner Brothers, and we should remind people of that fact."
Murdoch smiled internally as he saw that the men in the meeting room were all nodding and showing their support in the Fox initiative. He knew that he still had to think of whether or not making these channels be payed for like with LucasTV and Disney Channel, how much he would ask to be payed per month and how to go about attaining all of his goals with these channels.
But despite all of that, he got his initial goal: getting the important people on board.
