Chapter 115
“Ha... this is driving me crazy.”
Jung Wonki loosened his tie in frustration.
“Team Leader Min... you’re not messing with me right now, are you?”
I remained as calm as possible.
“No.”
Then I explained.
“As you know, political and social interest in the new general programming channels is extremely high right now.”
“If we hold a drama production presentation, journalists are almost guaranteed to ask the actors politically and socially sensitive questions.”
And that was the truth.
I remembered an incident from before my regression.
An actor appearing in a general programming channel drama had once been asked by a reporter,
“Do you think general programming channels can beat terrestrial broadcasters?”
“What ratings are you expecting for your first episode?”
The actor had answered,
“How would I know? I’m not a fortune-teller. Stop asking actors useless questions and ask me about acting.”
The answer quickly became a hot topic.
“Division Director.”
I looked at Jung Wonki.
“At an event meant to promote the drama, one careless sentence could destroy an actor’s image instead.”
“But... even so, not holding a production presentation at all...”
Jung Wonki still looked troubled.
“If you insist on holding one, of course we’ll follow YTBS’s decision.”
I continued.
“But my opinion hasn’t changed. If something is likely to create unnecessary risk, it’s better not to create that situation in the first place.”
My attitude was firmer than Jung Wonki expected.
He fell into thought again.
“Instead...”
Everyone in the room immediately looked at me.
They clearly expected another plan.
“We’ll aggressively use online communities.”
I explained that I planned to focus on viral promotion through blogs, Twister, and other online channels.
“That’s a bit broad.”
Jung Wonki narrowed his eyes.
“Do you have specific plans?”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“For Remember Me, we’ll actively use Moon Hyunbin’s fanbase.”
I explained that we could work with fan cafés and fan clubs.
After the first broadcast, fans could post proof that they had watched the episode live.
Among those participants, we could hold a lottery and offer winners something like a dinner event with Moon Hyunbin.
“For Yangsoon’s Flower Shop, the actors aren’t as famous as Moon Hyunbin.”
“So rather than relying on fandom, we’ll use the title itself.”
I explained ideas involving flowers.
We could run flower-related events through blogs, cafés, and online communities.
“And on the day of the broadcast, we’re planning our own guerrilla-date events with the actors in places like Gangnam and Myeong-dong.”
“Ha...”
A sound of admiration escaped Jung Wonki.
“How do you even come up with ideas like this...?”
Then he suddenly smiled.
“Good! Let’s do it exactly like that!”
The anxiety that had covered his face only moments earlier had completely disappeared.
Instead, his eyes now shone with anticipation over whether this different promotional strategy would work.
I continued.
“Division Director.”
“Yes?”
“This applies not only to YTBS but probably to the other general programming channels too.”
I spoke carefully.
“For the first few years after launch, it would probably be better not to expect much from the ratings.”
“What?”
Jung Wonki’s expression changed again.
“What do you mean, don’t think about ratings?”
Before my regression, early general programming channel ratings had struggled to even pass one percent.
“Well... I’m not sure how best to explain it.”
I continued.
“Right now, I think building the channel’s image in viewers’ minds is more important than the ratings themselves.”
“The channel’s image...”
Jung Wonki slowly nodded, thinking deeply.
Hongdae Rodeo Street was crowded shortly after lunchtime.
Despite the cold winter weather, it still deserved its reputation as a street for young people.
A twenty-four-seat bus was parked along one side of the road.
Inside sat Kim Doyoon and Seong Nahyun, the leads of YTBS’s first Monday-Tuesday drama, Yangsoon’s Flower Shop, which was scheduled to premiere that evening.
They were about to begin a guerrilla-date promotional event.
“Director Moon... I’m really nervous.”
Seong Nahyun repeatedly rubbed her hands together.
Her palms seemed sweaty from nervousness.
She looked at Moon Changsoo, who had come with her from the agency.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
Moon Changsoo reassured her.
“Just wave at people.”
“Take pictures.”
“Tell them to watch Yangsoon’s Flower Shop tonight.”
“You know the feeling.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
Seong Nahyun looked pale.
“What if nobody cares?”
“Or what if I actually go outside and nobody even recognizes me?”
She was becoming so anxious that her face had lost color.
Kim Doyoon laughed playfully.
“You worry too much.”
“You’re popular.”
He grinned.
“You just want us to say that, don’t you?”
Moon Changsoo nodded.
“Exactly. Doyoon is right.”
“You’re much more popular than you think.”
Then he added dramatically,
“I’m more worried there’ll be so many people that traffic will completely stop.”
He turned toward me.
I had been talking with the behind-the-scenes cameraman in the back of the bus.
“Hyung, when are we starting?”
I checked the time on my phone.
Two o’clock.
“We can start now.”
I lifted the radio.
“Youngjae, can you hear me?”
“Yes, I hear you.”
“Move the security guards outside toward the bus.”
“We’re starting now.”
“Yes!”
Joo Youngjae’s energetic voice came through the radio.
Moon Changsoo turned toward the two strong-looking road managers sitting in the driver and passenger seats.
“Taesik, Minseok.”
“Don’t leave Nahyun and Doyoon’s sides for even a second. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“We’re done.”
The makeup artist, who had been making final adjustments to the actors’ hair and makeup, stepped back.
“All right.”
I looked around.
“Let’s begin.”
The door of the twenty-four-seat bus opened.
The reaction was explosive.
We hadn’t announced anything in advance.
Even so, hundreds, maybe thousands, of people gathered almost at once.
They cheered at the sudden appearance of Seong Nahyun and Kim Doyoon in Hongdae.
The two actors clearly didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
They energetically promoted the first drama in which both of them had landed leading roles.
“Tonight at ten, on YTBS! Everyone’s going to watch live, right?”
Seong Nahyun smiled brightly and kept making hearts with her hands.
“If you post proof that you watched the live broadcast on our drama website, we’ll hold a lottery and give selected winners a very surprising gift.”
“Please participate!”
The guerrilla date quickly spread through online communities through SNS posts from people who had been there.
The flower-related events connected to the title Yangsoon’s Flower Shop also began receiving attention on blogs, cafés, and online communities.
Then, the next day...
The ratings for Yangsoon’s Flower Shop, which had premiered the previous night, were released.
1.21 percent.
Compared with the other general programming dramas airing at the same time, which had failed to even reach one percent, it wasn’t bad.
Even so, seeing a rating barely above one percent left the director, writer, and other staff unsure how they were supposed to react.
Then...
“Team Leader... look at the internet right now!”
Kang Jooyoung and Joo Youngjae stared at their monitor in shock.
I quickly walked over.
Several search terms had risen on the portal site’s real-time rankings.
[Seong Nahyun Kim Doyoon Hongdae Guerrilla Date]
[Seong Nahyun Kim Doyoon First Lead Role Event]
[YTBS Launch Monday-Tuesday Drama Yangsoon’s Flower Shop]
Comments were pouring in.
[I saw both of them in Hongdae yesterday. They’re insanely pretty and handsome in real life.]
[I watched the drama yesterday. I wasn’t expecting much because it’s on a general programming channel, but it was actually pretty fun.]
[I watched it too. The story was fresher than I expected. I’ll keep watching live.]
Fortunately, the promotional ideas I had created were working.
Unlike before my regression, when the general programming channels relied almost entirely on newspaper promotion and were ignored by younger audiences...
This time, we had successfully captured their attention.
And this reaction wasn’t limited to Yangsoon’s Flower Shop.
The Wednesday-Thursday drama Remember Me, which began airing after it, received the same kind of response.
My strategy of using Moon Hyunbin’s strong fandom worked perfectly.
His fans began promoting the drama on SNS entirely on their own.
[I started watching because of Moon Hyunbin, but the drama itself is amazing. Then I found out Writer Seo Kyunghee wrote it.]
[What? It’s a Seo Kyunghee drama? Then I have to watch.]
[I hesitated because I had a prejudice against general programming dramas, but wow. The channel doesn’t matter at all.]
[This drama reminded me that writers speak through their work, and actors speak through their acting.]
The ratings were still only around one percent.
Compared with terrestrial broadcasters, they looked pathetic.
But the situation itself was completely different.
Among all the general programming channels, only YTBS dramas and actors repeatedly appeared on real-time search rankings.
At the same time, the other channels were being criticized for using their parent newspapers to praise their own programs.
YTBS was the only one that avoided most of that backlash.
“I’m really glad I listened to you, Team Leader Min.”
Jung Wonki smiled with a mixture of relief and admiration.
“If I hadn’t listened to you back then, YTBS would probably be getting cursed out just like the other channels right now.”
He looked at me.
“Calling this foresight almost feels insufficient. Sometimes it feels like you’re looking several moves into the future.”
“You’re giving me too much credit.”
I smiled politely.
“This only worked because you trusted us and supported the plan.”
Jung Wonki looked satisfied.
“Anyway, once these two dramas finish safely, I’ll arrange a dinner for us, Team Leader Min.”
“No. We should be the ones treating you.”
His attitude had changed dramatically compared with before the broadcasts.
It surprised me slightly.
Still, it felt good to know he had recognized my abilities.
But what made me even more satisfied was something else.
I had taken the information I remembered from before my regression and used it to change events this much.
Of course, it wasn’t as though the ratings had suddenly exploded.
There was no dramatic miracle like that.
But before my regression, public reaction after the first broadcasts had been even colder.
This time was different.
Positive reactions were slowly spreading through SNS and online communities.
And I could feel that the future itself was gradually changing.
Time passed quickly once again.
The new year of 2012 arrived.
YTBS’s first Monday-Tuesday drama, Yangsoon’s Flower Shop, ended after creating several positive topics of conversation.
Seong Nahyun and Kim Doyoon were both recognized as actors capable of carrying leading roles.
Their value in the industry continued to rise.
Kim Doyoon immediately landed the lead role in a KBC miniseries as his next project.
After the drama ended, commercial offers flooded in for Seong Nahyun.
“Thank you, Team Leader Min.”
Ma Sanghee repeatedly expressed her gratitude.
“Just like you said, if this hadn’t been a general programming channel, Doyoon and Nahyun would’ve needed at least another three or four years before they could call themselves leading actors.”
“This is all thanks to you.”
And just like that...
Everything was ending even more perfectly than I had expected.
