Chen Yang snapped his fingers and glanced at Song Xiaoyun with admiration. He hadn't misjudged her; Song Xiaoyun was indeed a talented person. He had only given her a slight hint, and she had immediately grasped the essence of the matter, guessing his intention in such a short time—truly remarkable.
"That's interesting, Sister Xiaoyun. Could you elaborate on why we've targeted taxi drivers as our primary audience?" Chen Yang didn't rush to explain his point, instead employing a leading question.
Song Xiaoyun's face lit up with excitement as she quickly said,
"President Fang, there are three to four thousand taxis in Rongcheng city. These taxi drivers spend most of their day in their cars. If we can convert them into loyal listeners, the brand effect will be enormous! Moreover, taxis carry different passengers, meaning they are also passively listening to our radio station. If our programs are unique, these passengers might also choose to listen to our station while driving, thus broadening our audience even further! And listenership will continue to rise!"
"These taxi drivers usually have their own circles. If our channel's positioning closely matches their needs, it's easy for word-of-mouth to spread quickly and capture the market!" Song Yi, having grasped the potential, excitedly added.
Chen Yang looked at the two men, feeling very gratified. He needed subordinates like them who were good at independent thinking and analysis! Chen Yang smiled and said, "Your analyses are all excellent, but there's one more thing I don't know if you've noticed: the city radio station's broadcasting equipment was just upgraded last year. Its power is currently the highest in the entire Rongcheng city area, and its technology is also the most advanced.
I've checked, and not only in the main urban area of Rongcheng, but also in the eight suburban counties and even parts of neighboring cities, the city radio signal can still be clearly received. This means that the number of three or four thousand taxis that Sister Xiaoyun mentioned is at least double! These drivers and their passengers are the audience we need to strive to win over!"
"That's right! How come we didn't think of that..." Song Xiaoyun became even more excited after hearing Chen Yang's words, her cheeks flushed and she looked quite adorable.
Unexpectedly, the seemingly impenetrable radio market, after Chen Yang's analysis, actually still had considerable room for development. Song Xiaoyun and Song Yi were also full of admiration for Chen Yang. Chen Yang continued with a smile:
"Xiaoyun, now that the channel's positioning is clear, the specific program setup will be up to you. I believe you can handle this task excellently, following the principles we just discussed!"
"No problem! Give me a week... no, give me four days, and I'll definitely deliver a complete program plan for the entire radio channel!" Song Xiaoyun replied excitedly without hesitation.
She vaguely recalled the youthful enthusiasm she felt right after graduating from university. Years of working as a civil servant had largely smoothed out her edges. Now, having lost her secure job and starting a business from scratch with Chen Yang, Song Xiaoyun felt even more passionate!
"Good! Give us a rough plan first. It doesn't need to be too precise. After all, we haven't started negotiating with the city station yet, and the specific program times and many other details haven't been finalized. If you make it too detailed, it might need revisions later, which would be even more troublesome!" Chen Yang nodded. After thinking for a moment, Chen Yang added:
"By the way, Xiaoyun, there's one thing we need to keep in mind. While we're creating several programs tailored for taxi drivers, we also need to create a highly distinctive, signature program to quickly build a loyal audience and capture the market. This program should ideally be about advocating for rights. Of course, the target audience doesn't have to be limited to taxi drivers. Disputes between car owners and 4S dealerships, insurance companies, even traffic police—these are all topics we can address. The program's name… let's call it 'I'll Stand Up for You'!"
"Ah? Mr. Fang, that… could offend a lot of people. Won't that cause trouble?" Song Xiaoyun hesitated after hearing Chen Yang's words.
"We must dare to voice what other radio stations dare not, and dare to uphold the legitimate rights of our listeners!" Chen Yang said seriously. "Don't worry about trouble; I, Chen Yang, am never afraid of trouble!"
Within Rongcheng, thanks to Chen Yang's network of connections, he truly wasn't afraid of any trouble. After the battle with Fan Changtian, Chen Yang had already established his reputation and dominance among those in the know, and most people wouldn't dare to provoke him. If any foolhardy individuals dared to cause trouble, Chen Yang wouldn't hesitate to teach them a lesson.
Chen Yang's current priority is to quickly build the radio station's brand awareness. Although Xie Fangzhi's connections will likely attract some advertising from real estate developers and home improvement companies, the station can't rely on these freelance ads for long-term survival.
Only by rapidly increasing the station's visibility and listenership will those early advertisers be willing to spend more money on advertising. Once the 89.6% listenership rating rises to surpass provincial and municipal stations, these same businesses might be begging Chen Yang for prime-time advertising slots!
Furthermore, Chen Yang's funds are currently limited, and operating at a loss for too long is unsustainable. To quickly build a loyal audience, he must focus on improving the programming. Programs focusing on rights protection are most likely to resonate with listeners. People are naturally inclined to sympathize with the weak. If a radio station had a program dedicated to advocating for car owners who have nowhere to turn for help, it would quickly attract attention.
"Okay, I understand!" Seeing that Chen Yang was determined, Song Xiaoyun didn't say anything more and answered readily.
After all, Chen Yang was the boss.
"Xiaoyi, you can't just sit idle. You need to use this time to organize our channel's management system, as well as the staffing needs and structure. Get a preliminary plan out. If you don't understand anything, don't hesitate to ask Xiaoyun!" Chen Yang then turned to Song Yi and said.
Although Song Yi wasn't highly educated, he was exceptionally intelligent, and with Song Xiaoyun, a program director who had worked in government agencies, able to provide advice, Chen Yang confidently entrusted him with these tasks.
Although it was still in the preparatory stage, the system had to be perfected first. Chen Yang wasn't running a charity; this radio channel was for profit, and he definitely wouldn't employ idle people. The kind of inefficiency and half-hearted work within the system is absolutely unacceptable. Clear rewards and punishments are essential to ensure the efficient operation of the entire team.
"Okay!" Song Yi agreed without hesitation.
Brother Yang trusted him so much; he naturally couldn't let him down and had to give it his all.
"Alright, we'll discuss the specifics after we've established the framework. Everyone, go back and do your jobs!" Chen Yang, seeing that it was almost time, stood up and said with a smile, "You two are the first generation of founders of our company. I won't treat you unfairly in the future!"
Song Xiaoyun and Song Yi quickly stood up and agreed. The three left the private room. Since they had all drunk alcohol, none of them could drive. Fortunately, the club provided a chauffeur service, so Chen Yang arranged for a driver in his Audi SUV to take Song Xiaoyun and Song Yi to their respective residences before returning to his villa in the Luhang residential area.
The next few days, Chen Yang was extremely busy.
The first step was negotiations with the municipal television station. The next day, Chen Yang visited Zhou Wen at the station, bringing with him the cooperation proposal he had prepared in his spare time. Zhou Wen was very optimistic about the prospects of this cooperation and strongly urged its implementation. He immediately convened an internal meeting at the municipal station, and after the leadership reached a consensus, Zhou Wen led the drafting of a report to the Municipal Party Committee's Propaganda Department.
Meanwhile, negotiations between Chen Yang and the municipal television station were also underway. Both sides agreed on the general direction, but they were fiercely debating some details. For example, regarding the term of the cooperation, the municipal station proposed three years, with renewal negotiations after that. However, Chen Yang proposed at least five years, including a six-month growth period during which only half of the contract fee would be paid. Furthermore, after the five-year term, Chen Yang's side wanted the right of first refusal for renewal.
Chen Yang didn't want to work so hard to build the channel's reputation only to have the municipal station take it back or demand exorbitant prices. Wouldn't that be like working for someone else's benefit? Although the possibility was low, Chen Yang didn't want any mishaps.
Finally, at Chen Yang's insistence, the municipal station agreed to his plan in principle, but only for a three-month growth period. The station also made two demands: first, the basic salaries of the five municipal station managers remaining on the channel would be paid by the station, but Chen Yang would pay their performance-based bonuses; second, the station's 8:00 AM news program, "Morning News Express," must be retained and broadcast live.
Chen Yang felt these two demands were reasonable, but he didn't readily agree. Instead, he requested a reduction in the contract fee, as this would mean losing a full hour of airtime each day, which would still impact the channel's revenue.
Ultimately, the annual contract fee was reduced by 100,000 yuan from the original amount. Both parties reached a preliminary agreement on the market-oriented cooperation of Channel 89.6, with a five-year contract period. The first year's contract fee was 1.25 million yuan, increasing by 10% annually thereafter. The cooperation period began on August 1, 2010, with August, September, and October designated as the growth period, during which the contract fee was halved. Upon contract expiration, Chen Yang had the right of first refusal for renewal.
Now that the basic agreement was reached, Chen Yang began working on registering the company. If all went smoothly, the publicity department would soon issue approval, at which point the contract would be signed. It couldn't be signed in Chen Yang's personal name alone!
Therefore, company registration was urgent. Fortunately, Chen Yang had already established a good relationship with Lu Mingjun, making it relatively convenient to register a cultural communication company within the cultural industry creative park, and he might even be able to secure some preferential policies.