Chapter 386: Episode Ones II

Days after the syndication and as said 'episode ones' continue to ferment, Alexander was left to ponder.

Alone... with Chaos apparent in his computer.

But not for long, with the arrival of Miss Marker.

"Little boss." Said the dutiful market researcher.

It was obvious what she was here for but still. "Anything to report?"

"Lots, actually." Miss Marker added. "Especially on the ones you wanted to look out for."

Alexander nodded and pivoted to the first thing that came to mind. "Are the ratings finally here?"

Unfortunately, the statistics-favoring lady shook her head at that. "It's still hard to get a grasp on the conclusive one. You know how it is, little boss. The many local stations that we've partnered up with are not yet up to standard."

Well... that was one that Alexander can somewhat accept.

Ratings, ratings. How fickle can it be?

For someone who never really cared for it in the past... it sure was quite the experience to depend on it now.

Statistical sampling, Nielsen, Nielsen families, Audimeters, and those bits of a percentage that dictate the survival and cancellations of shows.

Those complexities aside, Alexander can pretty much liken TV ratings to the Youtube views of the future.

Unlike views that independently thrive though, ratings pit shows against shows... across many stations in corresponding timeslots.

It isn't as simple as 1 plus 1 views. It's more on the ratio of views, retention, and just overall percentage viewership.

Whether it be Youtube views or TV ratings, they're pretty much the guage on profitability.

Making ad placements and ad revenues quite the commonality in these methodologies.

With a business in that regard, Alexander really had to move on from this shallow concept he had of this sort of stuff.

On that thought, Miss Marker actually had a much deeper insight into this. Given that she's supposed to be a Nielsen Media Researcher herself.

Things didn't work out though and Old Sullivan managed to snag her up to be where she is now.

Miss Marker, not dwelling on that past, just dutily passed on a folder of media research done by herself.

"It's not too comprehensive but I've managed to compile some data from established stations we've worked on, little boss."

Of course, Alexander took a peek at it, and with all the dizzying numbers and analytics... maybe she hadn't let go of her Nielsen traits just yet.

Math, numbers, and graphs, and with his calculative programming background... he could at least tell that the trend was quite good.

As it turns out, for a couple of episode ones, they're not too bad at all.

Alexander, who previously considered them simple, now thought so.

With all these whatnots compiled, they sure were not to be underestimated. "Keeping this trend and even growing it should be quite lucrative."

"It sure would!" Miss Marker agreed with quite the analytical enthusiasm.

"By comparing TMNT and Dragonball's new data against the localized ratings of the old Saturday Morning timeslot programmings that we've replaced... the increment is quite obvious to see. If the increments are maintained or even spike for when we compare these numbers to the numbers that we'll get next week, then it really would be lucrative!"

"Then there's the next week, the next week after, the week after that, up until the finale week... you've got two hit shows in your hand, little boss!"

Alexander just nodded thoughtfully.

It wasn't the standard rating process but the affirmation of progress and success is all the same.

Of course, he still had other unconventional methodologies to know if his animated shows did good or not.

"How's that Oprah Winfrey Show, by the way?" This was one of them.

Prepared for what he was asking for, Miss Marker had her file on that and she passed that along as well. "The rebranding of A.M. Chicago did wonders and the talk show has quite the numbers but I'm really not too sure how two cartoons can relate to it, little boss. Comparing to fellow SMCs like He-Man and Voltron would have been more understandable. Then again, I did as you asked me to."

"There's really not much relation but it should be quite interesting to try faring against a program that's outside the norms." Alexander reasoned. "Besides, didn't I ask you to compile ratings on SNL as well? Saturday Morning Cartoons and Saturday Night Live. Very opposing demographics but very intriguing to research on, is it not?"

Well... Miss Marker didn't refute that as she found her findings to be quite fascinating. It's inconclusive but it's still a task that a marker researcher like her had fancied.

Of course, she didn't forget to hand in her SNL folder as well.

Alexander noddingly accepted it and just looked into both the Oprah and SNL data that he's been given.

Of course, his reasonings to her were both bullshit and not.

The SMC and SNL absurdity aside, Oprah would prove to be quite a ratings hog that Alexander wouldn't miss out on treating the lady as the gauge to be set against.

Like Oprah, they had all "technically" started out in this fated month of September...

If Oprah would still prove to be quite the ratings behemoth that it would be... there's no harm in setting that as a goal for future televised animated projects to come.

7, 14, and even 15-20 million viewers a day in the United States alone.

Alexander was no fan of the lady but if all his Americanized anime and plundered cartoon projects were as crazy as that... Creed Entertainment would really be a ratings colossus.

Of course, one can only envision but pulling it off is another thing entirely.

On that note... TV ratings were settled but there were still other ratings to consider.

This time, it's not the numbers and views, it's more on all the G, PGs, the Rs, and the like.

If anything, it's actually more on the viewers and the deciding censorship that's quite annoying to get around to.

Basically... the "Karen" association of the 80s. The terror that cartoons and children's programming had to bow against.

"Miss Marker, how's the lookout on annoying parent groups, associations, and all that whatnot?" Alexander asked. "I sure hope that there's no annoying complaints and contempt from these unsavory types. It's just the first episodes, after all."

"It's all fine on that end, little boss." She appeased but Miss Marker was still on guard.

The little boss had explained to her about the absurd power that these groups held and how detrimental they were if provoked.

"It would be interesting to conduct research on what made these empowered parent markets behave in such a way though." She unwittingly muttered out loud.

Alexander actually had an educated guess about that and it's related to the topic he's bringing up next. "How fine are we on the toy side of things then?"

"Toys?" Miss Marker responded after some thought. "We took a bit of a dip with how the current comic book community is in a mess. Comic-Con which should have boosted sales actually was quite adverse. However, trends seemed to have reversed that again."

"It's early in the week so consensus has yet to be collated but calls had already poured in from a lot of toy retailers. They're ordering more from the TMNT and Dragonball toylines..." Miss Marker muttered. "It's as if they're expecting a spike in demand. No... perhaps they're experiencing it already!"

"This can't be why parent associations will really impose themselves on animated works, right?" Miss Marker asked herself but she didn't really need any answer.

What more could Alexander say?

It's actually as simple as that.

Toys. Cartoons are glorified toy ads in the eyes of parents. Their wallets are at stake... and it all just compounds from there.

Concerns about their children's welfare and the adverse effects of TV would be brought up...

And at some point... the glorious Saturday Morning Cartoons and cartoon-based profiteering would bow down from that might.

Miss Marker just took a deep breath from those implications and diverted the topic to some appeasing details. "In any case, that's still alarmist as opposed to all the great reception that we've got, little boss."

Reception, huh. Alexander wasn't too surprised that they'd get here.

He can even enumerate what it would be about. "Newspapers are covering the Turtles and Dragonballs with quite the fanfare, critics are praising the corresponding premise for their great intrigue, and highlights on the shows are just at an all-time high."

Overall, good reception and just sparing negativity on the side.

TMNT was set to the glory that it will be and Dragonball had officially Americanized with Japan being none the wiser.

These truly were appeasing details, weren't they?

The newspaper part was very integral in this whole Turtle and monkey boy praise framing though.

Even Miss Marker had something to add to it. "Aside from that, by October, the ratings will finally be comprehensive and not be as scattered as it is now."

"Well, that's a responsibility that our advantaged partner is always meant to deliver on." He hadn't forgotten about the newspaper-based, fox-y syndicate that he's working with, after all.

"Oh yeah... before I forget... someone sent this specifically for you, little boss." Miss Marker seemed to have been reminded of an invitation that was quite in line with this partner of theirs. "As a celebration of what's to come and what's to be established, it would seem that they also want you to be there. It's quite the party of sorts."

An invitation, huh.

Alexander's previous track record of attending these kinds of things wasn't too good. The last one happened to be an inquisition.

Given how fox-y this partner was, this paper stuff is more or less the same as that confidential phone call in Alexander's opinion.

Parties were also a pain for introverts.

Alexander even favored salary bonuses over whatever celebration that Creed Animations' employees wanted to have.

Without a doubt, he'll RSVP with a no.

He's busy anyways. Very busy.

As a matter of a fact, wasn't he busy as of current?

Alexander looked to Chaos in his computer once again and back to Miss Marker for confirmation. "While we've gotten derailed with all these ratings and invitation stuff, the report on GameKey distribution is still a thing, right?"

Miss Marker just grimaced a bit but also nodded as an affirmative. "We're all good on that end, little boss."

That was all that Alexander needed as he typed up a few commands for Chaos units to do their work.

After all, after episode ones, a corresponding video game should follow suit...