New York, Upper West Side, Daenerys Entertainment West Coast Headquarters.
The date was August 21st.
Thursday.
By late August, the summer movie season was winding down, and the 1997 fall TV season was about to begin. Simon had flown from Los Angeles to New York on Tuesday and had been busy the past few days working on programming for Daenerys Entertainment's various television networks.
For ABC, this year's heavyweight was still American Idol.
This was already the third season of the singing reality show. Based on the feedback from the second season's summer concert tour and the recent promotional buildup for the third season, unless some other dark horse emerged this fall, American Idol, with an expected average viewership of around 35 million, was likely to lock in another year as the ratings champion.
Aside from American Idol, ABC's other flagship show, Seinfeld, was about to enter its eighth season.
Some might think that the most popular sitcom of the 1990s in the U.S. was Friends, especially among international audiences.
But that's not correct.
The most popular sitcom of the 1990s in the U.S. was Seinfeld.
Take last year's seventh season, for example. Seinfeld averaged 33 million viewers, second only to American Idol's second season, which had 37 million. Meanwhile, Friends, which premiered in 1994 and was in its third season last year, averaged only 24 million viewers.
Of course, Friends still had a long way to go, while Seinfeld was expected to conclude after its ninth season next year.
Daenerys Entertainment had previously made efforts to persuade Jerry Seinfeld, the show's creator, to extend the series to a tenth season for a proper conclusion. They even offered him a stock option package from Daenerys Entertainment on top of his $1 million per episode salary. Unfortunately, the comedian declined, signing only a two-season contract for the eighth and ninth seasons.
It wasn't about the money.
After years of repetition, anyone would grow tired. Plus, with Seinfeld's success, Seinfeld was already financially secure. In the end, he chose to forgo the lucrative offer, opting instead to take a break.
Aside from these two flagship shows, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which had been on the air since 1988, was still going strong.
Compared to the soaring popularity of American Idol, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's ratings had dropped to an average of 11 million viewers last year. However, since the show's production costs were low, even with viewership in the millions, it remained highly profitable and could continue for many more years.
On the other hand, since it was no longer a hot topic, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had been moved to the less competitive Saturday night slot and reduced to one episode per week.
Beyond Daenerys Entertainment's ABC platform, other major hits on public networks included NBC's Friends and CBS's ER, both of which were entering their fourth seasons and remained in their prime.
Survivor, which debuted around the same time as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, was also continuing. The most recent season of Survivor averaged 13 million viewers, slightly higher than Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. However, since it was a show on another network, NBC had reduced its order from two seasons per year to just one.
Beyond the public networks, there were also Daenerys Entertainment's cable networks, such as USA, ESPN, and Fashion TV.
Thanks to its precise targeting of female audiences and a lineup of hit shows, USA Network, a basic cable channel, had grown rapidly over the years. Its subscriber base had increased from an initial 21 million to 93 million. Its flagship reality shows, like the Real Housewives series, and its two drama hits, Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City, had been hot topics among North American women in recent years.
USA's lineup this year saw little change.
In terms of reality shows, aside from the long-running Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Real Housewives of New York, earlier spin-offs like Real Housewives of Atlanta and Real Housewives of Miami had been canceled due to mediocre ratings. However, following the success of last year's international spin-off, Real Housewives of Melbourne, a new show, Real Housewives of London, had been added this year.
Along with several other reality shows focusing on cooking or fashion, USA was a reality show powerhouse.
Simon had actually been holding onto two other potential reality show hits for USA: Project Runway and America's Next Top Model. However, since the Real Housewives series was still dominating the ratings, there was no need to introduce them just yet.
On the drama front, Desperate Housewives was entering its sixth season. According to Simon's memory-based storyline plan, the show was expected to conclude after its eighth season. The fifth season, which aired last year, averaged 15 million viewers. While this might not seem impressive for a public network, it was a phenomenal achievement for a basic cable channel.
Sex and the City, on the other hand, had slightly lower ratings, but its second season last year still averaged 9.7 million viewers, with expectations to break 10 million this year. Moreover, due to its subject matter and target audience, Sex and the City generated even more buzz than Desperate Housewives. Its appeal to urban professional women made it particularly attractive to advertisers.
As for ESPN, after signing a massive $9 billion, eight-year deal with the NFL last year, the agreement officially took effect this year. Barring any surprises, ESPN was poised to take off, eventually achieving Simon's vision of the "ESPN tax."
Fashion TV had also been developing smoothly over the years, with no major changes this year. Its primary goal remained expanding internationally and increasing global coverage.
Finally, there were some basic cable channels like AE Television Network, a joint venture between ABC and Hearst Corporation. After the upheaval three years ago, Daenerys Entertainment had acquired full ownership.
However, compared to USA, ESPN, or Fashion TV, these channels were more like icing on the cake. Some were even operating at a loss, but Simon had no intention of shutting them down. After all, they were part of the media landscape, and both Daenerys Entertainment and other aspects of the Verstov system could make use of these platforms in various ways.
After wrapping up the day's work, Simon had just stepped out of the conference room with Robert Iger when Aide-de-Camp approached and whispered, "The Delevignes happen to be here today discussing some collaboration details. They heard you were here and would like to say hello."
The Delevignes were Cara Delevigne's family.
Simon had met the Delevignes at a Christie's auction in London a few years ago. Recognizing the name from his memory, he struck up a conversation and later learned that Charles Delevigne, the family patriarch, was a real estate developer and agent. Simon had hired him to help acquire properties in London, but they hadn't crossed paths much since.
The reason the Delevignes were here today was because of the recently confirmed Real Housewives of London.
Charles Delevigne's wife, Pandora Delevigne, had been cast in the show.
The Delevigne family was part of London's elite social circle, with aristocratic roots—though a closer look revealed some exaggeration. Still, their connections to various celebrities made them a perfect fit for Real Housewives of London, providing plenty of fodder to attract viewers.
Since it was on his way, Simon agreed and headed to a lounge on another floor of the building after parting ways with Iger.
The Delevignes stood up as soon as Simon entered.
After exchanging greetings, Simon learned that the entire Delevigne family had come to New York. They had finished their business and planned to stay a few more days for a vacation. Simon casually invited them to a family gathering at Jerry Hall's place that evening, which would also give them a chance to network with the local crowd. The couple happily accepted.
They parted ways for the time being.
Simon headed to Greenwich. It was a little past six in the evening when he arrived at Jerry Hall's penthouse apartment. As soon as he walked in, Hall's eldest daughter, Elizabeth Jagger, greeted him, along with Nikki Hilton and their little follower, Kim Kardashian.
Seeing the girl's enthusiasm as she rushed toward him, Simon stopped her by placing a hand on her head and said with a smile, "Not buying!"
"Ha, Dad, I never thought you'd get stingier the richer you got," the girl said sweetly, prying Simon's hand off her head and wrapping her arms around his. "And I wasn't going to ask you to buy anything! Summer break is almost over, and I just want to go on a trip. Can you lend me your Boeing 767?"
Simon looked at Jerry Hall, who was walking over with a smile. "That's up to your mom."
Elizabeth grabbed her mother's arm, sandwiching herself between the two adults, and batted her big, pleading eyes. "Mom, you're okay with it, right?"
Jerry Hall had no objections. "Sure."
Compared to Uliya, who secretly disliked her own children, Jerry Hall was a more responsible mother, but she only did the bare minimum. She wasn't particularly invested in her children's education.
Elizabeth was only 13, and her academic performance was abysmal. She talked about wanting to become a model, so Hall arranged training for her. Elizabeth's biological father, Mick Jagger, disapproved of Hall's permissive parenting, but he only voiced his complaints and had no custody rights.
Now that Elizabeth wanted to go on a trip—something she had done before—Jerry Hall knew Simon would handle everything, from safety to expenses. She had no reason to object.
Seeing both women on the same page, Simon agreed.
He nodded at Nikki Hilton, who was watching him with bright eyes, and they all moved to a sofa by the window in the living room. After some small talk, Hall got up to oversee the preparations for the evening's gathering, leaving the three girls with Simon.
Once Hall was gone, Simon patted the empty spot beside him, and Nikki Hilton quickly moved over, leaving Kim Kardashian feeling a bit left out.
They chatted about various topics.
"Actually, we want to go to China," Elizabeth said. "Dad, Nikki and I went to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon recently. It was really cool, but the bamboo forest in the movie was even more beautiful. We want to see it in person. Last week, we even applied for visas. Me, Nikki, Kim, Ivanka... about a dozen of us. Anyway, we need your sponsorship."
Simon, with Nikki on his lap, casually replied, "What if I don't sponsor you?"
Elizabeth gave Nikki a little push, looking slightly jealous, and threatened, "Then I'll just have to call you Simon from now on."
"Fine by me. There are plenty of girls who'd call me Dad," Simon said nonchalantly, then looked down at Nikki. "Go on, Nikki, say it."
Nikki blushed. "I'm not calling you that."
Elizabeth, forgetting her earlier threat, grinned mischievously and egged her on. "Come on, Nikki, say it. It won't stop you from liking him. He'll definitely like you more."
Nikki shrank back, shyly swatting Elizabeth's hand away, then glanced at Simon's expression. Truth be told, if no one else were around, she might have done it. But with others present, how could she?
Elizabeth didn't press further, knowing Simon had already tacitly agreed. She changed the subject. "By the way, Dad, I saw in the papers that The Lord of the Rings is starting casting?"
Simon nodded, then chuckled. "You're interested in that?"
"I've read The Lord of the Rings! We have the complete Tolkien collection in the study at home," Elizabeth said, leaning closer to Simon with an eager look. "Dad, do you think I could play the Elf Princess?"
"Not a chance."
Elizabeth grabbed Simon's arm and started shaking it. "Aww, come on!"
Simon wasn't budging. "Stop it. Maybe if you were ten years older, but you're too young now, and you can't act. This is a $200 million investment. I'm not letting you mess around."
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Wow, $200 million! That's like the out-of-control Titanic, right?"
"It's three movies being shot together," Simon explained, then flicked her forehead. "Out-of-control Titanic?"
Elizabeth rubbed her forehead and grinned. "That's what everyone's saying. $200 million! If it flops, Dad, would you be upset?"
"Nope."
Elizabeth paused, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess not. You've lost tens of billions in the past few months. What's $200 million?"
"That's not very comforting. Keep being this snarky, and I might have to take back my offer to sponsor your trip to China. Losing tens of billions means I need to tighten the purse strings."
"Oops, sorry, Dad," Elizabeth quickly backtracked, leaning in to kiss Simon on the cheek. Still, she couldn't resist pushing her luck. "Even if I can't play the Elf Princess, can I at least have a cameo as an elf? I'm already 5'7"—plenty tall enough."
That was doable.
Simon nodded agreeably. "If you're willing and your schedule allows, you can have a cameo as an elf maid."
Elizabeth wasn't satisfied. "Just a maid?"
"Yep. That's about as minor as it gets. Any smaller, and you'd be working behind the scenes."
"Fine, fine, a maid it is," Elizabeth said, then remembered Nikki. "What about Nikki, Dad?"
"Nikki's too short. She can't play anything right now."
Elizabeth gloated. "Ha!"
Nikki Hilton pouted. "I'm a year older than Liz!"
Elizabeth smirked. "Too bad you didn't grow taller."
Nikki looked at Simon, but when he didn't relent, she could only sigh.
It was all in the genes.
Jerry Hall was 6 feet tall, a former model, and Elizabeth had inherited her mother's height, already surpassing 5'7" at just 13. Nikki's mother, Kathy Hilton, was barely 5'3"—the tallest of the Richards sisters. Nikki's aunts, Kim and Kyle Richards, whom Simon had personally met, were both around 5'1", petite and delicate.
As they chatted, evening fell, and by the time it was fully dark, guests began to arrive.
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