"That's right, it's 'The Walking Dead'!"
Kyle said with confidence, "If 'Prison Break' pioneered high-budget, high-quality premium dramas on public television, then 'The Walking Dead,' which is about to air on UPN, will pioneer high-quality, high-budget dramas on cable pay channels."
"How high is the production cost?" reporter Alena pressed.
Hearing this, Kyle immediately spread out a large hand: "30 million, a full 30 million US dollars!"
Reporter Alena's expression immediately froze.
How could she not be surprised?!
In fact, not long ago, HBO's production and broadcast of the 'The Pacific' series, with a production cost of up to 20 million US dollars, had already shocked Hollywood.
But!
But she never expected that the production cost of 'The Walking Dead' would be even higher than HBO's 'The Pacific.'
"Mr. Page, is this true? And are you referring only to the first season of 'The Walking Dead'?" reporter Alena quickly pressed.
"Of course!"
Kyle said loudly, "The first season of 'The Walking Dead' only has 6 episodes; it's a mini-series, yet we invested a hefty 30 million US dollars in production costs. The average production cost per episode is 5 million US dollars, making it the highest-priced single-episode drama in American television history."
30 million production cost?
Only producing 6 episodes?
Each episode costing up to 5 million US dollars?!
"Hiss~!"
For a moment, reporter Alena was stunned.
The newspaper staff who had accompanied her were also dumbfounded.
This production cost completely broke the ceiling!
"Heh heh, got scared, didn't you?" Kyle chuckled mischievously.
In fact, Kyle was also heartbroken.
In the original timeline, 'The Walking Dead' was able to win praise in a short period of time, in addition to the brilliance of the plot itself, also due to the use of special effects and the creation of a sense of apocalypse, making it almost on par with high-budget Hollywood productions like 'I Am Legend' and '28 Days Later.' It also depicted a shocking Earth after a biochemical disaster, also an apocalyptic scene ruled by zombies. Compared to the huge production costs of these films, 'The Walking Dead' could be called a model of low-budget, high-quality production.
Without saying anything else, many viewers' evaluations of 'The Walking Dead' were higher than that of 'Resident Evil' of the same genre.
'The Walking Dead' was filmed in 2010 in the original timeline, costing over 22 million US dollars. But Kyle, with a wave of his hand, directly set the price at 30 million US dollars.
...Well, actually, it wasn't that much.
Many film and television drama budgets are used to fool outsiders and audiences, but the actual budget for the first season of 'The Walking Dead' was also 20 million US dollars. It was still a high-cost TV series.
"Bragging is still necessary."
After all, high-budget TV series and low-budget TV series have completely different attractions for ordinary audiences.
Considering the inflation of 12 years and the continuous depreciation of the US dollar.
Kyle dared to say that the production cost of his 'The Walking Dead' was higher than the one in the original timeline.
"If it weren't for the high cost of special effects, the 6 episodes of my 'The Walking Dead' season one could probably be completed for 5 million US dollars. Special effects in the late 90s were really expensive."
Kyle complained endlessly in his heart...
HBO Television.
President Krah Willy frowned at the people around him and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, have you seen the latest issue of 'California Entertainment News'?"
Hearing this, several HBO executives present immediately began to whisper among themselves.
Some had seen it, and many hadn't had time to.
Production department head Dinont frowned and said, "Mr. Willy, are you referring to 'California Entertainment News's interview with Kyle Page?"
"Exactly!"
President Krah Willy's eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth, "His 'Prison Break' has already gained a huge reputation, but now there's another 'The Walking Dead,' which is even more aggressive, and we have to be on guard."
Everyone immediately nodded.
As for 'Prison Break,' they could ignore it.
After all, 'Prison Break' was broadcast on WB Public Television, which had little impact on cable pay channels like HBO. Well, even if there was an impact, it wasn't a big deal.
But!
'The Walking Dead' was a completely different story!
It was broadcast on UPN, also a limited pay TV, and the competition between the two outweighed cooperation.
Especially since UPN had developed very rapidly in the past two years, it had already affected HBO's dominant position in the cable pay TV field.
They had to be on guard!
"Gentlemen, fellows, please pay close attention to UPN's 'The Walking Dead' recently. I don't want to see it succeed!" President Krah Willy shouted.
"Yes, sir."
Everyone responded in unison... In fact, while HBO was paying attention to 'The Walking Dead,' several other American television stations were also constantly monitoring it.
'Prison Break' had been too popular recently, so they couldn't help but be vigilant!
The competition between television stations was no less intense than the struggles in the financial market, and various tactics were used to the extreme, skirting the edges of the law.
The industry was wary, but the audience was expectant.
"That's awesome!"
"It must be another script written by that guy, Kyle Page."
"That's right, the 'Prison Break' Kyle wrote was so brilliant, there's no reason 'The Walking Dead' wouldn't be good. Plus, the production cost of 'The Walking Dead' is higher than 'Prison Break's."
"Oh my God!"
"6 episodes of 'The Walking Dead' actually cost 30 million US dollars, that's really amazing!"
"Soon, it'll be aired on January 1st!"
...Under the attention of many peers and the anticipation of countless viewers, 'The Walking Dead' officially went online on the UPN network.
Apocalypse, wasteland, zombies, gore... these elements formed a scene of a doomsday biochemical crisis.
Many viewers absolutely loved it!
Especially in the late 90s, when the movie 'Resident Evil' had not yet been released, 'The Walking Dead' directly seized the initiative.
At the same time, the zombie actors in the show were required to have large eyes, and long necks, and it usually took several hours to apply their makeup. For zombies with missing limbs, actors had to wear special blue fabric, and with the help of post-production special effects, the desired effect was achieved.
This level of makeup was far superior to that of the classic zombie movie 'Night of the Living Dead' from more than a decade ago.
Moreover, many viewers had a fervent fascination with wasteland plots.
The launch of 'The Walking Dead' was in line with the trend of the times.
On the day the first episode of the first season was uploaded, there were as many as 7 million paid views;
In just one day, UPN added 720,000 new subscribers;
It seems that the viewership of 'The Walking Dead' is lower than that of 'Prison Break,' but don't ignore a major premise: 'Prison Break' was broadcast on WB Public Television, while 'The Walking Dead' was broadcast on UPN Limited Pay Television.
One is free, the other is paid.
Naturally, there is a huge difference in viewership numbers between the two.
Don't think that all American viewers are rich; many are reluctant to spend money to watch TV.
Undoubtedly, 'The Walking Dead' succeeded!
And it was a huge, unprecedented success!
In this era when HBO had not yet dominated, in the late 90s when 'Band of Brothers' with a production cost of 125 million US dollars had not yet been born, the more than 7 million paid viewers for the first episode of 'The Walking Dead' completely created a brand new historical chapter!