Chapter 236
Zane Blackwood was right. The number one show last night was the super-popular sitcom, Friends.
But Prison Break had an amazing first night.
The ratings company reported that 15 million people watched the first episode. That was a million more than Zane's own team had guessed!
It was the number two show of the night, right behind Friends (which had 26 million viewers).
Now, 11 million is a big gap. But you have to remember: Friends was in its fifth season and was on NBC, a giant TV network. Prison Break was a brand-new show on the smaller WB network.
Getting 15 million viewers right away was huge news!
The Next Morning...
All the newspapers were talking about it.
The New York Times headline said: "A Gripping TV Series!"
"Why is the hero, Michael, so sure his brother is innocent?" the article asked. "This show is about justice and family love. We think future episodes will show a lot of unfair things in society. Who holds the power of the law? Let us wait and see!"
The Boston Herald wrote: "The World of Prisoners: Should We Ignore It?"
"This isn't the first show about prison," they said, "but Prison Break is special. It's a high-cost, high-quality show. This is a huge leap for American TV! With over 15 million viewers, this proves that spending big money on TV shows is the future."
Across America, 45 newspapers wrote stories about Prison Break. On the WB website, fans left over 78,000 comments in less than 12 hours!
The other TV networks were shocked.
"The WB network is about to rise!" said a boss from NBC.
"We're impressed," said a boss from ABC. "But we're not surprised. Zane Blackwood's company always makes hits."
...
A Few Weeks Later...
The show just kept getting bigger.
Episode 2: 17.5 million viewers.
Episode 3: 21 million viewers.
Getting 20 million viewers was the magic number. It meant Prison Break was officially a "super-hit" show.
The whole TV industry went from surprised to shocked. Having a hit show like this meant the WB network was now powerful and making a lot of money.
In just two weeks, the money WB made from ads jumped up by 330%! They made $8 million in extra ad money.
The experts at ABC did the math.
"Fifty million!" they said. "Just from ads, Prison Break will make $50 million. If you add in DVD sales later, the total could be $100 million!"
And they knew that if the show was on a bigger network like ABC, it would be making over $150 million.
Everyone was jealous. Hit TV shows made so much money. (In the future, Game of Thrones would make $3.58 billion! TV shows were becoming just as profitable as movies.)
December 27, 1998.
A few days after Christmas, Zane sat down for an interview with California Entertainment News.
"Mr. Blackwood," the reporter, Elena, asked, "did you expect Prison Break to be this popular?"
"Of course!" Zane said without hesitation. He sat comfortably on the sofa, looking confident and charming.
"I wrote the script myself," he explained. "And I knew it would be a hit because we invested a huge amount of money into it. That is extremely rare in TV history. I am proud to say that my company, Golden Dawn, is a pioneer of high-quality, high-cost TV!"
Zane happily claimed the credit. He knew this reputation would help his company grow even faster.
At the end of the interview, Zane leaned in with a mysterious smile.
"By the way," he said, "you might want to pay attention to my other network, UPN. On January 1st, we are launching another excellent series called... 'The Walking Dead.'"
"The Walking Dead?" Elena asked, surprised.
Zane just smiled. He knew he was about to shock the world again.
Chapter 237
"Yes, it's The Walking Dead!" Zane said confidently. "If Prison Break was the first amazing, high-quality show for free TV, then The Walking Dead, on UPN, will be the first one for paid TV."
"How high is the cost?" the reporter, Elena, asked.
Zane held up five fingers. "Thirty million dollars."
Elena's jaw dropped.
Not long ago, HBO had spent $20 million on a war show, and everyone thought that was crazy. But Zane was spending $30 million?
"Is that for the whole series?" Elena asked.
"No," Zane said firmly. "The first season is only 6 episodes. But we spent $30 million. That's $5 million per episode. It is the most expensive TV show in history."
Elena and her crew were stunned.
Zane smirked. "Surprised?"
Inside, Zane was secretly sweating a little. He knew the real cost was closer to $20 million. But in Hollywood, you always exaggerate to make yourself sound bigger!
"Besides," he thought, "special effects in the 90s are really expensive. If I didn't need all those zombies and ruined cities, this show would only cost $5 million!"
At HBO Television...
President Krah Willie frowned at his team. "Did you see the news?"
Everyone nodded nervously.
"Zane Blackwood already had a huge hit with Prison Break," Krah said, grinding his teeth. "And now he's making The Walking Dead, which is even more expensive."
"We could ignore Prison Break," he explained, "because that was on a free channel. But The Walking Dead is on UPN—a paid channel, just like us! They are our direct competition."
"I want you all to watch The Walking Dead closely," Krah ordered. "I do not want to see it succeed!"
"Yes, sir!" everyone said.
It wasn't just HBO. All the TV networks were watching Zane closely. The TV business was a fierce battle, just like Wall Street.
But while the TV bosses were worried, the audience was excited.
"Amazing! This is another show written by Zane Blackwood!"
"Right! Prison Break is so good. The Walking Dead has to be great, too. Plus, it cost $30 million!"
"Almost there! It starts on January 1st!"
On January 1st, The Walking Dead finally aired.
The world was destroyed. Zombies were everywhere. It was bloody, scary, and exciting. The audience loved it!
This was years before the Resident Evil movies, so seeing a high-quality zombie show was brand new.
The zombies looked amazing. The actors had to wear special makeup that took hours to put on.
The first episode had 7 million paid viewers on its very first day!
And in just one day, 720,000 new people signed up for UPN just to watch it.
Now, 7 million might sound lower than the 15 million for Prison Break. But remember: Prison Break was free. The Walking Dead cost money to watch.
Getting 7 million people to pay to watch a brand-new show? That was a miracle. It was a massive, record-breaking success.
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