Before seeing the final cut, no one had any idea what kind of viewership ratings a program produced in less than a week would have.
Everyone hoped it wouldn't be too bad; as long as it wasn't lower than 'Qingying's Lecture Room', then it would be a good program.
After all, it was pulled in to take over the slot; expecting it to suddenly perform at a god-like level was definitely unrealistic.
However, after watching the final cut, everyone's opinion of the program changed significantly.
It seemed the program's viewership ratings were something to look forward to?
Although the program's production was rushed, its degree of completion was very high, with no visible signs of being shoddily made.
It couldn't compare to the meticulously crafted 'I Love Remembering Lyrics', but to say it was worse than 'Qingying's Lecture Room' was absolutely impossible.
The others outside the production crew were not as optimistic. Since they were all part of the entertainment channel, they naturally didn't want the broadcasting slot to be ruined.
While worrying, they also prayed that as long as the program wasn't completely terrible and could hold out until the next program came out, its mission would be fulfilled.
In the blink of an eye, it was Sunday night.
'Challenge the Microphone' welcomed its premiere.
Although an was inserted during Friday's 'I Love Remembering Lyrics', there was too little other promotion.
Only viewers who had watched the entertainment channel knew that the sister program of 'I Love Remembering Lyrics' would start broadcasting on Sunday.
And even these viewers wouldn't necessarily watch the program just because they knew about it; retaining even a third of them would be considered quite good.
The rest would be the original audience demographic of 'Qingying's Lecture Room', and it remained to be seen whether 'Challenge the Microphone' could reel them in.
The program officially began broadcasting.
Those viewers who were originally waiting for 'Qingying's Lecture Room', seeing a completely different opening, were all stunned, subconsciously thinking they had tuned to the wrong channel.
But looking closely, this was the Zhaonan Entertainment Channel!
Some people felt annoyed and went to look it up. Once they understood the whole story, some changed the channel, while others planned to continue watching.
After all, they were used to watching TV at this time, so taking a look at a new program was fine too.
The quality of these past few episodes of 'Qingying's Lecture Room' was very poor, making them somewhat impatient while watching; changing to a new program, they'd make do and see how it was.
As for those viewers who came directly from 'I Love Remembering Lyrics', their expectations were maxed out.
The fast-paced opening, the hosts who seemed to be rushing for time, the few lead singers with impressive singing skills, and the rousing rock music, were all familiar flavors.
"It has that flavor!" The audience was relatively satisfied.
'Remembering Lyrics' was specifically for remembering lyrics, whereas 'Challenge the Microphone' was about singing with accurate pitch.
The two programs still had those same people, but because the gameplay was different, it gave the audience a peculiar sense of freshness.
It wouldn't produce boredom; on the contrary, it was like 'I Love Remembering Lyrics' had put out a special edition.
It was roughly the same feeling as when your favorite program releases two episodes in a week, your favorite TV show suddenly updates with a few extra episodes, or the author of your favorite novel coughs up blood to deliver a massive burst of updates.
Just like 'Remembering Lyrics', the program was very tightly paced. No matter the segment, there was very little nonsense—quick transitions, cutting straight to the point.
The familiar KTV selection process, ordinary people one after another standing on the familiar stage; but this time it wasn't about remembering lyrics, but competing in singing.
Because the pitch line was generated according to the song, 'Challenge the Microphone' didn't score based on whether you sang beautifully or not, but looked at the pitch score.
As a result, this kind of situation would be seen: someone who sang very beautifully ended up with a score not as high as someone else who sang dryly.
The program was quite effective, giving people a feeling of "I could do it too if I went up."
Especially at the end, the lead singer actually lost!
This meant that this Mic Hog not only won the championship for this episode, but would also participate in the recording of the next episode of 'I Love Remembering Lyrics'.
The programmatic effect of this was incredibly interesting!
Of course, this also disrupted some of the recording plans for 'I Love Remembering Lyrics'.
Originally, the next episode was supposed to record the celebrity special, and what was broadcast would also be previous stock; now they had to record two episodes in one week.
But compared to promoting 'Challenge the Microphone', this bit of trouble was nothing.
The program concluded its broadcast successfully.
The first thing Chen Ran did was go to the forums to look at the reviews.
Because it overlapped with the audience of 'I Love Remembering Lyrics', some of the audience's opinions could also be seen here.
It was still mostly positive reviews, but it wasn't as exaggerated as 'Remembering Lyrics' was back then.
Chen Ran clicked open a thread.
"The entertainment channel has released another super interesting program. It should be made by the same group of people as 'I Love Remembering Lyrics'. The hosts and lead singers haven't changed, and the program is very entertaining."
"I watched it too. I saw the during 'I Love Remembering Lyrics' on Friday and had been waiting for it. It didn't disappoint me."
"But doesn't everyone feel the program is a bit unfair? Just now in the program, Wang Yifei sang very beautifully, but his score wasn't as high as Liu Hai's, so he was eliminated."
"I don't think there's anything unfair. The program's rules are right there: it doesn't judge singing skills, only pitch accuracy. That Wang Yifei sang beautifully, but his pitch score wasn't high enough..."
There were quite a few people discussing it.
The main point of contention was the issue of singing skills versus pitch scores.
Some people sang very beautifully, but their pitch scores were truly not high, and their elimination would cause the audience to feel pity.
What everyone was arguing about was the program's rationality: whether it should focus on singing skills or pitch accuracy.
The argument in this thread was ended by a single sentence from a netizen.
"What's the use of discussing this? The program just has these rules, and this is exactly the effect they want. If it were truly about singing skills, then why wouldn't I go watch a satellite TV singing talent show? Wouldn't those professionals absolutely crush these KTV contestants?"
With this single sentence from the netizen, the singing-skills faction dispersed.
The program's entertainment value lay exactly in this pitch analyzer; didn't they see that even the lead singers lost?
Other threads had some arguments, big and small, but the overall evaluations were quite high.
Chen Ran looked at the volume of discussion, and his heart relaxed a bit.
He actually wasn't entirely calm either; he also hoped the program would achieve a good result.
After all, with a program he made himself reaching this stage, not many people would be able to remain composed.
Even Director Wu Jin, who had produced programs for so many years and could be considered someone who had weathered many storms, was equally apprehensive when the program premiered.
……
Monday morning.
The Program Department's morning meeting.
It was just the necessary weekly review, summarizing the programs of the previous week.
Encouraging those who should be encouraged, and criticizing those who should be criticized.
Usually, Director Liu hosted the meeting; after all, he managed the Program Department.
But today was an exception.
Director Liu sat off to the side, and in his usual position stood Director Yang Qijun!
"Many things happened in our channel last week. I feel regret regarding Fang Qingying's matter. It was my negligence in management that allowed this incident to occur, causing a significant impact on the channel."
Yang Qijun sighed; this week had indeed left him somewhat exhausted.
A moment later, he added, "Here, I want to thank everyone for coming together to help the channel tide over this difficult time."
Yang Qijun spoke with genuine emotion and great sincerity.
Meanwhile, Director Liu, off to the side, kept his head down, his complexion somewhat unsightly.
These matters should really be blamed on him; Director Yang only came over specifically to say a few words because he was afraid of murmurs of dissent from below.
"Especially the 'I Love Remembering Lyrics' production crew—you have worked incredibly hard over the past week!"
"Producing a program in less than a week is something we wouldn't even dare to imagine under normal circumstances, but you all accomplished it!"
"Regardless of what the program's viewership ratings are, the effort you put in will be remembered by the channel!"
As everyone watched Director Yang speak, a foreboding thought crept into their minds.
Could it be that the program's viewership ratings weren't good?
Director Wu Jin's brows furrowed deeply.
After Yang Qijun finished his speech, he then began the review of the programs' viewership ratings.
They basically knew the others already, though 'Saturday Mega Lotto' had dropped a bit this episode and was singled out with a reminder to pay attention.
"Finally, 'Challenge the Microphone'..."
Seeing everyone's solemn expressions, looking as if they had braced themselves to receive terrible news, Director Yang sighed and said:
"It's very regrettable. The premiere viewership rating was 9.83%, just a tiny bit short of breaking 10%!"
When they heard "very regrettable," everyone's expressions turned slightly bitter.
Only 9.83%?
Everyone's mood was a bit gloomy.
But a moment later, they realized something wasn't right and quickly raised their heads.
9.83%?!
What is there to regret about that?!