Chapter 865: Potential S-class Anime?
April 22nd, Thursday.
Chrome Channel TV Station, Sakura City.
This was the TV channel that the Tokyo Studios bought the broadcasting time for the SAO anime. And on that Thursday night, the Chrome Channel would air the fourth episode of the anime. Although this wasn’t the most popular TV channel, it was famous among small and medium-sized animation studios because it didn’t charge an exorbitant price for its broadcasting spots. This company’s police made this channel relatively popular among the public, gathering a decent, frequent audience due to their fame for broadcasting new and unknown anime. And here and there, the channel managed to get lucky with unknown anime becoming famous and attracting lots of audience.
That’s why the channel was known for having animes in the majority of its broadcasting schedule.
And as a national TV channel reaching the whole Sakurean territory, the person in charge of this channel had a lot of responsibilities.
This person was the Channel Head Director, Mr. Hatake.
It was the end of the afternoon, and the office lights illuminated the piles of papers on Mr. Hatake’s desk, a testament to the multitude of responsibilities he shouldered. With a keen eye, he reviewed the schedule for the next anime season, which was the summer season. Even though the spring season had barely started, as a TV channel, they needed to confirm the anime lineup as soon as possible. This was because only with the anime lineup, they would be able to sell advertisement spots; thus, an anime lineup was decided months before an anime season started. And as the channel’s Head Director, Mr. Hatake, had to ensure that the anime lineup was diverse and appealing to their dedicated audience. He made a few adjustments, adding a new anime title that had recently garnered attention from small studios.
As the night arrived, the director tackled pending issues with production and logistics, his keen eye for detail ensuring that nothing slipped through the cracks. Finally, as he prepared to call it a day, his assistant entered the office, a hesitant look on their face. "Sir, I know you’re about to leave, but there’s an urgent matter that requires your attention. It’s regarding one of our current anime broadcasts." The director sighed, knowing that his overtime work was far from over.
"Don’t worry, Mrs. Hanabi. Tell me about it." Mr. Hatake replied with a patient voice.
He knew it wasn’t Mrs. Hanabi’s fault. He had been working as the Head Director for 15 years, and she had been his assistant for 13 years of those 15 years. Thus, he knew if it wasn’t urgent, she wouldn’t mention this issue at the end of a workday.
Mrs. Hanabi heaved a sigh of relief before explaining the situation, "Sir, the Marketing and the Supervision Department have just sent a joint Survey Examination on a potential S-class anime among one of our current anime broadcasts." She said objectively as she gave him a document.
"What? A potential S-class anime?" Mr. Hatake asked in surprise.
Now he knew why his assistant mentioned this issue even though it was outside of their work time. To understand why the channel head director gave such importance to this issue, we have to understand what an S-class anime is.
S-class anime is a term inside the Chrome Channel to denote animes that have become so famous and popular that they elevate the channel’s audience to be on par with the giant TV channels.
Over the long years that the Chrome Channel has been broadcasting animes, they were lucky to find a few S-class animes. That’s why there were departments inside the company responsible for monitoring and examining potential S-class animes.
That’s why the Marketing and Supervision department worked together on this survey.
Mr. Hatake quickly opened the document and started reading, ’Sword Art Online. ’ He read, ’So, it is this one...’
As the Head Director of the channel, he was familiar with all the anime currently being broadcast on the channel. So, he naturally knew the specifics about this anime.
And because he knew a lot about this anime, he was indeed surprised that it was this one that had the potential to become an S-class anime. That’s because he knew that the studio that produced this anime was a rookie studio that had its debut anime in the SAO anime. How amazing it was for a rookie animation studio to be able to launch an S-class anime as its debut anime?
Mr. Hatake read the document that detailed the reasons why the two departments reached the conclusion that the SAO anime could reach S-class. And after reading the whole document, Mr. Hatake had to admit that the two departments were right to put this anime as a potential S-class anime.
Since the SAO anime’s first episode debut, the popularity of the anime has been increasing online with each episode aired. The departments registered an increase of 30% of online comments in the second episode broadcast, and an increase of a whoping 90% in the third episode broadcast. And the decisive factor was the increase in audience for the second and third episode broadcasts.
The SAO anime debuted as an unknown anime for the majority of the public, so it barely managed to reach a satisfactory audience during the first episode broadcast. But surprisingly, on the second episode broadcast, the audience increased by 40%! That was an amazing improvement!
The audience ratings were extremely hard to increase.
But during the third episode broadcast, against all odds, the audience increased again! And by the amazing number of 60%!
If the SAO anime maintained this crescent, by the fifth episode, it would reach the audience of normal animes from giant TV channels and studios. This would be an amazing achievement!
As Mr. Hatake pondered on the issue, he decided to stay in the company tonight to monitor the audience ratings during the fourth episode broadcast of the SAO anime later that Thursday evening.
Mr. Hatake, the seasoned Channel Head Director, delved into the potential implications of the SAO anime’s rising popularity. He knew that the possibility of an S-class anime on his channel could be a game-changer. With a focused mind, he began drafting a strategy, considering the measures to be taken if SAO indeed became an S-class sensation. He instructed his team to prepare for potential sponsorship opportunities, knowing that an S-class anime would attract major brands eager to reach a wide audience. Mr. Hatake also contemplated the idea of collaborating with the rookie studio to create exclusive content for the channel, ensuring a unique viewing experience for their audience. Understanding the impact of an S-class anime, he directed his marketing team to develop a comprehensive promotional campaign, aiming to capitalize on the anime’s popularity and attract even more viewers. That Thursday night, as the clock struck 10, Mr. Hatake, with a sense of anticipation, monitored the audience ratings during the SAO anime broadcast. He witnessed the numbers climbing, a testament to the anime’s growing popularity, and knew that his channel might be on the cusp of something extraordinary.