Chapter 1292: Chapter 1291: Help Hotline
"Sorry..."
The director of the TV station looked at Momo, shaking his head regretfully, "Your project hasn’t passed the review, so we..."
The director glanced at the proposal placed on the table and pushed it back.
This was the fourth time Momo submitted a program proposal during this period. Previously, her documentary-style "A Day in the Life of a Millionaire" had a significant social impact.
People started to reflect, searching within themselves for reasons why they couldn’t succeed, ultimately discovering that laziness was the reason for their failures.
Even those capitalists were working hard, so what right did ordinary people have to be lazy?
The words sounded beautiful, but when it was time to lie on the sofa, drink juice, eat donuts, and watch TV, people wouldn’t really leave their comfort zones to work or do anything.
Shouting that laziness leads to decadence, yet continuing to be lazy, that’s ordinary people for you.
However, as far as the program was concerned, it reached its intended effect!
Momo originally thought this was her most perfect transition from being in front of the camera to behind the scenes, but soon reality hit her in the face like an unstoppable train engine!
The first time she was rejected, she thought maybe her planning wasn’t good, and then the second, third, and... this time.
She discussed her proposal with some colleagues, and they all thought it was great, yet it was still stuck at the TV station.
This made Momo realize that the program getting blocked had nothing to do with what it was about.
After working at the TV station for so many years, she finally became clear-headed at this moment, no longer harboring the foolish thought that she might have done something wrong.
She walked to the door and closed it.
Honestly, Momo was quite sharp on the program, making her an unpopular woman, as she always left men in awkward situations.
In a male-dominated society, this indeed made people feel negatively about her, but one couldn’t deny that she was outstanding in many aspects.
For instance, her figure.
Not exaggerated, just normal, yet able to perfectly convey beauty.
She shut the door, and the director instinctively swallowed hard; he leaned back to create some space.
At that moment, his heart was complicated and conflicted; he had encountered such unspoken rules before, often being in a dominant position.
Inviting female hosts or staff to discuss work, but someone taking the initiative was still a first.
Though a bit uneasy, there was some anticipation.
After all, Momo was quite a special female host.
But... what followed wasn’t as he imagined.
"Now the door is closed, no one knows what we’re talking about, you can brag to those people that you had your way with me in the office."
"But you need to tell me who’s blocking my program."
The expected good thing didn’t come, which made the director feel humiliated—first embarrassed, then ashamed, finally angry.
Yet he didn’t erupt in anger.
The director indeed had great power, but sometimes it wasn’t all that grand—this was Bupen!
He was silent for a while, then said, "First, you don’t have your own funding source; you’re an old employee of the TV station, you must understand, aside from some prime-time shows, most programs are planned and funded by someone."
That’s one reason; Momo’s expression wasn’t that good, for the TV station’s approach wasn’t entirely as the director described—it was only the end result.
The real approach was for hosts or program planners to take their plans and first find sponsors. Once sponsors are willing to invest, the program can be initiated.
The TV station here is actually just providing a platform, though when it’s time to make money, it will still make money.
If it were another host, this matter might already be successful.
A host of a highly-rated political program is very influential, and even if they aren’t hosts anymore, their lives remain easy.
With their vast network, they could become brokers directly.
But Momo was different; her program never allowed her to have a good relationship with any guests, it was designed to offend people.
Precisely because she offended too many, the program is temporarily halted.
The reason given was that host Momo needed to take on another role as a director, so the program was suspended, to be reconsidered for restart after completing other work.
Supporters of the program acknowledged this as a form of promotion, since becoming a director from a host was rare.
In reality, things weren’t exactly so; after these years of development, the program couldn’t invite any heavyweight guests anymore.
Everyone knew they’d end up embarrassed; so why come?
Without heavyweight guests, viewership declined, and sponsors intended to terminate continued sponsorship, which was the main reason for the program’s suspension.
And this made it hard to find funding.
Secondly, every TV program and host has a cycle of activity; when the TV station found that viewership remained relatively stable without Momo, they were less inclined to keep using an expensive host.
Why do some directors prefer to use newcomers?
Because they’re cheap!
The biggest problem for all film and television works is never content but budget!
Now, Momo found herself marginalized.
Facing Momo, who imposed great pressure on him, the director felt displeased, his speech naturally became less polite, especially since his hoped-for scenario didn’t happen.
"It’s not someone blocking you, you need to understand, it’s a decision made by all of us." The director looked at Momo, shifting forward in his seat.
The space originally enough for another person to squat there beside him was reduced, he didn’t need that space anymore.
With both hands pressed on the table, he appeared aggressive, "The style of the previous program had some... limitations of the era, people no longer like watching hosts put guests in awkward situations."
"Besides, your relationships in this aspect, forgive me for being blunt, are terrible!"
"If it weren’t for the previously high ratings, we might have killed this program long ago; but now..." The director shrugged, "We found replacements, you’re no longer of use, no one’s going out of their way to trouble you, or rather everyone is!"
Constantly offending people naturally created great pressure on the director and others; they were unhappy with Momo, but celebrities and political figures couldn’t show they were triggered and then target the woman’s bad host personality.
They couldn’t trouble Momo, but they could trouble the station.
Refusing to attend the station’s events or changing collaborations with the station’s programs, or whatever else.
In short, letting her lose her "weight" wasn’t a simple question; it was complex.
Momo picked up the planning document on the table, stood up, and looked at the director, "You will regret this."
The director smiled, he’d encountered such "threats" many times in his life; every host losing a job or getting shelved made similar "prophecies."
But reality?
He was still here, calmly sitting, waiting for the young girls hoping to rise to crawl forward.
Momo slammed the door shut; the loud noise drew quite a few looks from the surrounding people.
When they saw it was Momo, they acted as if they hadn’t seen anything and continued with their own business.
The TV station was more complex than other places, yet more straightforward, a contradiction yet not.
The complexity lay in interpersonal relationships, in the social network, whereas straightforwardness was the attitude towards aligning with sides.
Whose program can go on, whose can’t—it’s obvious!
Returning to her villa, Momo started considering whom to ask for help; she took out her address book, filled with numbers of various officials and celebrities.
But she didn’t know whom to call because most of these people had been on her program.
Before appearing on the program, maybe their relationships were relatively good, but afterward... only surface level remained.
Flipping through, she suddenly found she didn’t know whom to approach, her frustration leading her to break her favorite ceramic pot.
Looking at the scattered pieces, she could only sigh, bending down to slowly clean up.
She had to start considering her options; first, she needed to think about selling the villa.
Losing her job with no future work arrangements meant she couldn’t afford the villa’s installment payments.
The bank wouldn’t care if you’re a celebrity; if you’re out of money and your account is empty, you’re enemies.
Not to mention she once put the bank executives in awkward positions during the program, directly attacking the internal rules.
Now many were waiting to see her fall!
Just as she tidied up, she turned on the TV to make the villa a little lively, unexpectedly discovering the news of Lynch’s return to the Federation.
Yes, he had just returned from Gafura, yet the media rushed to report Lynch’s news, indicating how interested people in the Federation were in anything related to Lynch.
And this matter itself wasn’t completely... ordinary.
Momo knew that the verdict in the female writer’s Demon Father’s case was imminent, Lynch also took advantage of the buzz.
Thinking of Lynch gave Momo some ideas.
She indeed made things difficult for Lynch on her TV program, trying every way to embarrass him, yet he successfully evaded or outright defeated those questions, being among the few guests on the show with no negative effects.
Moreover, they had privately played a few friendly matches, perhaps... Lynch would support her in this?
With this thought, she picked up the phone and dialed Lynch’s number...
