The film and television company founded by Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi was located near the outskirts of Hudu City, right next to the local film production base.
This area was home to countless independent film and TV companies.
Some collaborated with small to mid-sized TV stations to produce sitcoms or low-budget dramas.
Others specialized in web dramas, with no intention of broadcasting through traditional TV channels.
Still others worked within the film industry, producing low-budget theatrical releases.
In short, competition was everywhere.
The company's facilities were modest, but Su Yan didn't care about that.
Once the company grew and started making real money, buying an entire building to use as their headquarters wouldn't be out of the question.
For now, every penny had to be saved for the production of 'Your Lie in April'.
Although Su Yan hadn't yet finalized which TV station would air 'Your Lie in April', preparations for filming were already well underway.
No matter how things turned out—whether they could stick to the planned July broadcast or not—the show had to be filmed.
And the sooner production began, the more time there would be to polish the post-production.
So over the past few days, Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi had already begun assembling the production team.
Once the company finished hiring its core staff, Su Yan turned his attention to five major TV stations, excluding the "Big Three": Sakura TV, Hudu TV, and Zhongxia TV.
Out of the five, Su Yan immediately ruled out Beifang Union and Binnan TV.
Both were headquartered in the capital, not Hudu.
Working with them would be too troublesome—it might even require relocating to the capital.
If that happened, Shinozaki Ikumi's industry connections as a producer, mostly based in Hudu, would lose much of their value.
That left three TV stations: Aozora TV, Bingying TV, and Bindong TV—all headquartered in Hudu, and all within Su Yan's consideration.
In fact, all three had expressed a strong interest in broadcasting 'Your Lie in April'.
For a station like Sakura TV, the departure of a talented writer like Su Yan was unfortunate, but not enough to shake its foundation.
But for these five, getting even one show with over 4% ratings in a year was rare. Talented writers and producers almost always gravitated toward the Big Three, leaving the rest with mostly second-tier staff.
Someone like Su Yan approaching them? Of course, their attitudes were different.
Su Yan's 'An Ancient Love Song' had even broken the 4% viewership mark while airing in a midnight slot.
What could be more convincing than that?
Even if the Big Three were undeniably stronger, these stations didn't believe their weekend prime time slots were worse than Sakura TV's midnight slot.
So when Aozora TV learned Su Yan was interested in working with them, the head of the production department—Chi Ziyang, the station's third-in-command—personally came to negotiate.
He was straightforward: they were willing to pay 12 million yuan for the broadcast rights to 'Your Lie in April', and even promised a 7 p.m. Sunday prime time slot in the summer season.
For the Big Three, the true prime time was 8 p.m. on weekends.
This was when Xia Nation households loved to gather around the TV as a family.
The 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. slots had slightly lower viewership.
But for the other five TV stations, it was impossible to go head-to-head with the Big Three's A-tier dramas airing at 8 p.m.
Instead, they aimed for different time slots—making 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends their peak viewership periods.
Bingying TV sent both the head of the screenwriting department and a senior producer. They first reviewed the first three episodes of 'Your Lie in April'.
When they realized it was a youth romance drama with a musical theme, they were a little disappointed.
Youth romance dramas were everywhere in Xia Nation, and audiences were getting tired of them.
Su Yan's previous three works had all included distinct and innovative elements:
'Rurouni Kenshin' had excellent martial arts,
'An Ancient Love Song' featured a unique reverse-time-travel premise,
'To the Moon' was filled with sci-fi elements.
Each had brought something new to the table, and the two executives believed that was a big reason why they had succeeded.
But 'Your Lie in April'? A traditional romance about music?
They expressed doubts.
Still, out of respect for Su Yan's past success, they offered 10 million yuan for the broadcast rights and promised one of their best time slots.
As for Bindong TV, two senior staff also visited.
However, their summer prime schedule in July was already full.
They had pre-produced two B-tier dramas and acquired several genre shows (fantasy, sports, etc.) from production companies. Contracts were already signed, and they had no available slots in July.
That said, they were willing to pay 15 million yuan for the rights—if 'Your Lie in April' aired during their autumn season in October.
In early April, after a week of wining and dining with these station executives, Su Yan recapped his conversation with Bindong TV's execs to Shinozaki Ikumi.
"In the end, all three are willing to only purchase broadcast rights—and they're all offering prime time slots," Su Yan said, still slightly hungover.
"Bindong TV offered the most—15 million. But the show wouldn't air until October. Bingying offered the least, because they're clearly not optimistic about 'Your Lie in April'. Aozora TV… sits right in the middle."
"What do you think?" he asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Shinozaki Ikumi replied.
"There's no way we can wait for Bindong TV for a whole quarter. If we wait from April to October, 'To the Moon' will lose its heat, and the ratings for your new work will definitely take a hit. That extra 3 million isn't worth it if the momentum is lost."
"As for Bingying TV—if they don't believe in 'Your Lie in April' from the start, they'll definitely invest less in pre-release promotion. I don't recommend them either."
"You think the same as I do," Su Yan said.
"Besides, while Aozora TV isn't as well-known as the Big Three, it's consistently ranked in the top five national stations for the past three years. Two years ago, they even produced a drama that surpassed 4% in ratings—though it didn't get much buzz because each of the Big Three aired an S-tier drama at the same time. Still, the viewership proves they've got a decent audience ceiling."
In truth, Xia Nation audiences weren't so different from Su Yan's previous world—they favored big-budget, effects-heavy dramas.
Pure romance or youth stories had a fixed audience.
But big spectacles—action, historical, fantasy, sci-fi, supernatural—attracted all demographics, and typically outperformed campus or office romance shows.
That's why the Big Three focused their S-tier investments in those directions.
After all, you don't blow tens of millions on actors alone.
"Since we're on the same page, there's no need to keep discussing it," Su Yan said.
"I have no objections. Considering how cold Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV have been toward us, Aozora TV's offer is already fantastic," Shinozaki Ikumi replied.
"But still, doesn't it feel like everything's going too smoothly? All the negotiations went well. Even the lowest offer from Bingying was better than what Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV gave us. I expected weaker stations to offer worse deals," Su Yan mused.
"Of course not," Shinozaki Ikumi said, looking at him.
"With your track record, you're a rare resource in the eyes of those five stations. Even if they can't get full rights, if 'Your Lie in April' performs well, their ad revenue will soar. Naturally, they're willing to pay."
"But the Big Three want more. They can produce hit shows without you. Even without working with you, their ratings and revenue won't suffer. So their offers are lower."
"In the end, it's just that my current results aren't enough to make them see me as indispensable," Su Yan said with a smile.
"But one day, we'll make Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV come knocking on our door."
"That's the spirit," Shinozaki Ikumi smiled.
"If you can create a drama that breaks 5%—or even higher—I guarantee the heads of production at Zhongxia TV and Hudu TV will personally visit you to buy the rights and fight to air it in prime time."
Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi were both people of action.
When they left Sakura TV, they had a clear understanding of what they were stepping into.
Even though their new drama wouldn't air on a Big Three station, 'An Ancient Love Song' had still crushed expectations from a midnight slot.
'Your Lie in April', airing on Aozora TV, gave Su Yan even more confidence.
This was already a huge step up compared to the treatment he received for 'An Ancient Love Song'.
Now that the partner station had been decided, detailed contract negotiations with Aozora TV began immediately.
After all, many actors were waiting to see which TV station would be broadcasting 'Your Lie in April' before agreeing to join the cast.
If the drama were airing on some no-name platform—or worse, just streaming—many stars who cared about their image wouldn't take the risk.
Early April
Once Su Yan finalized the deal with Aozora TV and signed the contract, the station quickly made an official announcement:
🔊"Su Yan's new drama, 'Your Lie in April' will air on Aozora TV during the July summer season."
The moment this news broke, the entire Xia Nation film and television industry was stunned.
Su Yan had left Sakura TV…
And he didn't choose to work with Zhongxia TV or Hudu TV?
Was he working with Aozora TV?