[Jensen leads Beale into the conference room] Arthur Jensen: Valhalla, Mr. Beale. Please, sit down.
Narrator: The initial response to the new Howard Beale show was not auspicatory. The press was, without exception, hostile and industry reaction, negative. The ratings for the Thursday and Friday shows were both 14, but Monday's rating dropped a poin...
Narrator: By mid-October, "The Howard Beale Show" had settled in at a 42 share, more than equaling all the other network news shows combined. In the Nielsen ratings, "The Howard Beale Show" was listed as the fourth highest rated show of the month, su...
Narrator: "The Mao Tse-Tung Hour" went on the air March 14th. It received a 47 share. The network promptly committed to 15 shows with an option for 10 more. There were the usual contractual difficulties.
Narrator: That evening, Howard Beale went on the air to preach the corporate cosmology of Arthur Jensen.
Narrator: It was a perfectly admissible argument that Howard Beale advanced in the days that followed. It was, however, also a very depressing one. Nobody particularly cared to hear his life was utterly valueless. By the end of the first week in June...
Frank Hackett: [Discussing Beale's poor ratings] Where's that put us, Diana? Diana Christensen: That puts us in the shithouse. That's where that puts us.
Diana Christensen: The next time I send out a marketing analysis you all better read it or I'll sack the fucking lot of you.
Max Schumacher: Tell Hackett to go fuck himself!
