They have done it again! They have created another awesome idle game. Developers at Codigames are known for their engaging and often unique tycoon games, such as Hotel Empire Tycoon and Idle Fitness Gym Tycoon. Any concept – you name them – and they will come up with an interesting tycoon game that simulates real-world scenarios as accurately as possible. In their newest game, you will be managing a television network.
In TV Empire Tycoon, you take over the reins of a big TV network. You start from scratch, managing a small TV station and then expanding your network as you get more viewers and the highest possible audience share. More viewers mean more cash. To earn more profits, you will need better shows, great anchors, skilled camera operators and a good control room that handles all the backend stuff to ensure your shows run perfectly. Your channel will also keep earning advertisement revenue every hour.
The game’s tutorial mode explains all the basics succinctly. Gameplay is pretty straightforward and you will find it way easier than previous games, such as Idle Police Tycoon and Prison Empire Tycoon.
Contents
What’s New(s)?
Your first show will be a newscast, so you will have to hire news anchors, weather presenters and camera operators from the newsroom. Once you have the required equipment, such as cameras, crew and presenters, you are ready for the shoot.
News shows and other shows go live throughout the day at pre-determined time slots. You can check this via the “TV schedule” by tapping on the percentage share button on the top-left corner of the screen. Tap on the newsroom to see how much money the show generates after every broadcast. You can increase the value of the show by placing spotlights and furniture items to improve the “broadcast profits”. In a nutshell, you will earn more revenue when you improve the newsroom by purchasing upgrades and leveling them up from time to time.
Once you have earned enough profits, you can expand your current TV station by introducing new shows, such as a cooking show. As you progress and increase that elusive “audience share”, you will be able to unlock bigger TV networks, which will let you open brand new shows, such as a quiz show, standup comedy nights, a reality TV show and many more!
Grumpy Anchors and Moody Camera Operators
While TV Empire Tycoon is easy to play, there will be challenges to avoid losses. One of the biggest challenges is to keep your employees happy. Anchors, camera operators can become angry at any given time if their demands are not met. They will be unhappy if they don’t get a seat in the break room, don’t find healthy food in the vending machine or water in the water dispenser. You can view their happiness levels from the “Employees and Zones” section. We have explained everything about unhappy employees in TV Empire Tycoon Guide: How to Avoid Strikes.
Employees hate to wait, so if TV anchors or celebrities have to wait for their turn at the makeup artist room, it won’t go well with them. Before a show starts, anchors head straight to the makeup room for a bit of a “touch up” and if they don’t find a table and a makeup artist for them, they will throw tantrums. Oh, and did I tell you they are cleanliness freaks? A dirty break room can make them furious, which is why you will have to hire cleaners and build/upgrade the cleaning cart so that there’s absolutely no delay in cleaning the breakroom and other rooms where employees go frequently.
All these affects the income of your daily shows. Just tap on any TV show room, such as the newsroom to check the stats and you will find the unhappy employees, right below “show value” in red. The amount in red is deducted from the show’s income each time the show ends. To avoid unhappy employees and delays, make sure you purchase each upgrade and max out their levels in the break room, hire more makeup artists to avoid waiting times and engineers to fix and repair damaged cameras otherwise the show won’t start.
Employees also call for a strike if there’s no pay raise or if they find working conditions too poor. You will have to pay attention to every employee to avoid strikes and unhappy staff. While the game’s happiness aspect is simpler compared to Prison Empire Tycoon from the same developer, managing a TV station can still be cumbersome.
High Audience Share
The game’s “audience share” works pretty much like previous Codigames titles. You will have to increase the audience share to unlock new TV stations/channels.
Displayed on the top-left corner of the screen, audience share gives a rough indication about the number of viewers of your TV shows.
Audience share’s concept is similar to television rating point (TRP), but thankfully getting a higher audience share is pretty easy, unlike its real-world counterpart. You will have to purchase and max out upgrades in each room, be it the TV show room, the generator room and others. Once you reach a certain audience share value (shown by percentage), you can expand your empire by unlocking another TV channel or station through the television icon on the right side of the screen.
IAPs Galore
Like other idle tycoon games, TV Empire Tycoon has its fair share of in-app purchases, although they are not mandatory. There’s a permanent “Anti-ads satellite” IAP that ensures you don’t have to watch ads to get bonus cash in the form of “grants”. These grants appear frequently and can be of great help in the beginning, when your shows generate low income. When you purchase this IAP, you won’t see those 30-second ads to get grants and other bonuses, such as instant sunrise.
Then there are special celebrities that provide cool bonuses, which directly or indirectly affect your TV channel’s income in a positive way. You can buy them using diamonds from the shop menu. Diamonds can either be purchased with real money or acquired through “contracts” (quests). There are also special packs which contain multipliers, gems and offline profits.
Speaking of offline profits, the game limits players to only 1-hour offline gains – i.e., income earned for only an hour when you are not playing. You can increase offline gains by purchasing boosters that increase the number of offline hours to get more profits. I recommend purchasing offline profit packs as these are permanent upgrades and can help you in the long run. You can purchase the +7H offline profit pack named “Communications Technician” if you want some awesome overnight profits when you are sleeping and not playing TV Empire Tycoon.
Before We Leave
Codigames have always surprised people with its unique themes, making idle games, a genre looked down upon some gamers as boring and goalless, more interesting and addictive. TV Empire Tycoon is one of those games with a great concept.
Earning profits won’t be easy so you will have to pay attention to all objects in each room and upgrading objects/hiring new employees that are crucial for your business’s survival. Once you unlock the second channel, managing a new TV stations will get really hectic as you will have to juggle between various new shows. It’s not easy to become a Media Moghul and although it’s just a game it gives a sneak peek to the challenges faced by media conglomerates.
Last Updated on December 15, 2020 by Jude
What to do if your broadcast is cancelled?
I finished all my stations. When will the game be updated with a new Station?