Gamehelpthenetworksprimetime

Reading the interface

Your table

• Market (top): Shows, Stars, Ads and Network cards you can take, with deck counts. With Telly Time, the pass board sits above it.
• Your area: green room (Stars, Ads, Network cards and Moguls you own) on the left, your player board in the middle, your lineup on the right.
• Opponents: use the tabs to view another player's area. Everything in a lineup and in reruns is public.
• Scoreboard: round scores, then endgame scores (Genres, Reruns, Network/Moguls/Executives, Cash). Use the arrow to switch pages.

Tooltips

• Hover over any card (or long-press it on mobile) to read everything printed on it in words.
• Hover or long-press the Actions and Round End areas of your player board for the printed reference.
• With Executives, hover or long-press your board for your Executive's abilities and drawbacks.
• With Telly Time, hover or long-press your genre grid for how it works.
• On mobile, tap anywhere else to close a tooltip.

Forecast

• Above your lineup: Forecast shows the viewers and upkeep you would get if the round ended now (before Quiz purchases and round-end choices).
• Beside each Show: a badge with that Show's viewers and upkeep this round.
• On your player board: a cube on the Round Scoring Track marks the same forecast total (past 50 it laps around and shows +50).

Choices and confirmations

• When you must choose (a genre bonus, a Network card's effect, a Mogul, a grid line...), the choice appears in a strip at the top of the table. The rest of the table stays visible.
• Cards and Shows you can't use for the current action are dimmed; valid targets stay bright.
• Most actions ask you to confirm in the status bar, with a short countdown. Change this in the game preferences under Action confirmation delay (0, 3, 5 or 10 seconds, or Off).
• At round end, the game may wait for a player to make a round-end choice (for example Surpriser) before scoring continues.

How to read the cards

Shows

1. Genre: producing the Show advances you on this genre track.
2. Expenses: paid every round at upkeep.
3. Preferred timeslot: sun = daytime, sunset = primetime, moon = late night.
4. Viewers by season: scored each round. The marker moves down one row per round, and the Show is canceled when it runs off the bottom.
5. The X: outside its preferred timeslot, the Show starts on this row instead.
6. Production cost.
7. Attachment slots: coloured = required, grey = optional. A half Star/half Ad slot takes either.
8. Rerun viewers: scored at game end once the Show has been canceled.

Stars

1. Signing cost.
2. Expenses: paid every round at upkeep (if shown).
3. Viewers by season: when attached upright.
4. Rotated values (upside down): used when the Star is attached rotated.
5. Condition: if met, the Star stays upright; otherwise it is rotated. Some Stars have an effect on a black strip instead.

Ads

1. Signing bonus: gained when you sign the Ad.
2. Income: gained every round at upkeep.
3. Rotated income: when the Ad is attached rotated.
4. Condition: if met, the Ad stays upright; otherwise it is rotated. Promos instead let you pay to keep them upright.

Network cards

1. Timing: ! Immediate (resolves when taken), 1x Use once, ∞ Ongoing, eye = Game end.
2. The effect, in icons.
3. The effect, in words.

Expansion notes

1. 1. Expansions

The game includes three optional modules: **Telly Time**, **Moguls**, and **Executives**. They can be played separately or combined.

1. 1. 1. Telly Time

Telly Time changes the base game with a fourth timeslot, new genres, and a Genre Grid that replaces the usual genre tracks.

• • Genre Grid**

- Each genre has one space on your grid. Producing your first Show of that genre fills its space. - Completing a row, column, or diagonal earns the bonus shown at the end of that line. Multiple lines can score at once. - When passing, gain $1M for each empty space, regardless of your pass bonus. - At round end, score 1 viewer for each filled space. - Genre tracks no longer score endgame viewers.

• • Timeslots**

- Weekend is a fourth timeslot and works like the original three. - Shows with two preferred timeslots can use either without penalty. - Shows marked ANY can use any timeslot without penalty.

• • New Genres**

| Genre | Special rule | |---|---| | Kids | Cannot air in Primetime or Late Night | | Quiz | Pay up to $5M when scoring to gain 1 viewer per $1M | | Chat | Gains viewers equal to the current viewers from Stars on your other Shows |

1. 1. 1. Moguls

Moguls are powerful cards that give your network special abilities and scoring bonuses. You can normally acquire only **one Mogul per game**.

• • Getting a Mogul**

- The first player to reach space 3 on a genre track takes its Mogul token instead of the usual Network card bonus. - Draw 3 Mogul cards and keep 1. - Once you've acquired a Mogul, you receive normal genre bonuses from any remaining Mogul spaces you reach. - Other players can collect the normal Network card bonus after a Mogul token has been removed.

• • Using Moguls**

Moguls work much like Network cards, with a few differences:

- **Immediate:** Resolve the effect, but keep the card for its other abilities. - **One-time:** Flip the card facedown after use. It still counts as your Mogul. - **Ongoing:** Provides continuing abilities or round-end viewers. - **Game End:** Adds viewers to your final score.

• • With Telly Time:** Your second completed Genre Grid line awards a Mogul instead of its normal bonus. Draw 2 Moguls and keep 1.

1. 1. 1. Executives

Executives replace the standard Player Boards with unique abilities and drawbacks. Each player chooses one of two randomly offered Executives at the start of the game.

• • Abilities & Drawbacks**

- Every Executive changes how you play, with special advantages balanced by restrictions or penalties. - Some affect drafting, production, income, or scoring. Others change your actions or turn order. - Executives have complexity ratings from 1 to 3, indicating how many unusual rules they introduce.

Your Executive's abilities and drawbacks are displayed on your Player Board.

• • Combining Expansions**

Some Executives have special interactions with Telly Time or Moguls. These adjustments are handled automatically by BGA.

The Specialist Executive requires Moguls and can acquire two instead of one.