Why granting a licence to HKTV would be good for the market
Mike Rowse says even given a 'step by step' expansion, competition policy favours a new player
It took an act of divine intervention to deny Hong Kong Television (HKTV) a free-to-air licence in the recent government exercise, I can exclusively reveal.
Consider the circumstances: there are four existing players in the TV market, two with free-to-air licences (TVB and ATV) and two with cable operations (Now TV owned by PCCW, and i-Cable owned by Wharf). There were three applicants for new free-to-air licences: the two cable operators, and HKTV, owned by maverick media personality Ricky Wong Wai-kay.
The government had previously indicated that there was no limit to the number of additional licences that could be issued. The Broadcasting Authority, the principal advisory body, had supported all three applications.
In the circumstances, the decision by the Chief Executive in Council, after more than two years of consideration within the administration, came as something of a surprise: there would after all be a limit on the number of new licences issued, the successful ones were those by the incumbent cable operators and the sole new bidder would be the only applicant to miss out.
Does this result ring any bells? Regular churchgoers will have spotted the parallel immediately. The Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Chapter 13, Verse 12: "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance…"
Enough frivolity, we must blow away some of the froth and focus on key issues.