Opinion | TVB's gag on Next Media infringes press freedom
Albert Cheng says politically aware Hongkongers must protest against the dominant broadcaster's use of public assets to target Next Media
The controversy over the Hong Kong Television Network licensing issue that led to a boycott of TVB's anniversary special last week may have puzzled some people. But, in fact, it was inevitable.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying decided not to grant a licence to HKTV, going against the recommendation of the Office of the Communications Authority that all three applicants of a free-to-air TV licence be granted one.
Despite this bitter lesson, TVB still failed to learn from its mistakes and shifted the blame
Leung moved the goalposts and chose two out of the three applicants, leaving HKTV out in the cold.
On the surface, the reasons for his decision seem to have been that HKTV doesn't have the financial capability to run a sustainable business, and also that the market cannot accommodate five free-to-air TV stations.
But, obviously, the real reason is that the government prefers TVB to remain dominant in the local TV market. It doesn't want to risk allowing the proactive and innovative management of HKTV to change the game plan. In other words, it doesn't want HKTV to rock the boat.
The other two applicants seem unlikely to compete head-on with TVB. Only Ricky Wong Wai-kay's HKTV had set its sights on challenging TVB's market leadership.