It's now or never, says frustrated free TV player
HKTV airs online premier of thriller as boss tells rivals to pull out if they don't want licence now
PCCW and i-Cable should quit the race for free-to-air television licences if they don't want one now, Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) boss Ricky Wong Wai-kay says.
"If you don't want the licence, drop your application," Wong told his rivals yesterday.
He was speaking before last night's online premiere of the first episode of HKTV crime thriller Borderline - the first time the station has offered a full run of any part of its yet-to-be released programme. Wong had pledged to show an episode when the channel's Facebook page reached 100,000 "likes" - a milestone it has just passed. "If I don't show it, fans will probably want to kill me," Wong said.
HKTV, PCCW and i-Cable Communications filed their applications for a free-to-air domestic TV licence more than three years ago but none has been granted. PCCW and i-Cable have agreed the licences should be postponed until 2015, when the licences of existing players TVB and ATV expire and they have to apply for a renewal.
"It's just like three students are scheduled to take an exam. Then one student calls in sick, the other says he hasn't done his revision. And you are asking the third student not to take the exam? They should just drop it and don't take this exam," Wong said.
Apparently keen to stay in the race, he strove last night to impress viewers with the first episode of Borderline. Starring former TVB veterans Liu Kai-chi, a Hong Kong Film Awards best supporting actor, and Dominic Lam Ka-wah, the big-production series was shot on location.