TVB to pay HK$3m to charity as viewer benchmark reached

Flamboyant TVB artist Nat Chan Pak-cheung said he was “99 per cent certain” the television station, which has been dominant in the free-to-air television market for more than four decades, would have to donate HK$3 million to charities as its anniversary gala held on Tuesday night was very likely to hit the benchmark he set.

Speaking at Commercial Radio’s talk show On a Clear Sky, on Wednesday morning, Chan said the ratings for TVB’s anniversary gala held on Tuesday night were set to hit 30 points, a benchmark he set last week in an attempt to counter an anti-TVB “hegemony” campaign by playing the charity card .

Chan’s estimate proved correct. The show reached an average rating of 29 points, an equivalent to 1.856 million viewers, with a 95 per cent free-TV audience share. Ratings peaked at 31 points.

“It is a game,” said Chan referring to his earlier promise to crawl home on his knees if ratings for the gala achieved just three points that had triggered a campaign to boycott the gala. Chan later made the charity pledge.

“I never set a game in which I will lose,” he said in the programme hosted by former TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan, now the radio station’s chief executive.

The saga between Chan and disgruntled viewers came after the government rejected Hong Kong Television Network’s (HKTV) free licence bid.

Chan said he never opposed granting a licence to HKTV, but questioned why it was that TVB, the largest player, was being targeted by the boycott.