Wong Ching, the leading man in ATV's sorry drama
He arrived with big ambitions to transform the station, but Wong Ching's five years as the power behind the scenes have been a total disaster
"Long Live ATV" was the slogan Wong Ching chanted at his press conference when he took over Asia Television in 2010.
It would turn out to be reversely prophetic over the next five years, as the broadcaster found itself on the verge of collapse with the previously unknown 51-year-old mainland businessman at the helm.
He came in with a promise to end ATV's financial woes and transform it into "Asia's CNN" and the "conscience of Hong Kong", but he's now leaving the station in limbo - "with its reputation in tatters and employees eternally embarrassed", as a senior staffer put it.
"I thought Wong was going to bring ATV a new beginning when he joined," says award-winning actress Paw Hee-ching, one of many veterans, who left the station two years ago. "Now I can't believe he's the one who might put the final nail in ATV's coffin."
The company was mired in a bitter financial dispute between its then main shareholders, local businessman Payson Cha Mou-sing and Taiwanese snack tycoon Tsai Eng-meng, when Wong first appeared on the scene.
He was an obscure figure then, also known as Wang Zheng, chairman of Shenzhen-listed property company Rongfeng Holding Group, and reportedly stepson of Shu Tong, Shandong party chief in the 1950s.