It’s curtains for ATV: liquidators to shut down ailing broadcaster after Hong Kong court decision cleared the way
Accounting firm Deloitte to close station and fire remaining staff after failure to work out viable plan to save the company
Six decades of Hong Kong television history will come to an end today when court-appointed liquidators finally pull the plug on ATV after its mainland investor failed to come up with the cash to save the dying station.
Following months of uncertainty, turmoil, and litigation, accounting firm Deloitte China said last night the HK$8 million cash injection needed to keep the world’s first Chinese-language TV station alive had not been forthcoming and all remaining staff would be laid off.
As of late this afternoon, the investor failed to provide any cash or any third party to keep the station going ... We have no choice but to come to this conclusion.
Deloitte representatives will be at Asia Television’s Tai Po headquarters Friday morning to hand out termination letters and figure out how to shut down transmission.
Derek Lai Kar-yan, Deloitte China’s southern region managing partner, was unable to say last night when exactly ATV would be taken off air.
They would have to retain a few technical staff to figure out the details, he said.
But it could be a week without any signal as RTHK, which has been tasked with filling the vacuum, will not be ready with analogue programming until around March 10.