Garment tycoon plays TV role

ATV's new owner says he is focused on the station's money matters rather than its editorial direction It was in Boston 36 years ago that Chan Wing-kee, then an industrial engineering student at Purdue University and heir to a textile fortune, scoffed when a fortune-teller told him he would one day be involved in the entertainment business. 'I thought she was a nut,' Mr Chan recalled in a recent interview. 'I asked her where she got her crystal ball. She said: 'It doesn't matter. This one is made in Japan'.' But the fortune-teller and her Japanese crystal ball were right. Today Mr Chan is chief executive of Asia Television (ATV), Hong Kong's No2 free-to-air broadcaster. Last week, he completed his acquisition of Lai Sun's 32.75 per cent stake in ATV, making him the broadcaster's second-largest shareholder, 1 per cent less than Phoenix Satellite TV chief executive Liu Changle. His family's Hong Kong-based garment empire - not show business - was on the young Wing-kee's mind when he was unwittingly given a glimpse of his future. The family business was big and centred on two locally listed firms: Yangtzekiang Garment Manufacturing and YGM Trading. Yangtzekiang was established in 1961 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1970. Today, it has a market capitalisation of HK$178 million and the Chan family's wealth is estimated at more than HK$600 million. While Mr Chan in fact dedicated most of his career to the garment business, it was through his acquaintance and subsequent friendship with Mr Liu, a former People's Liberation Army officer, that the fortune-teller's prediction came true. Mr Liu invited him to invest in Phoenix Satellite TV, and in 1998 they bought into ATV. Mr Chan, who was made chief executive of ATV last year, admitted that he did not know much about TV production. He said his role was mainly focused on money matters. 'I only oversee [ATV's] policies and money. It saves me from being trapped by the job, which is how it should be for a successful [chief executive]. It gives me time to play golf,' he said. Mr Chan may not know much about TV production, but that does not prevent him from having strong opinions about the place of the media in society. In particular, he despises Next Magazine. Mr Chan's latest clash with the Chinese-language publication was over a cover story last September that said he was cash-strapped, the boss of a lame-duck broadcaster and a lackey of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The short, stocky 56-year-old businessman was enraged - primarily at the suggestion that he was a bit short of the readies - and still boils at the thought of it today. 'Who said I didn't have money?' he said angrily. 'Next Magazine said I wasn't financially strong enough to buy [a bigger stake in] ATV. That's crap!' Asked again about his financial position, Mr Chan replied: 'Why I need to prove to you that I have money?' He remains resentful of the magazine today: 'I have some opinions about Next. And in Hong Kong I believe I am not the only one who has opinions about it. 'They decide what to write before they interview you. They ask you some questions but only quote something they want. 'It is a dilemma when someone approaches you for an interview. If you don't do it, they say they have collected lots of information and want you to confirm what is correct. If you turn them down, they say they will report everything. Even if you agree to be interviewed, they will just go ahead and report things favourable to them. It is like blackmail.' Although upset by the Next story's reference to his finances, he had no complaints about its claim that he was pro-China and pro-Tung. Mr Chan is a Standing Committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. 'Of course I am pro-Tung,' he said. 'Tung is enduring great pain for the benefit of Hong Kong. He is doing his utmost for Hong Kong. He isn't understood by the Hong Kong people. No one can do a better job than him, although he is not a flawless person.' According to Mr Chan, ATV is everything that Next Media is not. 'I believe ATV news is more objective and comprehensive. That's why I am not worried. I seldom intervene in ATV's affairs but leave it to professional management,' he said. Mr Chan said it was not his decision to pad ATV's programming with content from China Central Television, which has increased markedly over recent years on both its Cantonese and English channels. 'Freedom of the media is important. I won't use my power as a boss to influence the firm,' he said. He said he was satisfied with how ATV was operating at present, adding that it had cut costs and achieved an operating profit. He also made it clear that ATV should not be bent on overtaking TVB as the leading local broadcaster. '[In trying to do so] it would burn a lot of money and there is a good chance that it would still end up in second place. What I am trying to do is turn ATV into a healthy No2 that makes money.' Next up for ATV are its Guangdong revenue-sharing agreement and a proposed listing on the stock exchange next year. The broadcaster, which has official rights to broadcast to the Pearl River Delta region, has been engaged in marathon talks with the Guangdong Administration of Radio, Film and Television to work out an advertising revenue share agreement with local cable operators. A source close to the deal said details would be finalised within months, finally allowing ATV to take a piece of Guangdong's television ad market, which is estimated to be worth more than 3.5 billion yuan (HK$3.3 billion). 'I made the right investments in Phoenix and ATV. I made a big paper-gain on my Phoenix stock after it listed. I am confident it is going to be the same for ATV - it will be operating well and I will make money after it lists.' Biography Chan Wing-kee graduated in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University. He joined Yangtzekiang Garment Manufacturing the same year as production manager. He was appointed director in 1977 and managing director in 1987. He is also a director of YGM Trading and chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Manufacturers' Association. The 56-year-old is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Standing Committee and has two daughters.