ATV Stages Protest to Deter Issuing of New Free-to-Air Licenses
The Communications Authority in Hong Kong has received 1,000 complaints for Asia Television’s 90-minute live broadcast of its self-organized protest against the issuing of new free-to-air television broadcasting licenses.
The broadcaster staged a protest outside the Central Government Offices on Tamar yesterday. Some ATV actors and singers—most of them unknown to the public—chanted slogans and performed, while the contestants of the Miss Asia and Mr. Asia pageants contributed with a runway show. They later danced to K-Pop tune “Gangnam Style,” with ATV’s major investor Wang Jing joining in.
Wang claimed that granting additional free TV licenses would be the “beginning of disaster” as it would induce destructive competition among local television stations.
Civic Party lawmaker Claudia Mo tried entering the venue to argue with ATV’s senior management, but she was deterred by the Mr. Asia-competition-turned-security-guards.
The broadcaster claimed that 400 people attended the rally, but many of them were reported to be staff members who were forced to attend. Local media also found out that some participants are not Hong Kong residents.
ATV is running a risk of breaching the broadcasting ordinance as it used the airtime to restrict competition in a television program service market.
There are only two free television stations, ATV and TVB, in Hong Kong. The number is significantly lower than that of neighboring countries like Indonesia and Thailand.