Quality counts in free-TV licensing, TVB poll finds

Hongkongers consider programme quality the most important factor in determining whether a broadcaster should get a free television licence from the government, a TVB-commissioned survey shows.

The survey also finds news and public affairs programmes are the most popular among audiences of free and paid television in the city.

The poll results prompted TVB to defend the quality of its newscasts and to pledge further improvements to what it said was an already good product, in the light of government considerations to let more free-television players enter the market.

The broadcaster released the findings two weeks before it was to present in court an application for leave to file a judicial review against new licences.

Critics have nicknamed the station "CCTVB" for its government-friendly news, drawing a parallel with the mainland's nationwide broadcaster, CCTV.

TVB assistant general manager Desmond Chan Shu-hung called the remarks unfair, saying its reporters were professional.

"If we were indeed closely related to CCTV, our colleague wouldn't be beaten up when reporting in Beijing," Chan said. He was referring to an attack last week on two Hong Kong journalists, including a TVB cameraman, by unidentified men while filming a Hong Kong activist's efforts to visit jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo's wife.