ATV 'willing' to negotiate with Ricky Wong over programme offer from HKTV

Beleaguered broadcaster ATV says it is willing to hold talks with Hong Kong Television Network boss Ricky Wong Wai-kay over his proposal to air HKTV shows on the station.

The development came yesterday, ahead of a 5pm deadline for ATV to respond to the offer.

An ATV spokesman said the station's executive director, Ip Ka-po, had a telephone conversation with Wong, saying that ATV's board believed there was room for negotiation over the offer. He said Ip hoped to meet Wong to discuss details of the deal, including the programme content, time slots and prices.

It also emerged later that ATV is seeking a monthly guarantee of HK$10 million from HKTV - double the figure proposed by Wong.

HKTV announced on the Hong Kong stock exchange that it had received the written response from ATV and deadline will now be extended to 5pm next Monday.

Last week, HKTV proposed to air 1,000 hours of its drama series and infotainment and variety programmes on ATV until the end of this year. The proposed deal included airing shows four hours a day on ATV Home and its digital Channel 11.

It said it would handle advertising sales in return for a 50 per cent cut of the advertising revenue generated from the broadcasts of its shows. In addition, ATV would be guaranteed HK$5 million per month.