Not with a bang but a whimper: Hong Kong’s oldest television station, ATV, finally pulls the plug
Cash-strapped broadcaster went off the air at the stroke of midnight, but main investor refuses to call it quits
Hong Kong’s oldest television station went off the air on the stroke of midnight, pulling the plug after years of financial and managerial turmoil as its free-to-air licence expired on Friday.
While the shutdown of Asia Television was the talk of the town, the end came not with a bang but a whimper as the managers of the dying broadcaster kept it low key, despite the crowd of spectators and journalists gathered outside the station’s headquarters in Tai Po throughout the day and late into the night.
After the last newscast in Chinese at 10.30pm, it was back to another re-run of a programme featuring former Miss Asia beauty pageant winners. The signal abruptly went blank on the stroke of midnight, and after a brief snowy screen, public broadcaster RTHK took over with its own 31A and 33A analogue channels. At the same time, ATV’s digital spectrum was taken over by new licensee ViuTV.
During the last newscast, the station sent out a message that it was not over yet as it intended to carry on in a different avatar.
Whether ATV, deprived of its licence, can continue to operate in other forms remains unknown.
At issue is whether ATV’s major creditor Wong Ching, who is winding up the company to recoup his losses after an incomplete deal to sell a controlling stake to mainland investor Si Rongbin, will withdraw his petition in the High Court.
In the final hours on Friday, Si’s China Culture Media was still refusing to call it quits, even though the self-proclaimed saviour of ATV could not pay two months’ wages owed to staff.
The station’s main investor said it intended to keep ATV’s brand name alive through internet and satellite transmission services, with a view to transforming the company from a broadcaster into a multiplatform content provider after its local free-to-air licence expired yesterday.
“We have proposed a feasible development plan,” said Jan He, Si’s representative, at ATV’s headquarters, hours before the station’s 59 years of broadcasting history came to an end.
But she said ATV’s court-appointed provisional liquidator, Deloitte, which is acting on Wong’s behalf, had rejected the proposal, without specifying if any reasons were given.
The representative maintained Si’s investor group could secure enough money to fund ATV’s future development.
“We will make an announcement when the funding is put in place,” she said.
While claiming that China Culture Media had set aside money for ATV’s further operations, she declined to say what was being done about outstanding salaries for January and February.
The Labour Department announced last night that around 400 former ATV staff had applied for compensation through the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, a safety net for employees affected by business closures.
At the same time, Deloitte said in a statement that about HK$100 million in pension payments would be made to 100 former staff in around three weeks.
Another HK$21 million would be paid through ATV’s Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes to some 240 former employees in the next four weeks.
Director of Broadcasting Leung Ka-wing said last night the transition had been “smooth”. As a former ATV news chief himself, the RTHK boss wished his old colleagues well, but refused to comment on the station’s current plight and future prospects.
Outside ATV’s headquarters, fans, well-wishers and curious onlookers joined the media pack, taking souvenir photos for the last time.
Retired civil servant Ben Lee, 64, said he had been a fan of ATV for more than 40 years, starting back from when it was known as Rediffusion Television.
“ I seldom tune in to other stations,” he said.
