New Hong Kong television station ViuTV gets off to good start, according to viewer figures
The broadcaster’s most popular shows attract almost half the number of viewers who watch programmes presented by dominant player TVB
The city’s new free-to-air TV station ViuTV has had a strong start since it went on air last month, as its much-hyped reality show Travel with Rivals drew more than 680,000 viewers for its first episode.
The popular South Korean drama series Descendants of the Sun was also well received, with more than 604,500 viewers watching the first episode, according to ViuTV’s first TV rating report released on Tuesday. But ViuTV, which is owned by PCCW, did not release the average rating of its programmes.
Travel with Rivals focuses on overseas journeys carried out by political rivals, including Legislative Council president Tsang Yok-sing and radical lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung.
Descendants of the Sun is a popular drama centred on an army captain who is sent on a peacekeeping mission to a fictional war-torn country.
Although the figures were far below the ratings for long-time leader TVB’s prime-time programmes, a media analyst said the newcomer was already “very successful” as some of its shows reached almost half of the viewers recorded for TVB’s most popular programmes.