TVB plan to spend HK$6.2 billion on programmes secures licence renewal
Commitment to investing in programmes helps Hong Kong's dominant station secure renewal of its free-to-air licence for another 12 years
Dominant local terrestrial station Television Broadcasts will invest nearly HK$6.2 billion in programmes over the coming six years in a commitment that has helped secure the renewal of its free-to-air licence, which expires at the end of November.
The licence will be renewed for a 12-year period starting on December 1, giving TVB plenty of room to battle new competitors after the government decided to revoke Asia Television's licence.
The government yesterday announced the good news for TVB, highlighting the station's plan to pump in HK$6.336 billion for 2016 to 2021. TVB has set aside HK$144 million for capital investment and HK$6.192 billion for programming.
Commerce minister Greg So Kam-leung said the government had taken into consideration many factors, including programme quality and the recent change in the shareholding structure of the investor group that owns the controlling stake in the broadcaster.
The consortium announced last month it had brought in mainland media veteran Li Ruigang, the founding chairman of CMC Capital and chairman of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), as a shareholder, making him an indirect TVB investor.
TVB earlier said that after Li's entry, its controlling shareholder would solidify the station's "leading position in Chinese-language content globally".
The broadcaster issued a statement yesterday welcoming the government's decision to renew its licence, but also called for immediate action to address problems faced by the industry, citing "outdated advertising restrictions and rampant online copyright infringement" as areas of particular concern.
"ATV's situation to a certain extent reflected the difficult market situation and operating environment," the statement said.
Amid fierce criticism of its programme quality and lack of originality, TVB has undertaken that each year at least 12,000 hours of its programming, representing about 27.4 per cent of the total, will be locally produced.
"The licence conditions in the renewed licence of TVB are largely based on its existing licence, with additional requirements imposed to address public calls for improvements in its programming variety and quality," a spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said.
"Furthermore, to respond to public aspirations and to facilitate the government's policy of nurturing local talent, TVB has been required to provide on its licensed service independent local productions on an incremental basis from 20 hours per year in 2016 to 60 hours per year by 2020."
Peter Lam Yuk-wah, vice-president of the Hong Kong Televisioners Association, said yesterday that he welcomed the new opportunities for independently produced local TV programmes.
But he complained about the lack of details regarding the rules, and questioned whether TVB, as a major content provider, would provide a flexible platform for different independent-production companies.
"The commissioning model [for independently produced programmes] should be more flexible and in line with current practices in other countries like the UK, to encourage creative production," he added.
TVB's renewed licence will be subject to a mid-term review in 2021.
It was last renewed in November 2002, with a validity period of 12 years from December 1, 2003, to November 30, 2015.
