https://www.scmp.com/rss/35818/feed Asia Television was one of Hong Kong's two free television broadcasters. Established in 1957, it was the world's first Chinese television station but surpassed by its major rival Television Broadcasts in both company size and viewership. ATV’s reputation was badly damaged after its false report of former leader Jiang Zemin’s death on July 6, 2011. Its broadcasting licence expired on April 1, 2016. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com SCMP SCMP This article was first published on April 2, 2016. by Eddie Lee Staff, fans bid farewell to broadcaster It was finally curtains for Asia Television last night (April 1, 2016) after a couple of near-shutdowns last month and one dramatic twist after another to the embattled station’s chequered final episode. Just before the stroke of midnight, the cash-strapped broadcaster pulled the plug after airing a re-run of one of its trademark Miss Asia beauty pageants. The only fresh programmes on air... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3348605/worlds-first-chinese-language-tv-station-goes-air-2016-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3348605/worlds-first-chinese-language-tv-station-goes-air-2016-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:30:08 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 73rd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. In the golden age of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing was a star so bright that he rewrote the rules of conservative Asian society. Affectionately nicknamed Gor Gor – Cantonese for “older brother” – the Cantopop legend’s talent spanned disciplines and extended far beyond the city’s borders. Even now, decades after his death in 2003, fans from around the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3348009/how-leslie-cheung-broke-all-rules-become-hong-kongs-greatest-modern-superstar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 23:15:13 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Chen Zhen, a fictional character first played by Bruce Lee in the 1972 film Fist of Fury, became a cultural phenomenon in Hong Kong because of the way he stood up to the Japanese in Shanghai in the early 1900s. A scene in which Chen makes students at a Japanese karate school eat the paper on which they had written “China is the sick man of Asia” was especially popular, as was the scene in which Chen smashes a sign outside a Shanghai public park reading “No dogs or Chinese”. Here, we look at two... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3337793/how-stephen-chow-and-donnie-yen-reinvented-bruce-lees-classic-chen-zhen-their-own-ways?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3337793/how-stephen-chow-and-donnie-yen-reinvented-bruce-lees-classic-chen-zhen-their-own-ways?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Dec 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam This is the 66th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Few narratives in Hong Kong entertainment are as compelling as that of former erotic film icon Veronica Yip Yuk-hing. Her arc – from beauty pageant contestant to soft-core sensation, mainstream pop singer, respected actress and finally the wife of a tycoon – is more than just a chronicle of survival. It is the story of a trailblazing career strategist who carved out a place for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3336732/how-1990s-hong-kong-sex-symbol-veronica-yip-turned-soft-core-infamy-mainstream-fame?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3336732/how-1990s-hong-kong-sex-symbol-veronica-yip-turned-soft-core-infamy-mainstream-fame?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 23:15:07 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak This is the 63rd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. For over a decade, Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang has navigated a career defined by conflict: he is blacklisted by some in his home city and in mainland China for his support of the “umbrella movement” protests in 2014. While many of his peers have faded or pandered to new political realities, Wong has persisted. Despite rumours he had moved to Taiwan – which he denied in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3331616/chaotic-life-anthony-wong-three-time-hong-kong-best-actor-shut-out-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3331616/chaotic-life-anthony-wong-three-time-hong-kong-best-actor-shut-out-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 23:15:08 +0000 Mabel Lui Mabel Lui This is the 55th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. An enduring name in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry, Adam Cheng Siu-chau has been a prominent actor and singer for the past five decades. Beginning his career in the 1960s, he went on to make a name for himself as a suave leading man, particularly in wuxia period dramas. Among his most popular television shows are The Legend of the Book and the Sword (1976), The Heaven Sword and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3318715/how-hong-kong-star-adam-cheng-went-tv-heartthrob-stock-market-jinx?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3318715/how-hong-kong-star-adam-cheng-went-tv-heartthrob-stock-market-jinx?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jul 2025 09:17:23 +0000 This is the 49th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Hong Kong users of the social media platform Threads recently might have encountered a certain Choi San-keung, a sleep-deprived, middle-aged taxi driver who regularly engages with other internet users and shares his nightmares with them. Choi, who has been active since March, has also been spotted on in the Hong Kong subway on an MTR train, on the streets and in cinemas. This... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3307935/how-hong-kong-actor-and-filmmaker-nick-cheung-reinvented-himself-during-4-decade-career?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3307935/how-hong-kong-actor-and-filmmaker-nick-cheung-reinvented-himself-during-4-decade-career?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Apr 2025 10:34:03 +0000 “Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is seeking a High Court injunction order to share the telecasting rights of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games with Asia Television Limited (ATV)”, reported the South China Morning Post on August 9, 1988. “TVB contended that it would be in the public interest to have both television stations showing the Olympic Games because it could allow for a wider audience for different programs at different time slots. “Opposing the application, however, ATV claims any... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3273571/tv-gold-when-hong-kongs-tvb-and-atv-battled-broadcast-rights-1988-seoul-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3273571/tv-gold-when-hong-kongs-tvb-and-atv-battled-broadcast-rights-1988-seoul-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2024 00:15:08 +0000 As this year’s Hungry Ghost Festival approaches, picture this: you are on the sofa and the television is showing an advertisement. Suddenly, everything goes silent and the screen turns black and white. Against a backdrop of barely legible calligraphy, a fuzzy, faceless figure inches into view and a scroll unspools from its outstretched arm. Ring, I heard you scream – and indeed it does bear an uncanny resemblance to the cursed videotape from the seminal 1998 Japanese horror film. This, however,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3272454/when-paranormal-series-life-after-life-and-my-date-vampire-lit-hong-kongs-atv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3272454/when-paranormal-series-life-after-life-and-my-date-vampire-lit-hong-kongs-atv?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Jul 2024 10:15:12 +0000 Hong Kong’s digital media landscape has shifted much since Asia Television Limited (ATV) disappeared from the airwaves on April 1, 2016. Bizhan Tong, a new executive producer at the station, is embracing these changes. The 33-year-old British-Chinese filmmaker believes ATV losing its local broadcasting licence liberates it to think beyond Hong Kong. Its shows and content are distributed through ATV’s own app and via OTT services (over-the-top, meaning directly streaming online, bypassing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3124214/asia-television-gets-reboot-new-content-production-arm-amm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3124214/asia-television-gets-reboot-new-content-production-arm-amm?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Mar 2021 05:45:05 +0000 Bowie Tsang Baoyi has spent years trying to prove she is more than just the daughter of successful Hong Kong actor Eric Tsang Chi-wai – and it’s something she has succeeded in doing. Tsang, who celebrates her 47th birthday today, is known for being a versatile television host, Mandopop singer, actress and author. While studying at National Taiwan University, Tsang worked part-time as an assistant producer at Zhen Yan She, a subsidiary company of Rock Records – a record label based in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3051593/bowie-tsang-how-taiwanese-tv-host-singer-actress-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3051593/bowie-tsang-how-taiwanese-tv-host-singer-actress-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2020 18:00:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s television advertising spend is forecast to continue shrinking over the next five years, losing out to spending on the internet, according to a latest report on the sector. TV ad spending will fall to 14 per cent of the total market, from the current 16 per cent, while internet campaign budgets will swell to 34 per cent of the industry total by 2021, according to the jointly produced study by global business consultancy PwC and Hong Kong Digital Marketing Association. It first... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2110042/hong-kongs-online-ad-spend-expected-double-tvs-within-five-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2110042/hong-kongs-online-ad-spend-expected-double-tvs-within-five-years?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Sep 2017 11:30:15 +0000 In a new twist to the sorry drama of Hong Kong’s now-defunct Asia Television (ATV), the company is likely to avoid going into liquidation as a mainland China-based “white knight” has successfully acquired its majority stake and resolved its major debts totalling about HK$2.2 billion. However, the embattled firm still needs to resolve its remaining smaller debts with other creditors including a debt of HK$24 million owed to Television Broadcasts (TVB), before it can enjoy a new lease of life for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2090518/atv-likely-avoid-liquidation-chinese-company-takes-majority?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2090518/atv-likely-avoid-liquidation-chinese-company-takes-majority?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Apr 2017 13:04:22 +0000 Mainland businessman Si Rongbin, who once pledged to keep Hong Kong’s now-defunct Asia Television afloat, was convicted by a court in the city on Thursday for failing to pay 29 of the former broadcaster’s employees on time. Si, who was declared bankrupt last month, pleaded not guilty to 44 summonses over his role in the TV station’s failure to pay the wages and termination payments of the 29 employees worth a total of HK$730,000 within the legal seven-day limit. Acting principal magistrate... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2087454/mainland-businessman-found-guilty-failing-pay-employees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2087454/mainland-businessman-found-guilty-failing-pay-employees?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Apr 2017 11:02:16 +0000 Television broadcasting, like most media and entertainment businesses, is no easy industry to play in – even more so in Hong Kong. That is the latest assessment from Richard Li Tzar-kai, chairman of telecommunications giant PCCW, which owns both pay-TV and free-to-air TV businesses in the city. “Cash flows from our pay-TV business, Now TV, will help develop our free-TV business, Viu TV,” he told PCCW’s annual general shareholders’ meeting on Friday. “We do not expect Viu TV to be profitable in... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2079977/hong-kongs-tv-industry-pays-price-small-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/2079977/hong-kongs-tv-industry-pays-price-small-market?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Mar 2017 12:59:39 +0000 The High Court on Friday allowed the controlling stake in defunct broadcaster Asia Television to be formally sold to a mainland investor, who claimed he had a rescue plan for the troubled firm. ATV’s former boss Wong Ching, who had filed a petition to wind up the company to recoup his losses, agreed to sell shares under his control to Si Rongbin’s Star Platinum. But the deal was earlier blocked by ATV’s other creditors, including listed company China Trends, who feared that their interests... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2002874/hong-kong-court-allows-controlling-stake-atv-be-sold-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2002874/hong-kong-court-allows-controlling-stake-atv-be-sold-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Aug 2016 08:00:00 +0000 At least 600 former ATV staff have received the wages they were owed three months after the broadcaster stopped airing. Among the 650 former employees who had been left out of pocket, 110 had received their outstanding salaries in full from the Labour Department’s Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund. ATV investor in new rescue plan to avoid liquidation as HK$88 million in wages and pensions hang in balance New station investor Star Platinum Enterprises had bought out the debts of 490 people... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1988040/atv-wage-saga-600-former-staff-hong-kong-broadcaster-have-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1988040/atv-wage-saga-600-former-staff-hong-kong-broadcaster-have-now?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jul 2016 12:31:14 +0000 The third wife of late tycoon Lim Por-yen and their daughter, convicted of contempt of court for breaching court orders on document disclosure, were spared jail, while the sentencing judge stressed there was “no room” for thinking the court would let wealthy individuals buy their way out of prison. Koo Siu-ying, 79, and her daughter Pearl Ling Meng-chu, 58, were each ordered at the High Court on Wednesday to pay HK$200,000 in fines within 14 days. The mother and daughter were convicted on March... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/1946748/wife-and-daughter-late-hong-kong-tycoon-spared-jail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/1946748/wife-and-daughter-late-hong-kong-tycoon-spared-jail?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 May 2016 07:25:11 +0000 Defunct broadcaster Asia Television's fate remains unknown as its current investor continued his bid to save the debt-stricken company from liquidation. Mainland investor Si Rongbin, whose flagship firm China Culture Media has put ATV under its control, submitted a new rescue plan for ATV through another company, Star Platinum Enterprises Limited, the High Court heard on Tuesday. Si's legal representative told the court that Star Platinum had already reached a preliminary agreement with ATV's... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1940695/atv-investor-new-rescue-plan-avoid-liquidation-hk88-million?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1940695/atv-investor-new-rescue-plan-avoid-liquidation-hk88-million?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 May 2016 08:45:22 +0000 A police sergeant said he was splashed in the face with an unknown liquid that smelled like urine on the night when pro-democracy activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu was arrested for alleged police assault in October 2014. But Wong Hoi-man did not identify his attacker in his statement that was read out at the Kowloon City Court on Friday, except to say that it was “a man in black wearing goggles and face mask”. The 20-year-officer was carrying out a police operation to clear protestors from Lung Wo... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1939985/police-testify-ken-tsang-assault-trial-say-they-were?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1939985/police-testify-ken-tsang-assault-trial-say-they-were?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Apr 2016 04:40:55 +0000 I am having a blast these days with Netflix, the US-based film and television streaming service that is finally available, along with options from other such providers, to long-suffering Hong Kong audiences starved for quality home entertainment. Just the other night, I was watching the hilarious An Idiot Abroad, British comedian Ricky Gervais’ irreverent travel series featuring his inimitable whipping boy, Karl Pilkington. The show’s third season was released several years ago, so it’s nothing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1937571/dolce-vita-or-daredevil-options-netflix-does-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1937571/dolce-vita-or-daredevil-options-netflix-does-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Apr 2016 10:45:30 +0000 Three separate investor groups are vying for debt-stricken and defunct broadcaster Asia Television, the High Court heard on Monday. Apart from ATV’s current investor and creditor China Culture Media, which is controlled by mainland investor Si Rongbin, it emerged that Zhao Dong, a potential investor whose nationality was not specified in court, had also offered to save the troubled firm. Zhao is currently in discussions with ATV’s former boss and largest creditor Wong Ching, who initiated... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1936887/investors-line-purchase-what-remains-atv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1936887/investors-line-purchase-what-remains-atv?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Apr 2016 08:51:37 +0000 An investor has plans to extend a lifeline to debt-ridden and basically defunct broadcaster Asia Television, the High Court heard on Wednesday. ATV’s former boss Wong Ching, who had filed a petition to wind up the company to recoup his losses, told the court he was in discussions with an unnamed potential investor. The hearing on the petition was adjourned until next Monday pending further discussion among the parties. Hong Kong broadcaster ATV owes HK$8m in fees and penalties even after it... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1935725/mystery-investor-talks-save-air-hong-kong-broadcaster-atv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1935725/mystery-investor-talks-save-air-hong-kong-broadcaster-atv?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Apr 2016 06:58:35 +0000 Asia Television still owed the government more than HK$8 million in licence fees and penalties when it stopped free-to-air broadcasting early this month, the chairman of the Communications Authority said on Monday. Ambrose Ho Pui-him added it was also unlikely the troubled station, which went off air on April 1, would renew its non-domestic television licence when it expires on May 31, as documents on the company’s share transfer had not yet been submitted in full. 59 years in the making: how... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1935328/hong-kong-broadcaster-atv-owes-hk8m-fees-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1935328/hong-kong-broadcaster-atv-owes-hk8m-fees-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Apr 2016 00:00:40 +0000 The police assault trial of pro-democracy activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu began on Monday with the Occupy protester denying all five charges and the integrity of television footage relied upon by the prosecution being called into question. Tsang, 40, pleaded not guilty at Kowloon City Court to one count of assaulting police officers in the due execution of their duties, and four other charges of resisting a police officer. Prosecutor David Leung Cheuk-yin SC accused Tsang of pouring a scented liquid... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1935202/police-assault-trial-occupy-protester-ken-tsang-kicks-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1935202/police-assault-trial-occupy-protester-ken-tsang-kicks-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Apr 2016 07:40:17 +0000 The operator of the shopping mall at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal allegedly owes salaries to about 60 staff, sparking fears the situation could mirror that of recently shut down ATV. It was reported that HK Cruise Plaza, the shopping mall situated at the terminal, failed to pay 60 staff members their February and March wages. At least ten of the employees walked out this week by exercising their labour rights in accordance to the Employment Ordinance. A former worker surnamed Lau told Chinese media... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1934778/another-atv-hong-kong-mall-staff-kai-tak-cruise-terminal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1934778/another-atv-hong-kong-mall-staff-kai-tak-cruise-terminal?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Apr 2016 00:00:27 +0000 Lo Ting-fai is a man who makes miracles happen. On Wednesday, Lo is to lead a new campaign meant to transform Hong Kong’s dreary television landscape into a vibrant and creative field again. “I’m a risk-taker,” said Lo, general manager of PCCW’s ViuTV. “Leadership isn’t having a team of people working ‘under’ me. It is about fighting a battle ‘with’ my comrades.” ViuTV, Hong Kong’s first free-to-air TV station in 37 years, is more than just taking over the role of ATV, which went off-air last... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1933211/im-risk-taker-head-hong-kongs-new-free-air-tv-station-pledges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1933211/im-risk-taker-head-hong-kongs-new-free-air-tv-station-pledges?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Apr 2016 12:43:49 +0000 The traditional Chinese calendar measures time using a combination of signs arranged in the form of 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches to calculate a full life cycle of six decades, called a jiazi. What it means is that when one reaches the age of 60, he or she has gone through the ups and downs of life and should have become smarter and wiser. It’s supposed to be the same for a company. Thus it saddens many, especially dedicated staff from different periods over the past decades, to see... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1933165/now-atv-has-faded-hong-kong-screens-entire-industry-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1933165/now-atv-has-faded-hong-kong-screens-entire-industry-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Apr 2016 08:30:45 +0000 ATV went off air not with a bang but a whimper – and earned a rebuke after staff accused the broadcasting watchdog of spoiling its farewell message. On Friday, staff said the station planned to broadcast a “farewell card” at 11.59pm – one minute before the station pulled the plug as its free-to-air licence expired. But it did not happen. When the time came, the broadcaster was airing a re-run of one of its trademark Miss Asia pageants. The signal abruptly went blank at midnight. After a brief... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1933096/atv-staff-fire-parting-shot-over-botched-farewell?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1933096/atv-staff-fire-parting-shot-over-botched-farewell?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Apr 2016 17:14:37 +0000 After staying on air for almost 60 years, the time for the first television broadcaster in the Chinese world to switch off has finally come. For many who grew up with ATV and witnessed its rise and fall, the finale is as much sorrow as a relief. The death knell has been ringing after the government decided not to renew its licence early last year. But instead of a graceful exit, the dying broadcaster was embroiled in lawsuits, wage disputes and confusing investment proposals during the countdown... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1932957/demise-atv-brings-sadness-and-nostalgia-and-also-promise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1932957/demise-atv-brings-sadness-and-nostalgia-and-also-promise?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Apr 2016 18:06:22 +0000 From being the world’s first Chinese-language TV station to being a laughing stock in Hong Kong, the long-running reality drama of 59-year-old Asia Television finally drew to a close last night as its free-to-air TV licence expired. How ATV became an icon ATV started out as a trendsetter. In 1957, British broadcaster Rediffusion launched a pay-TV service in Hong Kong. Besides news and entertainment, Rediffusion also led the trend in acquiring Japanese anime shows, including Osamu Tezuka’s Astro... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1932932/59-years-making-how-hong-kongs-asia-television?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1932932/59-years-making-how-hong-kongs-asia-television?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:45:15 +0000 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1932894/not-bang-whimper-hong-kongs-oldest-television-station-atv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1932894/not-bang-whimper-hong-kongs-oldest-television-station-atv?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:45:30 +0000 With ATV vanishing from the screens in Hong Kong and having sold most of its classic TV series to raise money, there has been much speculation on what will happen to the lucrative landing rights of its programmes in the Pearl River Delta region – its one remaining trump card. While the station said the issue had yet to be dealt with, industry insiders were questioning the practical value of retaining or acquiring these rights as the fast-growing mainland television is teeming with programming... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1932870/atvs-last-trump-card-what-happens-its-rights-broadcast?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1932870/atvs-last-trump-card-what-happens-its-rights-broadcast?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Apr 2016 08:14:37 +0000 Former staff at ATV have hit out at mainland tycoon and ex-investor Wong Ching, saying his mismanagement led to the death of the beleaguered broadcaster, which will go off air on Friday night. They also recalled the glory days of the 59-year-old broadcaster under the leadership of the late Hong Kong industrialist Lim Por-yen from 1988 to 1998, when they saw the station as a real competitor to TVB. The historic network faces the final curtain exactly one second before midnight on Friday, when its... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1932823/atv-staff-lay-blame-hong-kong-stations-demise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1932823/atv-staff-lay-blame-hong-kong-stations-demise?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Apr 2016 04:15:45 +0000 The countdown to ATV’s last broadcast has begun with some of the television station’s most celebrated faces declaring it is time to move on and let the beleaguered broadcaster become history. “Let it be history and a part of our collective memory that Hong Kong people can treasure,” veteran ATV actor Lawrence Lau Shek-yin said on Thursday ahead of the broadcaster’s final day on the air. He is still owed three months’ wages by the firm. ATV will stop broadcasting at the 59th second at 11.59pm on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1932728/countdown-final-atv-show-begins-former-stars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1932728/countdown-final-atv-show-begins-former-stars?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:40:21 +0000 Most of the remaining staff at troubled broadcaster Asia Television have received their termination letters, the station’s court-appointed provisional liquidator announced on Thursday night. Deloitte said in its statement that the letters were issued seven days before the effective date of termination, which is April 2. According to the terms of the employment contract between ATV and the relevant employees signed on March 5, the station had to give staff seven days’ notice to terminate... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1930498/most-remaining-staff-troubled-hong-kong-broadcaster-atv?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1930498/most-remaining-staff-troubled-hong-kong-broadcaster-atv?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Mar 2016 01:51:33 +0000 The Miss Asia Pageant will not be the final show on ailing television network ATV, despite previous reports that it would televise the contest one last time. ATV public relations manager Jeff Wong Sau-tung said on a DBC radio programme on March 11 that the broadcaster would broadcast the pageant for the last time before the end of March. Yet according to its website, the station will close with a rerun of an episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the pageant that was filmed three years... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1930488/miss-asia-pageant-wont-be-final-show-ailing-hong-kong-network?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1930488/miss-asia-pageant-wont-be-final-show-ailing-hong-kong-network?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Mar 2016 16:26:05 +0000 Up to 80,000 households, or 20 per cent of the 400,000 homes without a digital television set, may miss out on RTHK programmes when the public broadcaster takes over channels vacated by Asia Television next month. RTHK yesterday promised viewers more programme choice on ATV’s analogue channels, but cautioned fresh content would have to be added gradually due to limited funding and manpower. English services will be few and far between, and not on the scale ATV operated its dedicated English... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1929885/80000-hong-kong-homes-without-digital-tv-set-could-miss-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1929885/80000-hong-kong-homes-without-digital-tv-set-could-miss-out?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Mar 2016 15:37:12 +0000 Asia Television’s investor has provided immediate funding, as agreed, to stop a court-appointed provisional liquidator from pulling the plug on the troubled station. Deloitte, ATV’s provisional liquidator, issued a statement on Monday night saying China Culture Media, which is controlled by mainland businessman Si Rongbin, had provided funding in line with a court-endorsed agreement reached on March 4 for the approximate amount of HK$8 million to ATV, together with a cashier’s order for HK$2... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1924510/atvs-chinese-investor-injects-hk10-million-keep-troubled-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1924510/atvs-chinese-investor-injects-hk10-million-keep-troubled-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Mar 2016 03:30:16 +0000 The latest investor offering to throw a lifeline to ATV has revealed ambitious plans to transform the dying station into “Asia’s Netflix” after its free-to-air licence expires at the end of the month. The new bid to turn around the cash-strapped broadcaster has echoes of past promises made by former mainland investor Wong Ching, who said he would turn Asia Television into “Asia’s CNN” six years ago but ended up in court trying to liquidate the company. Xiang Xin, chairman of Hong Kong-listed... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1923528/atv-could-be-asias-netflix-investors-plan-save-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1923528/atv-could-be-asias-netflix-investors-plan-save-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Mar 2016 15:23:43 +0000 A senior employee at embattled broadcaster ATV said the company was now focusing on designing an internet platform to allow it to stay afloat even after its free-to-air broadcasting licence expires on April 1, as some 160 staff were struggling to keep operations going. ATV public relations manager Jeff Wong Sau-tung, speaking on a DBC radio programme on Friday, also stressed the broadcaster would proceed with televising the Miss Asia Pageant for the last time, sometime before the end of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1923039/atv-air-miss-asia-pageant-one-last-time-it-focuses-internet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1923039/atv-air-miss-asia-pageant-one-last-time-it-focuses-internet?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Mar 2016 04:15:00 +0000 I thought I’d seen it all until I visited ATV’s headquarters in Tai Po last Friday, expecting court-appointed liquidators to shut down the cash-strapped station where I got my break in broadcast journalism many years ago. I wanted to extend some moral support to the last of my former comrades-in-arms still there, but soon found myself in the middle of the media circus parked outside the building. We were all ushered inside for a press conference by representatives of Si Rongbin (司榮彬), the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1922918/atvs-collapse-exposes-hong-kong-china-cultural-divide-type?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1922918/atvs-collapse-exposes-hong-kong-china-cultural-divide-type?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:30:00 +0000 A listed Hong Kong tech company is proposing to extend a lifeline of up to HK$500 million in loans to rebuild ATV and develop the embattled station’s online television business. A separate sum of HK$300 million in loans from another firm is also in the pipeline. In a statement posted late Tuesday night on the Growth Enterprise Market and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, China Trends Holdings, an ATV creditor, said it wanted to “inject” its web-based interactive TV platform into the debt-laden... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1922641/hong-kong-tech-company-proposes-hk500-million-lifeline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1922641/hong-kong-tech-company-proposes-hk500-million-lifeline?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Mar 2016 04:28:29 +0000 A war of words broke out between ailing broadcaster ATV’s provisional liquidator and its mainland investor as the opposing sides accused each other of breaching terms and conditions in a last-minute deal that supposedly bought more time to keep the 59-year-old station on air until April 1. China Culture Media, the mainland investor that promised on Friday to inject HK$8 million of funding in an agreement with the station’s provisional liquidator Deloitte to keep it running, said on Tuesday it... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1922388/atv-drama-renews-liquidator-deloitte-and-mainland-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1922388/atv-drama-renews-liquidator-deloitte-and-mainland-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Mar 2016 04:38:25 +0000 ATV has an unfortunate history of having mainland investors taking bizarre and inexplicable actions that contributed to its inevitable demise. The latest comes courtesy of mainland media investor Si Rongbin. Already on its last legs, Si claimed to have put the TV station on life support by having his representatives splash what they claimed was HK$10 million in cash to rehire staff and continue broadcasting until its licence expires on April 1. Provisional liquidator Deloitte China, which was... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1922293/its-time-put-dying-broadcaster-atv-out-its-misery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1922293/its-time-put-dying-broadcaster-atv-out-its-misery?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Mar 2016 17:51:31 +0000 The provisional liquidator for ailing broadcaster Asia Television last night said the mainland investor who agreed on Friday to provide funding to save the company had failed to come up with the HK$8 million needed to keep the station on air until April 1. In a statement, Deloitte China said China Culture Media International, which is controlled by investor Si Rongbin, was “in breach of the terms of its agreement” and consequently the court-appointed liquidator would “consider taking all... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1922287/atv-investor-fails-come-hk8m-promised-keep-station-air-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1922287/atv-investor-fails-come-hk8m-promised-keep-station-air-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Mar 2016 15:49:41 +0000 The Secretary for Labour and Welfare has criticised ATV’s move to stop staff seeking outstanding pay as “inadvisable”, after more than 60 per cent of the beleaguered broadcaster’s former employees applied for financial help through a government fund. His comments came after the station rehired about 160 members of staff on contracts stipulating they cannot seek to recover their outstanding January and February wages from the broadcaster or its provisional liquidator, Deloitte China, before April... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1921393/agreement-invalid-hong-kongs-top-labour-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1921393/agreement-invalid-hong-kongs-top-labour-official?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Mar 2016 08:15:45 +0000 The Asia Television saga took a new twist last night after days of intensifying fracas with the provisional liquidator. In a media statement, Deloitte said a conditional agreement had been reached to enable ATV to continue operating until the licence expires on April 1. The last-minute deal appears to have saved the dying broadcaster from going off air immediately. The real-life drama climaxed when representatives of Si Rongbin, an investor in the cash-strapped broadcaster, sought to impress... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1920909/taking-care-interests-atv-staff-paramount?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1920909/taking-care-interests-atv-staff-paramount?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Mar 2016 17:02:00 +0000 An eleventh-hour bid by ATV to stop court-appointed liquidators pulling the plug bought the struggling station more time on Friday after its mainland investor reached a conditional agreement with liquidators to keep the cash-strapped station broadcasting until its licence expires. Representatives of Si Rongbin, whose firm China Culture Media is currently running the broadcaster, held a press conference at Asia Television’s Tai Po headquarters, where they opened on stage a briefcase packed full... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1920907/mainland-chinese-investor-splashes-cash-and-secures-11th-hour-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1920907/mainland-chinese-investor-splashes-cash-and-secures-11th-hour-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Mar 2016 16:45:15 +0000 A case full of money – like one of the stage props used in old-school gangster films – was showcased to the press as the real life drama continued at Asia Television on Friday. Hours after liquidators announced they would pull the plug on the troubled station as it was running out of funds, representatives of ATV investor Si Rongbin gave a high-profile press conference at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Tai Po and said they did have the money: HK$5 million in cash and a cheque for another HK$5... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1920459/case-full-money-investor-si-rongbin-flashes-hk10-million-half?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1920459/case-full-money-investor-si-rongbin-flashes-hk10-million-half?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Mar 2016 02:45:45 +0000