MEDIA critics are furious at a decision by ATV to employ a beauty queen and a veteran game-show host as news anchors in an attempt to win the battle for viewers.
From Tuesday, former Miss Asia Jacqueline Chu Wai-san, 33, and TV show host Ivan Ho Sau-shun, 59, will anchor the main evening news on ATV Home, which will be rescheduled from its current 6.25pm slot to 7.30pm.
Rival TVB's main news on Jade airs at 6.30pm.
In a move that has angered the Hong Kong Journalists' Association, three to five minutes of each 30-minute ATV bulletin will be devoted to entertainment news.
Sources say the main news on ATV's English channel, World, may be brought forward from 7.30pm to avoid clashing with the Chinese news.
The ATV move has been branded as an insult to journalism by the Journalists' Association.