Asia Television Limited (Chinese: 亞洲電視有限公司) is one of the two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong, the other being rival Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB). It launched in 1957 under the name Rediffusion Television as the first television station in Hong Kong. It was bought out, renamed, and restructured to "Asia Television Limited" in 1982.
ATV currently operates six channels: the 24-hour ATV Home channel in Cantonese; the 22-hour ATV World channel in English; the 24-hour Cantonese satellite channel ATV Home (America), which is accessible in North America via satellite, and three digital DMB-T/H channels: aTV Asia, a 24-hour high-definition channel; CCTV-1, the international channel of China Central Television, China.
Prior to 1 April 2009, the following DMB-T/H channels were in operation: News & Business, a 24-hour news and finance news channel; His TV, a 24-hour sports and infotainment channel aimed at men; Her TV, a 24-hour lifestyle infotainment channel aimed at women; Plus TV, a 24-hour documentary channel; and HDTV, a 24-hour high-definition channel.
In 2002, ATV gained approval from China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television to beam its Home and World channels to the Guangdong Pearl River Delta region. ATV has also established a close relationship with Guangdong TV to ensure their stable cooperation in programme productions, advertising, and sales.
ATV has received numerous awards for its programmes. One of its successes is the local version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (百萬富翁), a game show originally launched in the United Kingdom in 1998. In 2001, ATV bought the production rights for the Hong Kong market and subsequently enjoyed an upturn in its viewing figures. TVB responded by producing similar game shows.
Contents [hide]
1 History and ownership
1.1 Early years
1.2 Ownership shift
2 Location
3 News operation
4 Programming
4.1 Programmes on ATV Home
4.2 Drama series
4.3 Programmes on ATV World
5 Slogans over the years
5.1 Rediffusion era
5.2 Asia Television era
5.3 aTV era
6 ATV Training Institute
7 Licence
8 Major competitor
8.1 Actor crossovers
8.2 Current ATV personalities
8.3 Past ATV personalities
9 Criticism
9.1 Falling figures
9.2 Controversy and bias
10 See also
11 References
12 External links
[edit]History and ownership
[edit]Early years
Rediffusion Television, the predecessor to ATV, began as a wired radio broadcasting service in 1949.[1] The original office was located on Arsenal Street and Hennessy Road. It launched its subscription-based TV service on 29 May 1957. In 1959, Refiffusion was moved to the offices that was occupied by Fortis Bank Tower.
In 1962, Typhoon Wanda passed over Hong Kong, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Following the passage of Wanda, Rediffusion broadcast the first-ever fund-raising special as a result. The first televised artiste course broadcasted was in 1966 under the title, "Ying Li's voice."
In October 1968, new shows were broadcast on Rediffusion, including variety, sports, and other leisure of interest that attracted more viewers. The most notable show at that time was "Master Q".
Rediffusion was given a free-to-air television broadcasting license in 1973 by the Hong Kong Government. This comes after the government had switched to using the wireless television, which Rediffusion was one of two (currently four) free-to-air stations (the other is TVB). It has remained this way as of 2010.
In 1976, the Hong Kong government introduced a new lottery system that was broadcast twice a week on Rediffusion. The first host of that show was Xia Chunqiu.
[edit]Ownership shift
In 1981, Rediffusion in the UK sold 61% of its shares in RTV to an Australian consortium. In July 1982, a Chinese enterprise called Far East Group (遠東機構), owned by the Chiu family, took a stake in the company, such that Far East Group and the Australian consortium each held 50% of RTV's shares. The move marked the first time that a Chinese enterprise had played a role in RTV. RTV was renamed "Asia Television" later in the same year.[2]
The company that operated ATV frequently recorded losses, and in January 1984, following the withdrawal of the Australian enterprise, the Chiu family bought all of the shares.
In August 1987, the shares of ATV were put up for sale. One year later, Asia Television Limited, the Lam family (led by Lim Por Yen), and the New World Group each owned one-third of the shares. At that time, the members of Board of Directors included Deacon Chiu (邱德根), Lim Por-yen, and Cheng Yu-tung.
On 30 January 1989, the Chiu family sold its shares of ATV to New World Group and Lai Sun Group (麗新集團) for HK$237.5 million. The New World Group held half of the shares, while the Lam family owned one-third and Lai Sun held one-sixth. At the same time, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM) joined as a minority shareholder. As announced by the Board of Directors, the new Chairman was Cheng Yue-tung and the Vice-Chairman was Lim Por Yen. The Administrative Director was Selina Chow.
In November 2002, Lai Sun Development, which was heavily indebted following the HK$7 billion acquisition of the Furama Hotel at the height of the property bubble in 1997, announced that it would sell its 32.75% stake to the company's chief executive, Chan Wing-kee (陳永棋), for HK$360 million in cash.[3]
In June 2007, Chan, along with Liu Changle (劉長樂), chairman of Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited, established a company that later bought most of ATV's shares. Afterwards, Chan Wing-kei took the post of Administrative Director General. With the change of shareholder, there was innovation in the direction of production, marketing strategy, and human resources. One of the significant changes is the increasing purchase of foreign programmes, such as the South Korean Drama Autumn in My Heart/Endless Love (藍色生死戀).
In December 2008, City Telecom chairman Ricky Wong Wai Kay was assigned as new the chief executive. While former PCCW deputy chairman Linus Cheung Wing-lam becomes executive chairman.[4] After just 2 weeks Ricky Wong resigned from his position due to many factors.[5] In early 2009, Taiwanese billionaire Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) signed a preliminary agreement to become a key shareholder of Alnery, a company that controls 47.58% of ATV.[6] Tsai has agreed to inject HK$1 billion in the form of convertible bonds.[7] Tsai and Payson Cha have since debated over control of the station.[8]
[edit]Location
In July 2007, ATV left its long-time home at 81 Broadcast Drive in Kowloon Tong and moved into a new facility in Tai Po. The original home was demolished in 2008-2009 and is now a residential development.
The Tai Po production facilities cover 550,000 square feet (51,000 m2) and is three times larger than the old facilities on Broadcast Drive. The Tai Po facilities have four news studios, eight variety show and drama studios and a range of digital broadcasting facilities. The largest studio covers 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2).[9] The new HQ is the former site of the Lee Kum Kee's Hong Kong headquarters and factory operations in Hong Kong.
Former ATV Building on Broadcast Drive
Former ATV studio building in Ho Chung, Sai Kung Town
Current ATV Building in Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po
[edit]News operation
ATV News vehicle
Main article: ATV News
ATV News is the news gathering arm of ATV. It produces daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, which are seen on its Home, World, and News & Business Channels. Additional foreign news coverage is provided by CNN and CBS. The station has long been recognized as pro-Beijing.[4]
[edit]Programming
ATV broadcasts a range of television programmes, including news, infotainment, drama, and variety shows. In addition to producing its own shows, ATV has acquired popular TV programmes from overseas markets to cater to changing audience tastes. Of note, ATV has bought in popular TV dramas from South Korea and Mainland China for broadcast in prime time.
[edit]Programmes on ATV Home
ATV has produced numerous classic TV dramas, including Crocodile Tears (鱷魚淚), Fatherland (大地恩情), The Legendary Fok (霍元甲), Central Affairs I and II (情陷夜中環), and Reincarnated (天蠶變). Recent productions of note include The Pride Of Chao Zhou (我來自潮州), Who is the Winner? (勝者為王), Who is the Winner?! 2: King of Green Bat, King Of The Gambler (千王之王重出江湖), and The Good Old Days (再見艷陽天).
In recent years, ATV has created and hosted certain large-scale award shows. The most well-known would probably be The Annual Most Popular TV Commercial Awards (十大電視廣告頒獎禮).
Other infotainment programmes like Stories From Afar (尋找他鄉的故事) ranked highly in the Appreciation Index Survey Best Television Awards (香港電視節目欣賞指數), as reflected by a public review.
Some ATV programmes, such as the entertainment news show Hong Kong Today (今日睇真D) and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (百萬富翁), have proved particularly popular, prompting local rival TVB to offer similar fare.
Asia Television used to air the British Science Fiction Programme Doctor Who and were responsible for returning one of their copies to the BBC, when BBC Enterprises wiped many Doctor Who serials in the 1970s. The Tomb of the Cybermen returned in late 1991.
[edit]Drama series
A list of drama series produced by ATV:
1993: Shanghai Godfather II (再見黃埔灘 II 之再起風雲)
1994: Bays Of Being Parents (可憐天下父母心)
1994: Beauty Pageant (ATV) (鳳凰傳説)
1994: Secret Battle Of The Majesty (君臨天下)
1994: Outlaw Hero (法外英雄)
1995: Vampire Expert (殭屍道長)
1995: Pao Qingtian (a.k.a. Judge Bao) (包青天之公正廉明)
1995: Fist of Fury (精武門)
1996: The Little Vagrant Lady (飃零燕)
1996: King Of Gamblers (千王之王重出江湖)
1996: Vampire Expert II (殭屍道長II)
1996: Tales From The Dorms (坊間故事之甘戴綠頭巾)
1996: The Little Vagrant Lady II (飃零燕 II 之孤星淚)
1997: Year Of Chameleon (97 變色龍)
1997: Coincidentally (等著你回來)
1997: Pride Of Chaozhou (我來自潮州)
1997: Gold Rush (著數一族)
1998: Thou Shalt Not Cheat (呆佬賀壽)
1998: The Heroine of the Yangs (穆桂英大破天門陣)
1998: Heroine Of The Yangs II (穆桂英 II 十二寡婦征西)
1998: I Come From Guangzhou (我來自廣州)
1998: My Date with a Vampire (我和殭屍有個約會)
1999: Ten Tigers of Canton (廣東十虎) co-produced with the Sanlih Network from Taiwan
1999: Flaming Brothers (縱橫四海)
2000: My Date with a Vampire 2 (我和殭屍有個約會II)
2000: Showbiz Tycoon (影城大亨)
2001: To Where He Belongs
2001: Healing Hearts (俠骨仁心)
2002: Mission In Trouble (雄心密令)
2004: Asian Heroes (亞洲英雄)
2004: My Date with a Vampire 3 - the Eternal Legend (我和殭屍有個約會III之永恆國度)
2005: Central Affairs (情陷夜中環)
2006: Central Affairs 2 (情陷夜中環 2)
2006: Walled Village (大城小故事)
2006: Relentless Justice (AKA No Turning Back) (義無反顧)
2006: Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain (雪山飛狐)
2008: Flaming Butterfly (火蝴蝶)
2010: The Men of Justice (法網群英)
2010: Who's the Hero (勝者為王)
2010: Hong Kong Go Go Go (香港GoGoGo)
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