Asia Television (PatrZDZ's vision)

**Asia Television Limited** (Chinese: 亞洲電視有限公司, also known as **ATV**) is a media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television (Chinese: 麗的電視/麗的呼聲) on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial television on 30 November 1973, and was renamed Asia Television on 24 September 1982. The company's shareholders are New World Development (which owns a 50% stake) and Lai Sun Development (which owns a 32.75% of the company), while the chairman Chan Wing-kee holds 17.25% stake.

ATV operates two main over-the-air channels: the Cantonese-language ATV A1 and the English-language ATV A3, as well as two speciality digital television channels: a 24-hour news and finance channel ATV A2 and ATV A4, a 24-hour general entertainment channel.

Despite its relatively small market share, ATV received numerous awards for its programmes. One of its successes was the local version of the British game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001, which allowed ATV to enjoy a short-term upturn in its viewing figures.

## History

### 1949–1981: early years

Rediffusion Television (RTV), the predecessor to ATV, began as a wired radio broadcasting service in 1949. The original office was located on Arsenal Street and Hennessy Road. It launched its subscription-based TV service on 29 May 1957. In 1959, Rediffusion 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. The first televised artiste course broadcast 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". It also led the trend in acquiring Japanese anime shows, including Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy in 1966.

Rediffusion was given a free-to-air television broadcasting licence in 1973 by the Hong Kong Government, which had switched to using the wireless television. Rediffusion (later ATV) and TVB (launched on 19 November 1967) have since formed a duopoly in free-to-air terrestrial TV broadcasting in Hong Kong for more than 40 years. A third broadcaster, Commercial Television, entered the market in September 1975, but in the face of intense competition from the two rival broadcasters, ceased transmissions in August 1978.

In 1976, the Hong Kong government introduced Mark Six, a new lottery system that was broadcast twice a week on Rediffusion. The first host of that show was Chun Chau Ha or Xia Chunqiu (Chinese: 夏春秋).

### 1981–present: development

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 (Chinese: 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. 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 Lim 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, Lim Por-yen, Fang Li and Cheng Yu-tung.

On 30 January 1989, the Chiu family sold its shares of ATV to New World Group and Lai Sun Group 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.

In December 2004, the Broadcasting Authority required that ATV World provide bilingual subtitles on news, weather and current affairs shows, educational shows, and public service announcements, as well as more cultural and arts shows.

Prior to launch of two new commercial television networks in Hong Kong, TVB, was regarded as the driving force behind ATV's decision to transform its pay TV operation to terrestrial TV broadcasting. For many years, TVB has been the predominant ratings leader in Hong Kong, its programmes often capturing 90–95% of viewing audience. However, in the Pearl River Delta area of China, ATV enjoys a 70% ratings share, largely due to rebroadcasting rights.

## Location

On 21 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, called Meridian Hill.

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). The new HQ is the former site of the Lee Kum Kee's Hong Kong headquarters and factory operations in Hong Kong.

## News operation

ATV News is the news gathering arm of ATV. It produces daily newscasts in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, which are seen on its A1, A3, and A2 Channels. Additional foreign news coverage is provided by CNN and CBS.

## Programming

ATV airs a range of television programmes, including news, infotainment, drama, and variety shows. In addition to producing its own shows, ATV broadcasts popular TV programmes from overseas markets to cater to changing audience tastes. Of note, ATV bought in popular TV dramas from South Korea and Mainland China for broadcast in prime time.

## Channels

ATV operates five channels: the 24-hour ATV A1 channel in Cantonese; the 24-hour ATV A3 channel in English; the 24-hour Cantonese satellite channel ATV Overseas, which was accessible in North America via satellite, and two digital DMB-T/H channels: ATV A2, a 24-hour news and finance news channel and ATV A4, a 24-hour general entertainment channel featuring sports and infotainment programming, as well as documentaries.

## Programmes on ATV A1

ATV produces numerous classic TV dramas, including Super Stuntman, Crocodile Tears, My Date with a Vampire, Fatherland, Vampire Hero, The Legend, My Date with a Vampire 2, The Legendary Fok, My Date with a Vampire 3, Central Affairs I and II, Vampire Expert II and Reincarnated. Productions of note in 1990s include The Pride of Chaozhou, Who is the Winner?, Who is the Winner?! 2: King of Green Bat, King of the Gambler, and The Good Old Days.

In the 2000s, ATV created and hosted certain large-scale award shows. The most well-known would probably be The Annual Most Popular TV Commercial Awards.

Other infotainment programmes like Stories From Afar rank highly in the Appreciation Index Survey Best Television Awards, as reflected by a public review.

Some ATV programmes, such as the entertainment news show Hong Kong Today and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, prove particularly popular, prompting local rival TVB to offer similar fare.

### Programmes on ATV A3

ATV A3 is one of five English-language channels that broadcasts in Hong Kong. It offered a variety of programmes, mostly from the United States, ranging from popular serial dramas and films to documentaries and educational shows. Among the shows it airs are Ally McBeal, Survivor, Supernatural, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CSI: Vegas, Major Crimes, FBI, Grey's Anatomy, SEAL Team, Doctor Who, and Blue Bloods. Arts and sports programming are also offered (e.g. local horse racing). Mandarin and Korean programmes are available on ATV A3 at off-peak hours.

ATV A3's flagship English news programme is Main News at 7:30, provided under the collective effort of ATV News.

Given its focus on English-language programming in a predominantly Cantonese-speaking market, ATV A3 carries relatively little advertising and is subsidised by ATV A1. Free-to-air television companies in Hong Kong are required by the government to provide an English-language service. In the face of competition from TVB Pearl, ATV A3 switched focus from dramas and movies to documentaries and natural history shows, likely because such programming is less expensive to acquire. Although movies air on Saturdays, movies acquired by ATV generally air on Monday nights, leading to The Late News programme.