TVBTVB TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB Pearl as its main English service. TVB is headquartered at TVB City at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate. TVB commenced broadcasting on November 19, 1967. The Company was incorporated on July 26, 1965 and was co-founded by Sir Run Run Shaw, who was Chairman from 1980 to 2011, together with Sir Douglas Clague and Harold Lee Hsiao-wo of  the Lee Hysan family. When TVB first began broadcasting it was commonly known and promoted as "Wireless Television" () in Chinese to distinguish it from the then cable television broadcaster, Rediffusion Television (麗的呼聲), which later became ATV. It is still usually referred to with that name, although ATV later switched to "wireless" (free-to-air) broadcasting as well (亞洲電視). TVB is known primarily for its dramas, and produces the Miss Hong Kong and Miss Chinese International pageants. It has historically been the leading television broadcaster in Hong Kong. History. Origins. The government set up a working party in the early 1960s  to study the idea of setting up a second television station in Hong Kong, where the only television at that time was the wired, subscription-supported Rediffusion Television. There was debate as to whether the second station should be set up as a Crown corporation, like the BBC; a purely commercial enterprise; or a combination of the two. Another challenge lay in procuring enough content for the new station. In 1962, Director of Information Services J.L. Murray stated that while English programming could be purchased from other countries, "no country is producing a mass of suitable pre-recorded material in  Chinese". Even though Hong Kong was already regarded as a centre for film production, it was considered a challenge to source enough Chinese-language content for another television station, as most of it would need to be produced in Hong Kong. Regardless, there was commercial interest in the concept. A government franchise for a new wireless (free-to-air) television station was opened for tenders on 6 February 1965 and closed on 6 August 1965. On 25 January 1966 it was announced that Television Broadcasts Limited had won the franchise. Opening. The new Television Broadcasts Limited station on Broadcast Drive  in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon was officially opened by Governor David Trench on 19 November 1967. The governor spoke of the potential for television to better society, stating that the new station would play a significant role in "helping and enlighting our people", calling television "one of the most potent means of disseminating information there is". The first images shown on the station were a live transmission of the Macau Grand Prix, which began broadcasting at 9:00 am that day and was interrupted by footage of the opening of the new station. The first colour broadcast was then made, a feature  called "London Calling Hongkong" which constituted greetings from former governors Alexander Grantham and Robert Black. Following this was a piano recital by Chiu Yee-ha, who had also performed at the opening of the Hong Kong City Hall. The new station broadcast both Cantonese-language and English-language channels. The Cantonese channel, called TVB Jade, began regular service on 4:30 pm that day on Channel 21, while the English service (TVB Pearl) began at 6:00 pm on Channel 25. The inaugural programming lineup included "Enjoy Yourself Tonight", a Chinese language variety show, and "Meet The Press", an English current affairs  programme. Infrastructure development. Hong Kong's mountainous topography posed a challenge to TVB, which was Hong Kong's first television station broadcast wirelessly, using a terrestrial television transmitter instead of a complex coaxial cable network. A network of transmitters, built atop various mountains, helped provide coverage to the territory. The main transmitter was built at Temple Hill, above Kowloon, to reach most of the main populated centre of Hong Kong as well as parts of the New Territories. Two broadcast relay stations were came into operation on 15 May 1968: one at Lamma Island expanded coverage to Pok Fu Lam , Aberdeen, Repulse Bay, and parts of Stanley, while another at Castle Peak covered Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, and Ping Shan. A third booster station, located on Cloudy Hill, was activated in June 1968 and brought TVB reception to Fanling, Taipo, and Sheung Shui. Location. TVB was originally located on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon Tong, and was neighbours with RTHK and ATV. By the late 1980s, the company had out-grown the facility at Broadcast Drive, and built a new studio complex, named T.V. City, at 220 Clear Water Bay Road in November 1988. The first TVB City was in fact  the old Shaw Movie Town complex used by Shaw Brothers since 1958. The old Broadcast Drive headquarters was later converted into apartments. The first TVB City is now used by Celestial Pictures. To cope with future development and expansion, TVB began planning in 1998 to develop a replacement facility at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate. The new HK$2.2 billion TVB City came into full operation in October 2003. The new headquarters are built on by far the largest piece of land ever leased by the then Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation and the first service-providing company in the  area. It has a building area of over 110,000 square metres, 30% more than that of the previous facilities at Clear Water Bay. Studio 1 in TVB City, which can seat an audience of six hundred and thirty, is the largest television production studio among commercial television stations in Asia. News operation. TVB broadcasts several news programmes, such as News at 6:30 (Jade) and News at 7:30 (Pearl). It also operates its own news channel, TVBN. () and TVBN2 (), through TVB Network Vision (). Corruption probe. On 11 March 2010, the general manager Stephen Chan Chi Wan and four others were arrested  on corruption charges by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). TVB confirmed that three of their employees were involved, and that their duties and work had been suspended pending further development. Stephen Chan Chi Wan was charged with corruption in September 2010 with TVB declining to comment on the situation. Stephen Chan and his co-accused were acquitted by a court in September 2011. Controversy and criticism. Since the 2000 June 4 rally, TVB has been increasingly criticised for its pro-China bias. Netizens of HKGolden and LIHKG have called it "CCTVB", as a reference to China's state-controlled  broadcaster CCTV. During the 2014 and 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, TVB's programmes, most especially its news reports were accused of providing biased coverage of the protests, with a pro-China slant. As a result of public boycotts, numerous brands officially pulled out of advertising contracts with TVB, including Pocari Sweat and Pizza Hut. Decline. On 29 June 2018, the South China Morning Post quoted insider information that TVBI and the Broadcast Operation Department had laid off 100 people for two consecutive days. By July, a cutdown by 30 in the sports department was announced, leaving only 5 people. The  long-established show "Sports World" aired its final episode on 7 July 2018. myTV SUPER sports channel will end on 15 August. By July, the "Hong Kong Animation Information Network" Facebook page stated that the dubbing group of about 70 people had been cut to 4, and there would be large-scale layoffs. Netizens expressed anger at this. TVB's General Manager Shin Keong Cheong said he did not renew his contract and denied the layoffs. By August, in the interim results of TV broadcasting, the print version of TVB Weekly had been suspended and switched to an online version . The TVB8 and TVB Galaxy websites serving overseas ceased service in September 2018. MyTV Super's TVB Sports Channel and live news station had also stopped broadcasting with the TVB Travel Channel. It is reported that TVB will lay off 800 people. On 5 October, the same year, TVB announced the reduction of about 150 employees from TVB Weekly, the Production Coordination Department, the Arts Division and non-drama productions, which took effect on the same day. The layoffs included at least one producer and two directors of "Pleasure & Leisure". In December 2019, Pro-government broadsheet Sing Tao Daily reported  that TVB's current chairman, Charles Chan, is about to withdraw from his shares and intends to resign as chairman to leave TV Broadcasting Co., Ltd. On 16 December, Chief Executive Mark Lee issued an internal notice stating that about 350 employees would be cut, accounting for about 10% of the company's remaining employees. Following this, on 20 December, more than 50 behind-the-scenes staff members were fired, most of them from the variety show and the information, cultural and educational departments. On 20 January 2020, Charles Chan finally resigned as the chairman of the TVB board and  as a non-executive director, and will sell all television broadcasting shares. Channel list. MyTV SUPER. TVB Network Vision ceased its service since 1 June 2017, and the OTT platform named MyTV SUPER (expanded from MyTV and GOTV) replace TVB Network Vision to provide the paid television service. In addition, the company name of "TVB Network Vision" became "Big Big Channel". Malaysia. Co-owned with Astro: TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main