TVBully

TVBully (Chinese: 一台獨大) refers to the monopolistic market dominance of free-to-air television in Hong Kong. Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) was blamed for this monopolization and this phenomenon had been a huge challenge for the operation of TVB. ATV has also complained about TVB's monopoly abuse.[1]

TVBully
Logo from the internet concern group.
StatusActive
GenrePhenomena
Location(s)Hong Kong
PeopleTVB

The term TVBully was created by Hong Kong citizens, using the name of the television station "TVB" in the beginning, adding "Bully" at the end of the term. The low quality of programmes are one of the main reasons of the complains.

Background

The free-to-air television services in Hong Kong began with Television Broadcasts (TVB) in November 19, 1967. The second free-to-air broadcaster Asia Television (ATV) launched as Rediffusion Television (RTV) in December 1, 1973.[2]

The brilliant time of the market is in the 1970s to 1980s, with the launch of the third broadcaster, Commercial Television (CTV).[3] It first went on air on September 9, 1975 but ceased transmissions on August 22, 1978 due to financial pressure.[4]

In the 1990s, ATV was unable to recover from setbacks due to a variety number of internal operation problems.[5][6][7] The Chief Executive in Council rejected the license renewal application of ATV on April 1, 2015, which the services will cease transmissions on April 1, 2016.[8]

The closure of CTV and having the lower hand of ATV probably helps TVB to gain the greatest market share for over 48 years.[9] Indeed, TVB channels captured an overall 81% audience share against all TV channels in Hong Kong during weekday primetime.[10][11] According to CSM Media Research, TVB Pearl gained over 90% share in 2012 by comparing with its one and the only competitor, ATV World.[12]

However, in the 2010s, many Hong Kongers are unsatisfied with the current television services. Many have discontented towards the monopoly structure probably leads to deteriorate the quality of programmes of TVB, the main programmes producer in Hong Kong, which is superficial and usual, undiversified programmes choice and monopolized the resources in the cultural industry. Some netizens organized an internet concern group,[13] which held activities to express their discontents, such as the "switch-off incident" of "TVB Anniversary 2013".

Cause

The cause of monopolization of TVB has been probably found that restriction of issuing the license is the main reason resulting this phenomenon. In 1965, the government aimed to issue one license of operating free-to-air analog television broadcasting service and six tycoon groups such as Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. and Fuji Television of Japan were attracted to bid.[14] Ultimately, the license was granted to Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and the service commenced in 1967.[15] In the other words, access of market of competitive companies which produced similar products with TVB were limited by the Authority's policy.

In 1972, Rediffusion obtained the second license to operate the analog television.[16] There was a great competition between TVB, Rediffusion and Commercial Television in 70s to 80s. Because of the rapid development of Commercial Television and headhunting by Rediffusion, TVB confronted with various challenges including turnover of staff and cancellation of programs. However, TVB maintained its competitive edge during the period whereas other two had declined in broadcast popularity or one of them even closed down within three years.[17] This situation and popularity of TVB resulted in TV viewing habit of Hong Kong citizens and the market position of TVB was difficult to be altered.[18]

Effects

Deteriorating Quality of Programmes

TVB has been accused of producing programs of low quality in the recent decades.[19] In the Reports of public consultation on the services of free-to-air broadcasters released by the Communications Authority in 2015, most of the attended public reflected that the programs from TVB are being deficient in quality as a tendency and some of them are even below acceptable standard because of lacking competition.[20] For example, some audiences discontent the mistakes, which can be easily spotted within a soap opera due to the scarce research done on the show,[21] because TVB is not necessary to focus on programmes quality as she is the monopolist.[22] Also, some reflected that it is condemned to have the same background setting and actors are repeated among many different shows in which the audiences thought that TVB lacks of sincerity in terms of the use of resources.[23]

Moreover, the Report stated that TVB is perceived copying the ideas from other countries instead of creating their own ones, not to mention its lack of creativity that,[24] for instance, the "Super Trio Series" had been broadcast from 1995 till 2014 without changing most of the elements in the show.[25]

According to a HKU POP survey released in 2013, a slight decline is shown on the appreciation index of the TV program provided by TVB, which implies that there may be need to retain the dropping quality of the TV program.[26]

Affecting the Development of Hong Kong Cultural Industry

The monopoly power of TVB inhabits and affects the development of Hong Kong Cultural Industry such as Performing Arts Industry, Music Industry and Television Industry. By December 2009, the Communications Authority launched an investigation into TVB after rival ATV's complaint,[27] alleging that TVB had violated the Broadcasting Ordinance.[28][29] TVB was then fined HK$900,000 by the city's communications watchdog for engaging in anti-competition practices including "harsh and unreasonable" terms in contracts with some singers and artistes, and a "No Cantonese Policy" that prohibits contract artistes from speaking Cantonese on other Hong Kong TV stations’ programmes.[30][31][32]

On June 12, 2014, the Communications Authority received Hong Kong Television Network (HKTVN)'s complaint against TVB, alleging that TVB had executed in anti-competition conduct by abusing trade mark law and procedures to prevent HKTVN from obtaining a domestic free-to-air television programme services licence ("FTV licence") in order to strengthen TVB's dominance in Hong Kong television programme service market.[33]

Meanwhile, due to dominance, the quality of the product of TVB declines with times. The exporting local series production line once being hot in 70s to 80s such as Hong Hei Gun, was then closed down which greatly affects the development of Performing Arts Industry, Television Industry and Cultural Industry in Hong Kong.[34]

See also

References
  1. "ATV Complains Monopoly Abuse, BA to Conduct Thorough Investigation On TVB". ATV Complains Monopoly Abuse, BA to Conduct Thorough Investigation On TVB ~ KAY'S ENTERTAINMENT. September 10, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  2. Broadcasting Authority. (2012).The Hong Kong Broadcasting Scene.Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/annual2011/03eng/scene_01history.html
  3. Hong Kong.Hong Kong Government.(1974).Hong Kong 1974,Report for the year 1973(p.149).
  4. Hong Kong.Hong Kong Government.(1978).Hong Kong 1977(p.143-144)..
  5. South Morning China.(2015).ATV shareholder says only a fool would invest more in station.Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1675836/atv-shareholder-says-only-fool-would-invest-more-station
  6. The Standard.(2013).Coach firm chases ATV over unpaid bills.Retrieved November 3, 2015, from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ejinsight.(2015).Unpaid ATV staff offered loans by top shareholder.Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://www.ejinsight.com/20150122-unpaid-atv-staff-offered-loans-by-top-shareholder/
  8. News.Gov.Hk.(2015).ATV licence not renewed.Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://www.news.gov.hk/en/categories/finance/html/2015/04/20150401_155912.shtml
  9. The Broadcasting Authority. (2002).Broadcasting Services Survey 2002(section 4.6,p.7)[Data file].(2002).Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/survey_bxservices2002_e.doc
  10. Television Broadcasts Limited. (2015). TVB 2014 Annual Report(p.7)[Data file].Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://img.tvb.com/corporate/_upload_/article/en/f6d973d95f4aa24cce36e351fe8eeb63.pdf
  11. Platinum Broking. (October 24, 2013). Television Broadcasts Ltd[Data file].Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.platinum-asia.com/eng/pdf/research/2013-10-24-Television-Broadcasts-Limited.pdf
  12. CSM Media Research.(2012).2012 Top Ten English Programmes. Retrieved November 4, 2015,from http://img.b.tvb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/whatsnew/files/2013/01/top-10-english-channel-programmes-in-2012_chin-page-001.jpg
  13. TV Bully No More.(2015).Retrieved November 2, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/TVBullyNoMore/timeline?ref=page_internal
  14. Broadcasting Authority. (2012).The Hong Kong Broadcasting Scene.Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/annual2011/03eng/scene_01history.html
  15. Television Broadcasts Limited.(2015).About TVB.Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://corporate.tvb.com/article/675a45c6ece081529ee9151de5c7394b.html
  16. About ATV.(2015).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.hkatv.com/zh-hk/about/atv
  17. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the renewal of the Domestic Free Television Programme Service Licences Asia Television Limited Television Broadcasts Limited(section 11.4,p.86).(2015).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/en/content_955/Public_Report_en.pdf
  18. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the renewal of the Domestic Free Television Programme Service Licences Asia Television Limited Television Broadcasts Limited(section 13,p.91).(2015).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/en/content_955/Public_Report_en.pdf
  19. Broadcasting Services Survey 2007(section 18(b),p.8).(2007).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/BSS2007ExeSum_en.pdf
  20. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the Mid-term Domestic Free Television Programmes Services Licences(section 10.3).(2010).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/report_2010.pdf
  21. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the Mid-term Domestic Free Television Programmes Services Licences(section 5.46).(2010).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/report_2010.pdf
  22. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the renewal of the Domestic Free Television Programme Service Licences Asia Television Limited Television Broadcasts Limited(section 6.12,p.60).(2015).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/en/content_955/Public_Report_en.pdf
  23. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the Mid-term Domestic Free Television Programmes Services Licences(section 5.44).(2010).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/report_2010.pdf
  24. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the renewal of the Domestic Free Television Programme Service Licences Asia Television Limited Television Broadcasts Limited(section 6.11, p.60).(2015).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/en/content_955/Public_Report_en.pdf
  25. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the renewal of the Domestic Free Television Programme Service Licences Asia Television Limited Television Broadcasts Limited(section 6.13,p.60).(2015).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/en/content_955/Public_Report_en.pdf
  26. HKU PoP Site.(2013).Public Opinion Programme.Retrieved November 2, 2015, from https://www.hkupop.hku.hk/english/columns/columns154.html
  27. Sections 13 and 14 of the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562) Report of the Communications Authority.(2013).Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/statement/en/upload/221/20130919TVB_final_en.pdf
  28. Television Programme Service Licences.(2012).Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/faq/tv_licences_ans.html
  29. Report by the Communications Authority Regarding Asia Television Limited's Complaint Against Television Broadcasts Limited's Alleged Violations of the Competition Provisions of the Broadcasting Ordinance.(2013).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/statement/en/upload/222/20130919TVB_summary_en.pdf
  30. South Morning China Post.(2013).TVB fined HK$900,000 for anti-competition practices.Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1313111/tvb-fined-hk900000-anti-competition-practices
  31. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the Mid-term Domestic Free Television Programmes Services Licences(section 10.4).(2010).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/report_2010.pdf
  32. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the Mid-term Domestic Free Television Programmes Services Licences(section 10.18–10.22).(2010).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/report_2010.pdf
  33. DECISION OF THE COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY PRELIMINARY ENQUIRY INTO THE ALLEGED ANTI-COMPETITIVE CONDUCT OF TELEVISION BROADCASTS LIMITED IN RELATION TO THE FORECLOSURE OF HONG KONG TELEVISION NETWORK LIMITED FROM ENTERING THE TELEVISION PROGRAMME SERVICE MARKET.(2015).Retrieved November 3, 2015, from http://www.coms-auth.hk/filemanager/statement/en/upload/341/HKTVN_TVB_Decision_20150924_e.pdf
  34. Report on the Public Consultation Exercise for the Mid-term Domestic Free Television Programmes Services Licences(section 10.16).(2010).Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://ba_archives.ofca.gov.hk/en/doc/report_2010.pdf
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