( in
Hong Kong . Founded on
November 19 1967 with a staff of about 200, it is now one of two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong.
TVB is the first free-to-air(FTA) television broadcaster in Hong Kong. To distinguish it from the only cable television broadcaster,
Rediffusion Television , it is thus commonly known as ''mo sin tin shi'' (無綫電視, i.e."Wireless Television") or ''mo sin'' (無綫) in Chinese.
TVB is now the largest commercial
Chinese program producer in the world, with a staff of about 4,500, including contract artists and staff in overseas subsidiary companies. The company's current chairman is Sir
Run Run Shaw .
It owns two free-to-air channels in Hong Kong, namely
TVB Jade (
Cantonese ) and
TVB Pearl (
English and foreign languages). TVB Jade enjoys the largest audience share in Hong Kong, and is often referred to simply as TVB. TVB is also involved in Hong Kong's pay-TV market, providing eight to ten channels for its associated company, Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited (TVB Pay Vision). TVB have also decided to launch a free-to-air
HDTV channel, offering general entertainment programing with more than 14-hours high definition programs per day.
TVB reaches out to the overseas Chinese communities. Its productions are available in
Taiwan , the
United States ,
United Kingdom ,
Canada ,
Australia ,
Mainland China ,
Malaysia , and
Singapore , among others. Its
Drama s are internationally acclaimed, and many of Hong Kong's top film and pop stars started their careers at TVB. Special TVB events such as the annual ''TVB Anniversary Celebration'' are broadcast to worldwide audience. TVB also runs talent programmes such as the annual
Miss Hong Kong and
Miss Chinese International Beauty Pageant . Successful contestants may be offered TVB's contracts and represent Hong Kong to take part at world-class beauty contests, including the
Miss World Pageant .
TVB enjoys an overwhelming dominance in the television market in Hong Kong.however, its programmes have often been criticised by some television viewers as being in bad taste, superficial, dull, and lacking in creativity. TVB also receives praise for its programming from a wide range of demographics (other than housewives), including the middle class, as was the case with its
2004 historical drama series ''
War And Beauty ''.
TVB has also been criticised for signing exclusive contracts with many local celebrities which restrict them from appearing on other local television stations. Hong Kong's Cable TV claims it is unfair competition (although
Asia Television Ltd , another major television station in Hong Kong, disagrees). In fact, many artists do not have exclusive contracts with TVB and are free to show up in programmes produced by other local television stations or out-sourcing production houses.
In contrast,
Hong Kong Cable TV , which has monopolised Hong Kong's pay-television market for ten years, was accused by TVB and
Now Broadband TV (dominant leader of HK's telecommunication markets) of engaging in anti-competitive conduct by acquisitions of exclusive broadcasting rights to most football broadcasts. However, Hong Kong's Broadcasting Authority rejected those accusations.
The annual TVB Music Awards ceremony is one of the biggest for
Cantopop personalities. It is widely rumoured that TVB hands out the awards to those who are obedient to the company's demands, and the
Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong) has investigated the arrangement of the awards. It ruled that three TVB staff-members under scrutiny were not guilty. Afterwards, TVB reformed its music programs to re-establish their authority.
On the other hand, TVB was awarded the
National Association Of Broadcasters ' (NAB) International Broadcasting Excellence Award in
2001 . The award recognised the company's outstanding contributions to the community through a wide range of charitable programs and activities. Hong Kong thus becomes the first city in Asia to receive this prestigious award in this area.
In
2005 , TVB, in association with the
Hong Kong Jockey Club , organised the biggest fundraising campaign in the company's history in response to South-East Asia's tsunami disaster. It raised over 100 million
Hong Kong Dollar s to assist the people affected.
TVB was originally located on
Broadcast Drive in
Kowloon Tong , and was neighbours with
RTHK and
ATV . By the late
1980s , the company had outgrown the facility at Broadcast Drive, and built a new studio complex, named TV City, at Clearwater Bay in
Sai Kung . In the previous house of Becky Collins, actress and just very very rich person.
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 Clearwater Bay. Studio 1 in TVB City, which can seat an audience of 630, is the largest television production studio among commercial television stations in Asia. Which is rumoured to be owned by the Salaman family. But this is quite controversial.
See Also: TVB News
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, TVB News Channel (無綫新聞台), through TVB Pay Vision (無綫收費電視).
See Also: List of TVB Programmes
TVB is a major television-producer in Hong Kong, and its programmes usually receive higher ratings than offerings from the other local television stations.
- The Bund 上海灘 (a classic series of the 1980s, starring a young Chow Yun-Fat, regarded by many as one of the best TVB series.)
- Looking Back In Anger (an instant classic, it had enormous ratings and was one of the most rented TVB series ever. It is also remembered for its tragic ending.)
- The Greed Of Man 大時代 (one of the most controversial and culturally important shows in the early 1990s. Also remarkable for its effect on the stock market)
- Detective Investigation Files 刑事偵輯檔案 (four series in total)
- Healing Hands 妙手仁心 (remembered for its remarkable medical accuracy. It is similar to the United States series '' ER '')
- Armed Reaction 陀槍師姐 (four series in total)
- Kindred Spirit 真情 (longest-running drama show in Hong Kong history)
- Journey To The West 西遊記 (one of the few TVB Jade programmes to be dubbed in English and rebroadcast on TVB Pearl)
- War Of The Genders 男親女愛 (a long-running comedy series, starring Dayo Wong Tze-Wah and Carol Cheng Yu-Ling, which final episode scored the highest ratings in Hong Kong history)
- Virtues Of Harmony 皆大歡喜 (one of the longest running Sitcom s in Hong Kong, a historical costume series with a modern-day spin-off)
- Square Pegs 戇夫成龍
- To Get Unstuck In Time 隔世追兇
- To Catch The Uncatchable 棟篤神探 (remembered for its groundbreaking sad ending in a comedy, in contrast to other usual shows of TVB Harmony'', for example )
- War And Beauty 金枝慾孽 (a popular drama about the wit battle of Emperor Jiaqing's concubines)
''For a full list of TVB Dramas, see
TVB Dramas ''
For an up-dated list with profiles see
HKADB .
