On Second Thought: It's time for Hong Kong government to get tough with Asia Television over its programming
They should do this as the station has failed at its job, not because it hasn't paid salaries
Our government, like God, sometimes moves in mysterious ways. For the longest time, ATV has been failing spectacularly to carry out its duties as a licensed broadcaster by filling its airtime with endless reruns of age-old shows (shamelessly promoted as television classics) and self-advertisements (it never tires of reminding whoever still watches during commercial breaks that ATV is - savour the irony - "the conscience of Hong Kong"). Despite frequent complaints from a disgruntled public, the government has barely raised an eyebrow.
Yet when it was in the news that ATV was too short of cash to pay its employees their monthly wages, the government let it be known that it was furious.
It is, of course, entirely understandable that the government wants to be seen on the side of the people. But make no mistake about it - ATV as a public broadcaster failing to do its job is infinitely worse than ATV as an employer failing to pay its staff. That something as fundamental as this has been lost on the government for so long is very worrying indeed.
It has been pointed out that the slow death of ATV and the resulting unchallenged dominance of TVB have put a stop to the growth of the local television industry. This, in turn, has an adverse impact on the development of the mass entertainment and creative industries, including film and pop music.