Telefishion and the ATV broadcasts that made history for all the wrong reasons
The good, the bad, and the so-bad-it’s-hilarious of Hong Kong’s oldest television station, which goes off air today
Asia Television has been a critical part of Hong Kong’s broadcasting history, starting as a pioneer of entertainment when it was launched as Rediffusion Television in 1957. The station enjoyed many successes over the years, but was totally eclipsed by dominant free-to-air broadcaster TVB. Programming deteriorated over the years as shrinking advertising and frequent ownership changes took the broadcaster from impressive highs to cringeworthy lows.
Credit went to ATV for a new phrase to express boredom (see Telefishion below).
Hong Kong now bids farewell to the station that brought the city My Date with a Vampire and the Miss Asia beauty pageant. As liquidators pull the plug on ATV, the South China Morning Post looks back at the ups and downs of “Asia’s CNN” – a phrase coined by mainland investor Wong Ching, under whose watch ATV sounded its death knell.
IN PICTURES: ATV’s 33-year history, from trendsetter to troubled broadcaster
Song and dance of shame
A protest against free-to-air TV licences that could have put ATV out of business took a bizarre turn outside the Legislative Council in November 2012. This time it wasn’t violence that made spectators and legislators cringe.
READ MORE: ATV makes a song and dance about licences
