Limited company | |
Industry | Mass media |
Predecessor | Rediffusion Television |
Founded | 29 May 1957 (as Rediffusion Television) 24 September 1982 (as ATV) |
Defunct | 2 April 2016 (over-the-air transmission) 24 April 2017 (company) |
Headquarters | 25–31 Dai Shing Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po, Hong Kong |
Key people
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Wang Zheng (Main investor) Ip Ka-po (Former Executive Director) |
Owner |
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Number of employees
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18 (2016, including guards and engineering units) |
Subsidiaries | ATV Enterprises Ltd ATV International Promotion Ltd hkatv.com Ltd ATV Films Entertainment Ltd ATV Music Ltd |
Website |
hkatv |
Asia Television | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 亞洲電視 | ||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 亚洲电视 | ||||||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 亞視 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 亚视 | ||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Yàzhōu Diànshì |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | Aa3zau1 Din6si6 |
Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Yàshì |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | Aa3si6 |
Asia Television (Chinese: 亞洲電視有限公司, also known as ATV, stylised "aTV" since 8 October 2007) was a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television(Chinese: 麗的電視/麗的映聲) on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial television on 30 November 1973, and was renamed Asia Television on 24 September 1982. ATV operated two main over-the-air channels: the Cantonese-language ATV Home, and ATV World.
Despite its relatively small market share, ATV received numerous awards for its programmes. One of its successes was the local version of the British game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001, which allowed ATV to enjoy a short-term upturn in its viewing figures. After 2000, ATV faced a gradual decline in production quality and viewership, as well as financial difficulties—a process hastened under the leadership of Wang Zheng. ATV's credibility was severely damaged in 2011 after its news department had falsely reported that Jiang Zemin had died.
On 1 April 2015, Hong Kong's Executive Council announced that ATV's broadcast license would not be renewed. ATV ceased over-the-air transmission on 1 April 2016. ATV planned to continue its business as satellite and online broadcaster, but their web site is no longer active.
Rediffusion Television (RTV), the predecessor to ATV, began as a wired radio broadcasting service in 1949. The original office was located on Arsenal Street and Hennessy Road. It launched its subscription-based TV service on 29 May 1957. In 1959, Rediffusion was moved to the offices that was occupied by Fortis Bank Tower.
In 1962, Typhoon Wanda passed over Hong Kong, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Following the passage of Wanda, Rediffusion broadcast the first-ever fund-raising special. The first televised artiste course broadcast was in 1966 under the title, "Ying Li's voice."