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Sunday, August 20, 2017

**UPDATED**Breaking news: Ricky Wong gives up on television dreams?

8/21/17 UPDATE:  I found out some more information about this whole thing that I felt necessary to share.  Apparently, in addition to RW selling his stake in HKTV, there was also an “official” announcement made where HKTV said that they are “reconsidering” the second application they had made for a free-to-air license 2 years ago (I read the official announcement in Chinese…not sure if I’ll have time to translate and post it though…).  This is interpreted to mean that HKTV is no longer interested in obtaining a free-to-air license and may rescind their application at some point in the next few months.  Also, HK-based Mainland station Phoenix TV officially rescinded their application awhile back ago and Forever Top’s David Chiu has put his application on hold as well due to his recent success in “acquiring” i-Cable (whose new free-to-air arm Fantastic Television launched earlier this year). 

So it looks like we go from having several potential contenders for additional free-to-air licenses to ZERO.  Though officially right now there are 3 free-to-air TV stations in HK – TVB, ViuTV, Fantastic Television – we all know that the 2 newer TV stations don’t stand a chance against powerhouse TVB…so basically, we are essentially right back to where we started from in that TVB will continue to hold their monopoly over the HK television industry, probably for the rest of their existence.

Obviously I’m disappointed...and with everything else going on in HK right now, this issue just adds to the frustration….

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I don't usually do these types of short posts but I don't have access to a computer at the moment and come across this important news that I needed to share.

According to the 2 news articles below, Ricky Wong has officially sold his stake in HKTV.  The first article gives the details on the financial part of the transaction and the second is an interview of sorts with Ricky Wong where he says something that, coincidentally, I've been saying for the past 2 years:  the HK television industry has changed tremendously in the past few years since he applied for a license and it is no longer a viable option for him.

As much as I support HKTV -- and would still support them if they did decide to resume operations -- I'm not blind to the fact that things have changed the past couple years and the road would've been 10x more difficult for both HKTV and Ricky Wong than it was before.  It looks like RW finally realizes this now and has decided to "stop the bleeding" now before it got even worse.

Of course, I'm saddened by this, even though I already knew it was inevitable.  But I think more than anything else, I'm angry because this means TVB has won the battle and unfortunately for the HK entertainment industry, this means yet another nail in the coffin (those who've been following my blog and my posts on this issue will know what I'm talking about).

More thoughts to come once I'm able to get back to accessing via a computer.

Article 1:


Article 2:

14 comments:

  1. It's very unfortunate and sad. This adds even more unknowns to HKTV. Does the selling include the 6 level broadcast building? What about HKTVMall is that separate from the HKTV stocks? We've never heard anything about the other share holder(s). Hopefully their vision will be close to Ricky's and that they will still go forward with series production.

    Interesting how Ricky had to sell 2 stocks both HKTV to a share holder and his Top Group stocks to a immediate family showing that he isn't trying to control it behind the scenes.

    It's the first time I've heard that HKTV is actually owned under another company called Top Group.

    Truthfully I never thought it was fair no possible for Ricky to focus on creating HK's next Amazon with HKTVMall and HKTV productions. Unless of course this sales includes the Mall as well.

    HKTV is really just a shell if that 6 floor building isn't part of the deal. That's the biggest asset with it, it makes resuming production near impossible and that much difficult.

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    1. @sport: This is also the first time I've heard mention of the name Top Group specifically, but not the first time I've heard about HKTV being co-owned by others. The name of the guy mentioned in the article as being co-owner (Paul Cheng, HKTV's vice-chairman) I've actually heard before, as RW had mentioned him in the past.

      Like I said below, even if HKTV does resume filming, it definitely won't be the same. Part of what made HKTV so successful previously was Ricky Wong himself and the vision he put forth for the company as well as the way he ran it. Sure, he may not be a likable person and some of his actions may be questionable (i.e. being loudmouthed and overly high profile with everything he did, poaching other companies' artists when their contracts weren't up yet, etc.) but at the end of the day, he was a shrewd businessman and did a better job running HKTV than those idiot management running TVB. Without him at the helm, there's pretty much no point....

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  2. Also is it just me or it seems very odd that no main HK media outlets besides South China have reported on this matter? I mean I know there's bigger news to deal with but still. You'd think they'd report and ask questions.

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  3. Oh wait maybe this is why? I thought Wong sold all his Top group shares but it looks like he just sold parts of it. So "technically" he still owns HKTV "indirectly". Maybe that's why the media haven't made a big deal out of it. Also does it automatically "remove" him from being CEO of the company?


    "The company said this was pursuant to a family arrangement by Wong, who along with the other family member and other existing shareholders will continue to hold Top Group shares."

    http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2107558/media-maverick-ricky-wong-sells-hktv-stake-affiliated-company

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    1. @sport: So far, I haven't read anything about what's going to happen to the building. Based on the news articles so far, it sounds like RW still has "indirect ownership" in that he is still part of the group that holds partial stake in the company, but he no longer holds direct control, which pretty much means he won't be CEO or Chairman or whatever his position was anymore. I see it more like he's still a "board member" of the company but is no longer the one calling the shots. It also means that even if HKTV does decide to resume operations, RW most likely won't be involved anymore, at least not in the same capacity he was before, which also means the entire vision and way it operates will be different.

      In terms of mainstream media reporting on it, they actually have...in fact, I saw several articles in Chinese about this, all from the "usual" sources (Mingpao, Oriental Daily, HK01, Apple, etc.), it's just that it's being reported mostly in the Financial/Business sections of those papers rather than Entertainment (which is correct). I posted the SCMP articles because those are already in English and say essentially the same thing as the Chinese articles did so it saves me from having to translate, lol.

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    2. Well to be fair with the way HKTVMall keeps expanding and there was no way Ricky Wong could manage both the commerce and tv production side of things. I'd like to look at the positive and think that whoever's taking over will go the internet route and eventually be in charge of resuming productions.

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  4. Maybe not. I hope he means he will do internet TV this time (finally)

    www.hk01.com/經濟/118684/

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    1. @Phixster: Honestly, RW needs to make up his mind what he wants to do. The past 2 years, he's basically been all talk and no action. At this point, I'm pretty much taking the position that I will believe what he says once I see action from him...

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  5. I know my post is off topic but this is the only way I know to get your attention llwy12 lol. I just recently found out a new webseries called OCTB. Have you watched it? I only heard about it from someone on a forum I frequently visit but when I try to look it up, there are no articles about it though. It's like it's totally under the radar.

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    1. @ch1kusoo: Hi! No worries about the off-topic thing...I'm perfectly fine with people going off-topic on my blog -- there are basically no restrictions with that where my blog is concerned. :-)

      Yes, I know about OCTB -- in fact, I've been having lengthy discussions with others about the series on Jaynestars forum (mostly because someone brought it up over there in one of the threads). Partly due to time constraints (and me being lazy and not wanting to re-post everything here lol), I hope you don't mind if I post the links to the 2 JS articles where I provided significant detail about the series (you don't have to read the article if you don't want to -- just scroll down to the comments section, ignoring the "troll" comments of course, lol, and read the stuff about OCTB). If you still have any questions, let me know and I'd be happy to answer them! :-)

      Article 1: http://www.jaynestars.com/news/a-different-kind-of-hk-drama-line-walker-the-prelude-wastes-no-time/

      Article 2: http://www.jaynestars.com/news/netizens-not-happy-with-line-walker-2-spoilers-being-shared/

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  6. How would you compare OCTB with Borderline or Night Shift? I thought OCTB seem to be trying to pull the nostalgia card having it set in the early 90's. It's almost like after Ten Years and Trivisa getting critical acclaim, everyone wants to do something taking place in pre-1997 HK. The theme song and the show intro seem so old school.

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  7. @ch1kusoo: Great question! If compared to Borderline and Night Shift, I actually feel both are far superior than OCTB. Both series were innovative and weren't afraid to push the envelope -- the aesthetics were AMAZING, the casting and acting were top notch, and the scripts were excellent (though not without flaws of course). I've been saying that HKTV's series blow TVB's series out of the water -- well, they blow OCTB out of the water as well. I agree that OCTB does have an "old school" feel to it and most certainly is taking advantage of the nostalgia card (though TVB is guilty of the same thing to be honest), but I don't see this as a bad thing if done right. Compared to TVB, OCTB did things right -- yes, the series feels dated and the theme of UC and gangster/triads is kind of old, but at least they interpreted it differently with a plot that makes arguable sense and acting that is top notch (from most of the cast at least -- Jordan and Danny are so-so IMO but everything else makes up for it). TVB on the other hand basically recycles their same formula with every series or outright copies stuff without giving credit to the original -- not to mention the acting piece has gotten really bad in recent years.

    HKTV on the other hand, managed to produce quality series without compromising any aspect of their production – they didn’t have to play the nostalgia card for one and two, every single one of their series was different and inventive and tried to do things that HK series normally don’t do. I almost feel like there should be no comparison to HKTV’s series because they were in a class of their own where HK series were concerned.

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  8. I'm currently watching OCTB and quite enjoy it. It doesn't have the addictive factor for me that Borderline or Night Shift had, but it certainly blows TVB out of the water. Haven't been watching LW2 (actually I didn't even watch LW1) but from what I have heard, the ratings for OCTB has surpassed LW2.

    OCTB gives off that 80s/90s HK series vibe. It basically does the opposite of TVB in terms of scripts and production. TVB is trying to cater for Mainland by making their series more "mainland" like in terms of scripts. OCTB makes their series more "Hong Kong" in order to entice mainland audiences with what originally made HK series popular in Mainland.

    Also, I don't think OCTB planned to air at the same time LW is. It's probably more of a coincidence. The reason OCTB is airing now, is to pull in the fame Jordan is getting from "Dad where are we going" which is also airing at the moment (basically has guarantee popularity boost). I can guarantee that more than half of the views OCTB is getting in Mainland is probably because Jordan's son is adorable.

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    1. @Phixster: Agreed and well-said! Yes, the "ratings" for OCTB have definitely surpassed LW2, not to mention the series has been getting quite the hype in the media as well. I haven't been watching LW2 either but from what I've heard from people who've been watching, LW2 is actually nothing more than a direct copy of Infernal Affairs 2 (literally down to the characters, dialogue, mannerisms, plot points, story arcs, etc.)...in fact, it looks like the media has started to catch on to the fact that LW2 is nothing more than a copy cat series, as I read a few really detailed articles on the issue last week. I'm glad that OCTB is getting so much hype right now, not just because it is outright threatening TVB at the moment, but also because it is truly a quality production, especially compared to TVB series.

      OCTB may not have intended to directly "compete" with LW2, but that's what ended up happening and the results are pretty bad for TVB. Which is why I don't think it was a coincidence that "someone" reported OCTB to Youtube over the weekend, resulting in Youtube blocking access to the series and even taking it down for a brief period of time until the production team was able to get in touch with them to "unlock" it. Since Youtube is banned in China (Mainland audiences are watching OCTB via their Youku platform) and HK audiences would have no reason to "report" the series since they've been "chasing" it so much, the only other possibility is TVB up to their underhanded tricks again and trying to take OCTB down similar to what they did to HKTV.

      Yea, totally agree about TVB trying to directly cater to Mainland while OCTB is going the opposite route in catering directly to HK audiences. Goes to show how stupid TVB is, as their antics have done next to nothing to help their cause -- rather, all they've managed to do is further alienate the very HK audiences who had made them who they are the past 50 years.

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