| ViuTV | |
|---|---|
|
Type |
Broadcast television network |
|
Country |
Hong Kong |
|
Founded |
September 7, 1975 |
|
Availability |
Hong Kong, Macau, and some areas of Guangdong Province. |
|
Headquarters |
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island |
|
Owner |
Hong Kong Television Entertainment Co. |
|
Parent |
PCCW |
|
Launch date |
September 7, 1975 |
|
Picture format |
1080p (HDTV) |
|
Callsign meaning |
Viu formed with We, I and You. |
|
Language |
Cantonese |
ViuTV, formerly called Commercial Television, is a commercial television network in Hong Kong that launched on September 7, 1975. The network was originally owned by Commercial Radio, Jardines, Sing Tao Daily, Wah Kiu Yat Pao, The Kung Sheung Daily News, and the Lam family (one of the founders of Hang Seng Bank) until 1982 when it was helped by a consortium to prevent its bankruptcy.
History[]
The beginning[]
In 1973, the Hong Kong government issued licenses for additional terrestrial television broadcasters, ending TVB's six-year monopoly as the sole free-to-air television company in Hong Kong. A group of shareholders formed a consortium (Commercial Television) to contest the license; the six major shareholders were Commercial Radio, Jardines, Sing Tao Daily, Wah Kiu Yat Pao, The Kung Sheung Daily News, and the Lam family (one of the founders of Hang Seng Bank).
The licenses were awarded on August 10, with Rediffusion Television receiving licenses for two television stations (one broadcasting in Cantonese and the other in English), while Commercial Television only received one license for a station broadcasting in Cantonese.
The launch and financial crisis[]
The station launched at 6:00 pm on September 7, 1975. Its logo was a hexagon formed from six angled lines, representing the Six Arts (禮樂射御書數) in Confucian philosophy, as well as the six major stakeholders. At the time, the station was reportedly mocked for using the Six Arts as the inspiration for its logo, as 御書數 (Charioteering, Calligraphy, and Mathematics) in Cantonese sounds similar to the phrase 預輸數 (predicted/prepared for defeat).
One of the station's licensing conditions was to air two hours of educational programming every weeknight, with no commercial interruptions. Such programming on the station was primarily oriented at adults, covering topics such as auto mechanics, interior design, and foreign languages. The station struggled to break even as a result of this requirement. An attempt was made to resurrect the failing station in July 1976 when Selina Chow, then assistant general manager of TVB was drafted in as its new general manager. A significant amount of money was spent on producing drama series; the number of staff trebled, and the cash-burn rate escalated under Chow.
The Closing and Rescuing[]
On August 21, 1978, the station announced it was ending its operations, its 800 staff was laid off and the company was declared bankrupt on October 19. Following the station's collapse, the government concluded that a third commercial television station "did not appear viable".
But in 1980, CBS had applied a license of the TV station with to the government once again but the license granted by it. At this time, the company was called "Independent Television of Hong Kong, Ltd.".
ITV and CBS era[]
In January 1982, CTV was relaunched by a consortium formed by CBS and two ITV stations, Thames Television and Central Independent Television. Coincidentally, Rediffusion Television in Hong Kong has sold to an Australian consortium and Far East Group and renamed as Asia Television.
At this time, CTV formed its own news division, CTV News.
In 1989, CTV introduced its first closed captions technology.
Handover[]
On July 1, 1997, following Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty to China, CTV ended its affiliation with ITV and became an independent network.
The change[]
In 2000, CTV announced that the name changes to ViuTV on 31 March 2001 as its PCCW-ownership since 2000.
At this time, CTV has been acquired by Pacific Century Cyberworks and Taiwanese conglomerate Fubon Group and its headquarters were still based on Telecom House in Wai Chai, Hong Kong Island.
Finally, in 2001, CTV changed its name as ViuTV.
In 2008, a year later after the launch of Digital terrestrial television in Hong Kong, ViuTV was testing the transmission of its Digital HDTV broadcasts.
Standing Together[]
On October 4, 2007, when Now TV's own news channel Now News launched, Its news division has merged with Now TV's and produces newscasts together.
Four years later, In 2011, Now TV's own general entertainment channel Now Hong Kong launched. It starts sharing its programs together until 2016 when the channel was changed to a preview channel.
Today[]
ViuTV is still alive today and producing and airing programs with Now TV.