Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Television in Hong Kong

Television in Hong Kong has both free over the air channels and several subscription cable networks.

Broadcast channels


There are two free-to-air television services in Hong Kong:

*Asia Television Limited : operates one English-language and one Chinese-language channel.
*Television Broadcasts Limited : operates one English-language and one Chinese-language channel.

Defunct free-to-air television services in Hong Kong


* Commercial Television , from 1975 to 1978.
* Rediffusion Television , from 1973 to 1982, at which point it became Asia Television Limited .

Subscription cable networks


Four cable television networks:
*''Hong Kong Cable Television Ltd '': controlled by Wharf Holdings, operates over one hundred channels with programmes broadcast in , , and other languages.
*''PCCW-HKT Interactive Multimedia Services Ltd '': provides sixteen free channels and over eighty pay channels with programmes broadcast in English language, and .
*''Hong Kong Broadband Network Ltd '': provides over seventy pay channels.
*''TVB Pay Vision Ltd '': provides over thirty pay channels, included 8 TVB channels, and Celestial Movies, a movie channel which screen movies produced by Shaw Brothers Ltd., the parent company of TVB.

Television Broadcasts Limited

Television Broadcasts Limited , commonly known as TVB, was the first over-the-air commercial television station in Hong Kong. It commenced broadcasting on November 19, 1967.. With a staff of about 4,500, it is one of two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong, the other being its arch-rival, .

TVB is the first free-to-air television broadcaster in Hong Kong. When TVB first began broadcasting, to distinguish it from the only cable television broadcaster, Rediffusion Television, it was commonly known as "Wireless Television" in Chinese. Although there is more than one wireless television station now. The company's current chairman is Sir Run Run Shaw. Besides, TVB is providing twelve pay-tv channels for its associated company, TVB Pay Vision Limited.

TVB reaches out to the overseas Chinese communities. Its productions are available in Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, among others, on channels such as TVB's own TVBS-Europe subscription satellite service. In Taiwan, TVB operates through its TVBS subsidiary.

Its dramas are internationally acclaimed, and many of Hong Kong's top film and pop stars started their careers at the station. Special TVB events such as the annual ''TVB Anniversary Celebration'' are broadcast to planetary audience. TVB also runs talent programmes such as the annual Miss Hong Kong and Miss Chinese International beauty pageants. Successful contestants may be offered TVB's contracts and represent Hong Kong to take part at world-class beauty contests, including the .

Development


TVB enjoys dominance of the television market in Hong Kong, but it is not considered the powerhouse it used to be. It started in 1965 as a competitor to what was then called Rediffusion Television, later to become ATV, a cable operator that charged subscription fees for its operation, and the only terrestrial competitor to TVB One of the first show launched was Enjoy Yourself Tonight in 1967.

TVB receives praise for its programming from a wide range of demographics, including the middle class, as was the case with its 2004 historical drama series ''War and Beauty''. Its program line-up features a steady stream of soap operas, variety shows and other populist fare.

TVB has been criticised for signing exclusive contracts with many local celebrities which restrict them from appearing on other local television stations. Hong Kong's Cable T.V. claims it is unfair competition . In fact, many artists do not have exclusive contracts with TVB and are free to show up in programmes produced by other local television stations or out-sourcing production houses.

The annual TVB Music Awards ceremony is one of the biggest for Cantopop personalities. It is widely rumoured that TVB distributes the awards to those who are obedient to the company's demands, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption has investigated the arrangement of the awards. It ruled that three TVB staff members under scrutiny were not guilty. Afterwards, TVB reformed its music programs in a bid to reestablish their authority.

On the other hand, TVB was awarded the National Association of Broadcasters's International Broadcasting Excellence Award in 2001. The award recognised the company's outstanding contributions to the community through a wide range of charitable programs and activities. Hong Kong thus becomes the first city in Asia to receive this prestigious award in this area.

In 2005, TVB, in association with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, organized the biggest fundraising campaign in the company's history in response to South-East Asia's recent tsunami. It raised over one hundred million to assist those affected.

From 31st March 2008, TVBS-Europe launched their "Multi-channel" package in Europe. It consists of 5 different channels which include the existing TVBS-Europe Channel plus the addition of TVBN, TVB Entertainment News, TVB Classic and TVB Lifestyle.

Location



TVB was originally located on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon Tong, and was neighbours with RTHK and . By the late 1980s, the company had out-grown the facility at Broadcast Drive, and built a new studio complex, named T.V. City, at Clearwater Bay in Sai Kung.

To cope with future development and expansion, TVB began planning in 1998 to develop a replacement facility at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate. The new HK$2.2 billion TVB City came into full operation in October 2003. The new headquarters are built on by far the largest piece of land ever leased by the then Hong Kong Industrial Estates Corporation and the first service-providing company in the area. It has a building area of over 110,000 square metres, 30% more than that of the previous facilities at Clearwater Bay. Studio 1 in TVB City, which can seat an audience of six hundred and thirty, is the largest television production studio among commercial television stations in Asia.

News operation



TVB broadcasts several news programs, such as Jade Prime News and Pearl Headline Prime . It also operates its own news channel, TVBN. and TVBN2 , through TVB Pay Vision .

Management


*Sir Run Run Shaw G.B.M.
*Mona Fong
*Stephen Chan Chi Wan General Manager
*Virginia Lok TVB's high executive

Notable shows from TVB






TVB is a major television-producer in Hong Kong, and its programs usually receive greater ratings than offerings from the other local television stations.

*Racing Peak A popular series about a horse race company starring Felix Wong and Amy Chan.
*A Kindred Spirit was a classic television drama series that was broadcast on TVB Jade in Hong Kong from May 15, 1995 to November 11, 1999. It is one of the longest running drama show in Hong Kong television history . It's exceptional longevity still amazes people in a city where scripted TV drama programs typically only last around twenty episodes, with the show running daily. The total number of episodes is 1,128.
*Super Trio Series 獎門人系列 Long running and popular variety game show since 1994.
*The Legend of the Condor Heroes
*Return of the Condor Heroes
*
*Looking Back in Anger starring Felix Wong and Carina Lau
*The Greed of Man
*Detective Investigation Files
*Files of Justice
*Secret of Heart starring Gallen Lo, Felix Wong, Amy Kwok, Kathy Chow, Jessica Hsuan, Paul Chun become a star and grabbed many awards for other fellow cast members.
*Untraceable Evidence
*Cold Blood Warm Heart
*Healing Hands
*At the Threshold of an Era
*Armed Reaction
*
*War of the Genders .
*Virtues of Harmony
*Gods of Honour
*War and Beauty (a very popular drama which talks about how four women of the king battle psychological in order to achieve their own purpose by being the most beloved women of the King. Time was set at the Qing dynasty.
*Wars of In-Laws
*La Femme Desperado
*Heart of Greed

Channel List


*
*
*
*Interactive Channel
*HD Jade

TVB Pearl

TVB Pearl is one of the two in Hong Kong that mainly broadcast in the English language, the other being .

Occasionally, it also shows programmes in other languages, including Mandarin Chinese, and .

Established on November 19, 1967, TVB Pearl broadcasts free of charge to over 2.1 million households in Hong Kong.
The channel is operated by Television Broadcasts Limited or TVB, along with its sister channel TVB Jade. As of June 30,2007, the channel achieved an average of 78% of Hong Kong's television audience during prime time viewing hours .
In 1991, TVB Pearl began to broadcast in NICAM, a digital audio modulation system that provides a facility for stereo or bilingual or trilingual audio transmission. With a compatible television, the viewer can receive audio in their choice of language; typically, English and . Chinese subtitles are available in most programmes after 6:20 p.m..

Shows on TVB Pearl


Originals


*''''
:An entertainment package which shows the latest fashion, dining, beauty, leisure, luxury, lifestyle, shopping and people in Hong Kong. The hosts are different TVB artists and actress.
*''News at 7:30'', ''News Headlines'', ''News Roundup''
*''Sports Live''
:Most live broadcast of sport games are shown in Pearl, including NBA, Football, Olympic Games and others, with own commentators in TVB. Recently, most of them are broadcasted in HD Jade at the same time.

Others


*''Without a Trace''
*''''
*''''
*''The West Wing''
*''Hotel Babylon''
*''Prison Break''
*''America's Next Top Model''
*''Naked Science''
*''Ugly Betty''
*''''
*''''
*''Tru Calling''
*''Sesame Street''
*''Andy Pandy''
*''Firehouse Tales''
*''The 4400''
*''''
*''''
*''VeggieTales''



Programmes


Movies are the most watched programmes on TVB Pearl. The ''Studio 930'' is familiar to most Hong Kong viewers, according to ratings surveys conducted by ACNielsen in 2001. The channel produces themed collections of programmes during some special occasions. For example, the collection ''Be My Valentine'' is released a week before Valentine's Day, and horror movies are shown at Halloween.

Other programmes broadcast include:
*mini-series
*documentaries
*informative
*musical
*drama
*entertainment

TVB Pearl started producing a new programme known as "Dolce Vita" from the spring of 2006. Dolce Vita is a lifestyle magazine programme that focus on the current happenings in Hong Kong, including new restaurants and interviews with visiting English-speaking celebrities.

As a free TV broadcasting channel, TVB Pearl is important in introducing drama produced outside Hong Kong to the populace. This includes such award-winning drama series as '''', ''Without A Trace'', ''Nip/Tuck'', ''The O.C.'', '''', '''', and ''''. The success of these shows prompted the production of Hong Kong versions of ''ER'' , ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''Sex and the City'' . Moreover, the ratings on the debut of the Japanese Drama has reached the highest ratings on dramas on the channel in 20 years.

Since does not have its own television station, its agency Radio Television Hong Kong requires the two domestic free television stations to broadcast their programmes and advertisements. One of the well known programmes is Educational Television which began in 1971. This follows the Hong Kong education syllabus, serving as a reference for primary and secondary school students of mathematics, the English language, Putonghua, and other school subjects. During the thirty-two week school year, ETV programmes are shown on ATV World from 10:00 a.m. to midday and TVB Pearl from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. each weekday.

Other programmes produced by RTHK are broadcast on TVB Pearl on a weekly basis. These programmes are mainly documentaries concerning politics and social issues, such as ''A Week in Politics'' and ''Hong Kong Connection''.

Non-English programmes


Both ATV World and TVB Pearl are permitted by the Broadcasting Authority of Hong Kong to broadcast non-English programmes for up to 20% of their daily transmission time, outside prime time. In fact, only 12% of TVB Pearl programmes are in languages other than English; 83.6% of those are in Mandarin. The remainder include broadcasts in Japanese, Korean, and Cantonese. A Japanese series might include the drama .

Obtaining schedules


Schedules are published in the South China Morning Post, and in other daily , including Chinese newspapers.

TVB Pearl operates its own official homepage which contains information about the programs shown by the channel. In addition to schedules, this includes featured special collections, highlights of some movies, and "editor's choice".
A discussion area called Pearl Club, where audience members may post their opinions about the programs of TVB Pearl, is also available; membership is free. Viewers can also register to receive programme information via email, through the "Pearl e-alert" service.

Partnership with SCOLAR



Since the 2002/2003 academic year, TVB Pearl has been in partnership with SCOLAR in a pilot project to promote language education in Hong Kong. TVB Pearl will continue to be one of the partner stations of SCOLAR in launching the "English in the Air 2003/04" project, aiming at promoting the learning and teaching of English through television programmes for secondary school students and teachers. Two teenage English television programmes entitled ''Road Scholars'' and ''Lizzie McGuire'' are to be broadcast on TVB Pearl in accordance with the project. English subtitles will be provided to facilitate the learning of English.

Partnership with ABC Asia Pacific



Television Broadcast Limited cooperates with ABC Asia Pacific , whose service is managed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , to have a broadcast of ABC AP Australian National news every morning after midnight on TVB Pearl. According to the ABC AP Chief Executive, John Doherty, the association between these two channels can offer a rich and diversified quality programming relevant to Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region. TVB Pearl also includes a block of ABC AP programmes entitled ''Good Day from ABC Asia Pacific'', intended to help viewers refine their English language skills, every Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:40 p.m.. According to David O'Leary, Australian Consul-General in Hong Kong, the ABC AP programmes shown on TVB Pearl would be well received by the Australians working and living in Hong Kong and on the other hand help promote Australian culture to Hong Kong people. Now, in Hong Kong, ABC Asia Pacific also live on , Now Broadband TV and 24 hours a day.This partnership ended on 17 June2006.

Reception



TVB Pearl is broadcast through UHF from its six main transmission stations at Temple Hill, Golden Hill, , Kowloon Peak, Tai Mo Shan, and Lamma Island, and two repeaters at Tsuen Wan and Tsing Yi. The Tsuen Wan repeater started service on 22 August 2003, and the Tsing Yi repeater started on 18 September 2003. The repeater were built to enhance reception of TVB Pearl.

Censorship in Southern China


Guangdong Province


Pearl is brought in and broadcast by Southern Television , the state own/run TV Network in Guangdong Province. Due to the , Pearl is not available for all area of the province. In some cities , during the hours that Pearl is not broadcasting or the broadcasting program’s nature is “sensitive,” the local TV provider replaces program to pre-taped videos .
*TVBS-NEWS “8PM News” : Replaced with educational videos
*ABC World News : Replaced with pre-tapped courtesy messages from Hong Kong Government
*Bloomberg Television : Replaced with music and graphics.

Guangzhou



Pearl is brought in and broadcast by Guangzhou Television , the state own/run TV Network in Guangzhou. In additional to the already censored programs, GZTV also broadcasts ads during the hours that the Pearl is off air.

Awards



TVB Pearl has received a number of awards during the years of its programming production. For example, ''The Pearl Report: Outsider'' won a merit at the Human Rights Awards 2002 organised by the , and ''2008 Olympic Image'' was awarded the Bronze Medal in the New York Festivals 2002.

TVB News

TVB News , formally known as the News and Information Division , is the newsgathering arm of Hong Kong's Television Broadcasts Limited . The slogan of TVB News is "TVB Cares" . TVB's news division is renowned for its factual accuracy, quality, and immediacy.

Newscasts




TVB News is broadcast at the following time slots on the company's free-to-air channels, TVB Jade and TVB Pearl.

TVB Jade newscasts



* 6:30 a.m.: ''Good Morning Hong Kong ''
* 1:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.: ''Noon News''
* 5:50 p.m.: ''Financial Report''
* 6:30 p.m.: ''Jade Prime News''
* Between 8:30 p.m. and 10:40 p.m. : ''News Headlines'' , or ''News File''
* 11:35 p.m.: ''News Roundup'' , followed by ''Today's Finance''

TVB Pearl newscasts


* 7:00 a.m.: ''TV-am News''
* 6:20 p.m.: ''Financial Report''
* 6:35 p.m.: ''Putonghua News''
* 7:30 p.m.: ''News At 7:30''
* Between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. : ''News Headlines'' , or ''News File''
* 11:40 p.m.: ''World Market Update''
* Between 11:45 p.m. and 1:00 a.m.: ''News Roundup''

Format





All newscasts on TVB Jade are in , except ''Putonghua Financial Report'', which is in . ''Good Morning Hong Kong'' and ''Putonghua Financial Report'', and other business newscasts are seen on weekdays. Also, programmes have in-vision captions for the hearing impaired, as mandated by local regulations . In the early days of TVB News, both channels aired a 5-minute News File, giving the top headlines of the day and a preview of the News Roundup; it usually aired at various times around the 9:00 p.m. hour .

The starting sequence of the news features the sound of Morse Code. The sound heard corresponds to the Morse Code signal for "NEWS TODAY".

Standalone weather reports are aired after the News at 6:30 p.m. on TVB Jade and the News at 7:30 p.m. on TVB Pearl. They are famous for , a cartoon figure which gives the forecast for the next day. The highly stylized and comical format is considered an institution, and is widely recognized by many .

News programmes


Investigative reports and extended news stories are often shown on three programmes: ''Tuesday Report'' and ''News Magazine'' on TVB Jade, and ''The Pearl Report'' on TVB Pearl. ''Sunday Report'' and ''The Pearl Report'' focus more on stories involving individuals and has a softer approach, while ''News Magazine'' focuses more on social problems in general.



News channel


Additionally, TVB's news department is also responsible for the output on the 24-hour news channel, TVBN, carried on the pay TV platform TVB Pay Vision . On June 2006, another news channel, TVBN 2, will also be carried on the pay TV platform TVB Pay Vision.

Official websites


*
*

TVB Jade

TVB Jade is a flagship TV channel in Hong Kong, established by Television Broadcasts Limited. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, with various of programmes such as news, drama, anime and chat shows. Officially broadcast in November 19, 1967, with most of the programmes speaking . Some programmes are broadcast in Putonghua and by using NICAM . Most of the programmes are widely distributed to many countries and is the most popular channel in Hong Kong.

Audience


During 21:35 to 22:35 at weekdays, TVB Jade have the most . With an average of 32 rating point, it also occupy more than 80% TV audiences of Hong Kong.

Digital broadcasting


Jade officially started digital broadcasting on December 31, 2007, with the terrestrial number 81.The programmes of the digital version of Jade will be the same as the analogue one, except the aspect ratio will be changed to .

On-Air Identity




TVB Jade's on-air identity is similar in principles to its European counterparts, but also have great differences. A typical TVB ident package typically consists of only one to two idents , and does not have a unifying theme .

STAR TV (Asia)

Satellite Television for the Asian Region is an Asian TV service owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. It is based in Hong Kong, with programming offices in India and Australia, as well as in other south Asian countries.

According to the STAR website, their service has more than 300 million viewers in 54 countries and is watched by approximately 100 million viewers every day.

STAR's revenues have increased from $220 million in 2003 to $245 million in 2004. STAR has emerged as India's second-largest media company after Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is the publisher of Times of India.

History


The company was launched in 1990 as part of Hutchison Whampoa group. It started broadcasting five television channels in 1991 from AsiaSat 1 Satellite. Launch of StarTV pioneered satellite television in Asia and in the process catalysed explosive growth in the media industry across the entire region.

In 1993 News Corporation purchased 63.6% of STAR for over $500 million, followed by the purchase of the remaining 34.6% in July 1995.

Impact



Today STAR broadcasts over 60 services in nine languages. Shows include entertainment, sports, movies, music, news and documentaries.

Reaching more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries across Asia, STAR is watched by approximately 100 million viewers every day.

STAR controls over 20,000 hours of Indian and Chinese programming and also owns the world's largest contemporary Chinese film library, with more than 600 titles, featuring superstars including Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Bruce Lee. In partnership with leading companies in Asia, STAR businesses extend to filmed entertainment, television production, cable systems and wireless and digital services.

In 1994 STAR removed BBC World Service Television from the network following demands from the government of the People's Republic of China. It is alleged that the PRC government was unhappy with BBC coverage and threatened to block Star TV in the huge market if the BBC was not withdrawn. This is despite technology that is capable of blocking BBC World in China, while making it available in other countries they serve.

Management Team


* Paul Aiello, Chief Executive Officer
* Laureen Ong, Chief Operating Officer
* John Lau, Group Chief Financial Officer
* Ella Betsy Wong, Executive Vice President & General Counsel
* Guo Xiao Yong, Chief Technology Officer
* Edward Hanapole, Chief Information Officer

Channels provided


*STAR Chinese Channel - Mandarin general entertainment channel for audiences in Taiwan. It is one of the five original STAR TV channels when it launched in 1991.
*STAR Chinese Movies - and movie channel.
* - and movie channel that shows popular Chinese box-office hits from the 1970’s to 1990’s. Currently available in Singapore, Hong Kong and U.S.
*STAR Movies - an English language movie channel broadcast to Southeast Asia, India, Taiwan and Middle East.
*STAR World - popular and entertainment programming broadcast to Asia. Formerly known as STAR Plus.
*STAR Plus - One of India's most popular Hindi general entertainment channel. It was one of the five original STAR TV channels when it launched in 1991, and was catering to English language entertainment .
*STAR Utsav - in Hindi. It shows some of the popular programs from STAR Plus.
*STAR One - Niche Hindi general entertainment channel.
*STAR Gold - Hindi movie channel.
*STAR Vijay - general entertainment channel.
*STAR News - Hindi news channel.
*STAR Ananda - Bengali language news channel in India.
* - Marathi language news channel in India.
*STAR Cricket - A sports channel consist of full cricket programming.
* - Bengali general entertainment channel.
* - international entertainment channel.
* - 24-hour Mandarin news channel.
*Phoenix Movies Channel - movie channel in Mainland China.
*Xing Kong - Mandarin general entertainment channel in Mainland China.
* - the former MTV Southeast Asia, it broadcasts music television channels. Its main Channel International hub used to be in Hong Kong but has since relocated to Malaysia. There are local Channel channels such as Channel India, Channel Mainland China, Channel Australia, Channel Thailand, Channel Korea and Channel Taiwan. .
* - broadcast by ESPN STAR Sports, a Joint Venture with ESPN Inc.
*STAR Sports - a sports channel which is the evolution of Prime Sports, devoted to different sporting events, such as cricket, auto racing, golf, and many more. Associated with in Asia.
*National Geographic Channel
* - 24-hour adventure programming, formerly known as A1.
*
*National Geographic Channel HD - Available in Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam only.
*Fox News Channel
*Fox Crime - is the first and only 24-hour factual and fictional entertainment television channel dedicated to crime, investigation and mystery. Available in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Soon Available in Malaysia, Thailand, India, Middle East and South Korea.
* - a 24-hour channel offering a broad mix programming targeted at male audiences including comedy, action sports, drama series, reality shows, cars and swimsuit model programmes. Available in Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam only. Soon available in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India.
*Fox Sports - a sports channel, available on STAR Select in the Middle East. Soon to open the rest of Asia over .
*BabyTV - is the first 24-hour, commercial-free channel for children under pre-schoolers. This channel is now available in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore.
* - Kids channel, available on STAR Select in the Middle East.
*Sky News
* The History Channel
*Granada UKTV - entertainment from now only available on STAR Select in the Middle East, dropped from the line-up in the rest of Asia in 2002.
*antv - regional Indonesian channel.

STAR TV's former channels


* - STAR TV's Filipino movie channel, founded with the merger of VIVA Entertainment.
* BBC World, the former BBC World News Service, and one of the original STAR TV channels when it launched in 1991
* MTV Southeast Asia - music channel which was once owned jointly with by MTV Networks, and one of the original STAR TV channels when it launched in 1991; but it ended its affiliation in 1994 to broadcast separate ways & it was renamed Channel [V] in May 1994.
* - the old name of STAR Sports, and one of the first five STAR TV channels
* Film Indonesia - A 24-hour Movie Channel.
* STAR Plus Japan - A 24-hour Entertainment Channel.
* TechTV - A 24-hour Computer Channel. Formerly seen in Middle East via STAR Select.
* EL TV - A 24-hour Hindi Entertainment Channel.
* Zee TV - A current 24-hour Hindi Entertainment Channel. Zee ended its relationship with STAR in 1995. For further information contact Zee TV Legal Department.
* Zee Cinema - - A current 24-hour Hindi Movie Channel. Zee ended its relationship with STAR in 1995. For further information contact Zee TV Legal Department.
* CNBC Asia - Business News Channel launched in 1996, This channel terminated within 2006 replacing CNBC Europe. Formerly Available in the Middle East via STAR Select.
* CNBC-TV18 - Business News Channel in India, formerly part of STAR TV Packages in Asiasat 3s. This Channel was terminated in September 2006.
* CNBC Europe - Business News channel, formerly available on STAR Select in the Middle East. This channel was terminated on March 31, 2007.

Rediffusion Television

Rediffusion Television was the first television station in Hong Kong, established in 1957, making it both the first and the first predominantly city to have television. It began as a radio station in 1949 and became by 1982.

History


''"Radio Rediffusion"'' was officially founded in 1949 as a highly successful wired radio station run by the company. once again provided an outlet for the broadcasts to the working class who could not afford the subscription fees. When competitor made its first free-to-air broadcast in 1967, RTV had 67,000 subscribers. In April 1973, it was offered a free-to-air television broadcasting license, which ended its fifteen-year cable service in October 1973. Later in December 1973, it was renamed to Rediffusion Television Limited or RTV . In 1982 it was renamed to Asia Television Limited.