TVB facts for kids
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a big television company in Hong Kong. It runs five free TV channels there. TVB Jade is its main channel for Cantonese speakers, and TVB Pearl is its main channel for English speakers. TVB's main office is at TVB City in Tseung Kwan O.
TVB started broadcasting on November 19, 1967. The company was created on July 26, 1965. It was co-founded by Sir Run Run Shaw, Sir Douglas Clague, and Harold Lee Hsiao-wo. When TVB first began, people often called it "Wireless Television" in Chinese. This was to show it was different from the cable TV company at the time, Rediffusion Television (which later became ATV). TVB is still often called "Wireless Television" even though ATV also started free-to-air broadcasting later.
TVB is very famous for its TV dramas. It also produces popular beauty pageants like Miss Hong Kong and Miss Chinese International. For a long time, TVB has been the most important TV broadcaster in Hong Kong.
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Headquarters at TVB City
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Native name
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電視廣播有限公司
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| Public | |
| Traded as | SEHK: 511 |
| Industry | Television broadcasting; media and entertainment |
| Founded | 19 November 1967 in Broadcast Drive, Kowloon Tong, British Hong Kong |
| Headquarters | 77 Chun Choi Street, Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, New Territories, Hong Kong |
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Area served
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Cantonese Language Markets (Worldwide) |
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Key people
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| Products | TVB Jade, TVB Pearl, TVB Anywhere, MyTV Super, TVBS, TVBNews, TVB.com, TVB Publishing, TVBUSA, TVB8, TVB.cn |
| Revenue | HK$2.5 billion (2022) |
| -HK$0.8 billion (2022) | |
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Number of employees
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3,200 (2023) |
| Parent | Clear Water Bay Land Company Limited |
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| Traditional Chinese | 電視廣播有限公司 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 电视广播有限公司 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contents
The Start of TVB
In the early 1960s, the government in Hong Kong thought about starting a second TV station. At that time, only Rediffusion Television, which was a wired, paid service, existed. People discussed if the new station should be like a public service, a business, or a mix of both.
Finding enough shows for the new station was also a challenge. In 1962, a government official said it was hard to find many Chinese shows made outside Hong Kong. Even though Hong Kong made many films, it was still tough to get enough Chinese content for another TV station. Most of it would need to be made right there in Hong Kong.
However, many businesses were interested. The government asked for bids for a new free-to-air TV station on February 6, 1965. On January 25, 1966, it was announced that Television Broadcasts Limited had won the chance to start the new station.
Opening Day
The new TVB station at 77 Broadcast Drive in Kowloon Tong officially opened on November 19, 1967. The Governor of Hong Kong, David Trench, opened it. He talked about how TV could help society by sharing information.
The first thing shown on TVB was a live broadcast of the Macau Grand Prix race. This started at 9:00 am. Then, the first color broadcast was shown. It was called "London Calling Hongkong" and featured greetings from past governors. After that, a piano player named Chiu Yee-ha performed.
The new station had two channels. The Cantonese channel, TVB Jade, started regular shows at 4:30 pm on Channel 21. The English channel, TVB Pearl, began at 6:00 pm on Channel 25. Early shows included Enjoy Yourself Tonight, a Chinese variety show, and Meet The Press, an English news program.
Building the Network
Hong Kong's mountains made it hard for TVB to broadcast wirelessly. TVB was the first TV station in Hong Kong to use transmitters on land instead of cables. So, they built a network of transmitters on different mountains to cover the whole area.
The main transmitter was built on Temple Hill, above Kowloon. This helped reach most of Hong Kong's main cities and parts of the New Territories. Two more booster stations started on May 15, 1968. One on Lamma Island helped cover areas like Pok Fu Lam and Repulse Bay. Another on Castle Peak covered Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. A third station on Cloudy Hill opened in June 1968, bringing TVB to Fanling and Taipo.
TVB's Journey and Impact
TVB has received praise for its shows from many different people. For example, its 2004 drama War and Beauty was very popular. TVB's schedule often includes soap operas, variety shows, and other popular programs.
TVB has also faced some criticism. Some people said that TVB signed special contracts with many local stars. These contracts stopped the stars from appearing on other local TV stations. However, many artists do not have these special contracts and can appear on other shows.
The yearly TVB Music Awards are very important for Cantopop singers. There were rumors that TVB gave awards to artists who followed the company's rules. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) looked into this. They found that three TVB staff members were not guilty. After this, TVB changed its music programs to improve their reputation.
On the other hand, TVB won the National Association of Broadcasters' (NAB) International Broadcasting Excellence Award in 2001. This award recognized TVB's great work in helping the community through many charity programs. Hong Kong was the first city in Asia to get this award.
In 2005, TVB worked with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to organize its biggest fundraising event ever. This was to help people affected by the big tsunami in Southeast Asia. They raised over 100 million Hong Kong Dollars.
TVB also expanded internationally. In 2000, TVB Australia started offering 17 channels. In 2008, TVBS-Europe launched a "Multi-channel" package with 5 different channels.
Where TVB Is Located
TVB was first located on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon Tong, near other TV stations. By the late 1980s, the company needed more space. So, they built a new studio complex called T.V. City at 220 Clear Water Bay Road in November 1988. This first TVB City was actually the old Shaw Movie Town complex, used by Shaw Brothers since 1958. The old Broadcast Drive building later became apartments.
To prepare for future growth, TVB started planning a new facility in 1998. The new TVB City, costing HK$2.2 billion, fully opened in October 2003. This new headquarters is built on a very large piece of land. It has over 110,000 square meters of building space, which is 30% more than the old Clear Water Bay facility. Studio 1 in TVB City can hold 630 people. It is the largest TV production studio among commercial TV stations in Asia.
TVB News
TVB broadcasts several news programs. These include "News at 6:30" on TVB Jade and "News at 7:30" on TVB Pearl. It also has its own news channels, TVBN and TVBN2, through its paid TV service.
Famous Shows from TVB
TVB has produced many memorable shows over the years:
- Enjoy Yourself Tonight or EYT (1967–1994): A very long-running variety show.
- The Bund (1980): A drama starring Chow Yun-fat that was popular across Asia.
- The Legend of the Condor Heroes (1983): A popular martial arts drama based on a famous novel.
- Looking Back in Anger (1989): A sad drama that was one of the most-watched Hong Kong dramas.
- The Greed of Man (1992): This drama was so impactful it even affected stock markets!
- The File of Justice series (1992–1997): A popular legal drama series.
- A Kindred Spirit (1995–1999): The second longest-running drama series in Hong Kong TV history.
- Super Trio Series (1995–2023): A very popular variety game show.
- Journey to the West (1996): One of the few TVB Jade shows also shown on TVB Pearl in English.
- Healing Hands series (1998–2005): A medical drama known for being very accurate.
- War of the Genders (2000): A sitcom that was very well-liked.
- Virtues of Harmony (2001–2005): One of the longest-running sitcoms in Hong Kong.
- Square Pegs (2003): A drama about a young man with a mental disability that had very high viewership.
- War and Beauty (2004): A historical drama that made palace harem dramas popular.
- Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf (2005): A kids' cartoon with over 2500 episodes!
- Moonlight Resonance (2008) and Beyond the Realm of Conscience (2009): Both dramas reached very high viewership numbers.
- Line Walker (2014): A crime drama that became the most-viewed Hong Kong drama in mainland China.
- A Fist Within Four Walls (2016): A martial arts drama that won many awards.
- Come Home Love: Lo and Behold (2017): Another very long-running TV series.
Recent Challenges
In recent years, TVB has faced some challenges. In 2018, there were reports of changes in staff and some shows ending. For example, the long-running show "Sports World" aired its final episode. Some channels also stopped broadcasting.
In December 2019, it was reported that TVB's chairman, Charles Chan, planned to step down. In the same month, the chief executive announced that about 350 employees would be leaving the company.
In 2023, a survey showed what viewers thought about TVB. Some liked that TVB's reality shows were up-to-date. However, others felt that its dramas and variety shows were too similar and not very creative. Some viewers also found too many programs about the Greater Bay Area boring. People were also annoyed by too much product placement in shows like "Scoop" and "Come Home Love: Lo And Behold". There were also comments that TVB sometimes showed programs with certain political views or advertised products from companies it had an interest in.
TVB Channels
Hong Kong Free-to-air
- TVB Jade
- TVB Plus (used to be TVB J2 & TVB Finance, Sports & Information Channel)
- TVB News Channel
- TVB Pearl
MyTV SUPER
TVB Network Vision stopped its service on June 1, 2017. A new online platform called MyTV SUPER took its place for paid TV services.
- Asian Select
- Asian Variety
- Chinese Drama
- Chinese Opera Channel
- Classic Movies
- Entertainment News
- Food
- Jade Catch Up
- Japanese Drama
- Korean Drama
- Sports
- TVB Classic
- TVB Radio
- TVBN 2
- Travel
International Channels
TVB also has channels available in other parts of the world:
- Asian Action Channel
- Hub Cantonese on Demand (Singapore)
- Hub Drama First (Singapore)
- Fairchild TV (20% owned by TVB)
- Jadeworld (USA)
- TVB Chinese Opera Channel (International)
- TVB Entertainment News (International)
- TVB Jade (International)
- TVB Korea Channel
- TVB News Channel (International)
- TVB Finance, Sports & Information Channel (International)
- TVB Vietnam
- TVB Xing He (Asia & Thailand)
- TVB-Europe
- TVB Jade Southeast Asia (Malaysia & Singapore)
- Hub VV Drama (Singapore)
Malaysia Channels
These channels are co-owned with Astro:
- Astro AOD HD
- Astro Wah Lai Toi On Demand
- TVB Classic Malaysia
- TVB Jade Southeast Asia
- TVB Xing He
- TVBS-Asia
- TVB Magic
Thailand Channels
- TVB Drama Thai Channel (V2H8)
Cambodia Channels
- TVB Cambodia Drama
- TVB Cambodia - Romance & Comedy
See also
- List of Chinese companies
- List of Hong Kong companies
- TVB News
- HKTV
