Beleaguered Hong Kong broadcaster ATV may shut down early if licence is suspended
Communications Authority starts process, citing station’s failure to transmit newscasts, pay fees and penalties and ensure residence requirements for board members
Beleaguered Asia Television could stop broadcasting sooner than expected as the media watchdog has decided to embark on steps to suspend its licence for 30 days.
Under a notice served on it on Monday by the Communications Authority, the TV station has 28 days to explain itself to the authority for a series of serious regulatory breaches.
If it fails to do so by then, the death knell would be rung sooner – at least 10 days before its April 1 deadline for closure.
READ MORE: No staff, no news at dying Hong Kong broadcaster ATV
The Communications Authority said on Monday night that it decided to “resort to the most severe sanction it may impose under the Broadcasting Ordinance” after ATV failed to produce news programmes, pay fees and penalties and comply with the residence requirement of the board of directors.
An authority spokesman said ATV’s situation had placed the Communications Authority in a dilemma, but action had to be taken. Otherwise it “would send a wrong message to the broadcasting sector that a beleaguered and cash-strapped licensee would be given a carte blanche to contravene the Broadcasting Ordinance and licence conditions ... with little consequence. This is totally unacceptable from a regulatory perspective.”
After a special meeting on Monday, the authority said even though the official decision had been made not to renew ATV’s licence after it expires on April 1, the station was still required to meet the licensing terms until then.
ATV had committed the most serious offences under the Broadcasting Ordinance, it said.
It had failed to produce the required newscasts on its Home channel from February 6 to 19 and World channel from February 6 onwards, which was “a contravention of a serious nature and a violation of ATV’s fundamental obligation as a free TV licensee”. The authority also accused ATV of not doing its best to stop this from happening.
The authority also accused the ATV board of not meeting residence requirements. The law requires a free TV licensee to be controlled by local residents, but currently only three people are sitting on the board. Two of them – new investor Si Rongbin and Tsai Shao-chung, who represents Taiwanese snack tycoon Tsai Eng-meng – did not have a Hong Kong identity card. Only Rebecca Huang Bao-huei, who also represents Tsai, has one.
READ MORE: Decision not to renew ATV licence wins government rare praise
While Si is the major shareholder pending the authority’s approval, Tsai controls shares of a company that owns the rest of ATV’s stake.
ATV had failed to pay licence fees and financial penalties repeatedly, said the authority. “This is already the fourth breach by ATV of the same provisions on payment of licence fees in a space of four years, and its third breach of the provision on payment of financial penalty in a space of three months,” he authority said.
Under the notice served yesterday, ATV has 28 days to explain itself to the authority or be suspended, by which time it would be a matter of just 10 days before its April 1 deadline for closure.
“Upon receipt of ATV’s representations and following due process under the ordinance, the authority will make a final decision on the matter,” the authority spokesman said.
ATV said in a statement that it regretted the authority’s decision and would seek legal advice. It said its new investor, China Media International Holdings, had been “resolving the historical issues” of the station and claimed it was confident about its future.
ATV said it paid employees their December wages on Monday and pledged to pay January salaries as soon as possible.
