Well, well, well. Looks like we can add TVB and RTHK to the list of our generation’s messiest breakups (after Britain and the EU, of course). The former, Hong Kong’s biggest commercial broadcaster, has threatened to stop airing all programs produced by the government-owned RTHK after its controversial rescheduling of RTHK’s political satire show last week led to accusations of self-censorship.
TVB said in a totally chill and not at all impulsive statement this afternoon that RTHK, which has operated its own digital television channel since 2014, should stop “occupying commercial TV operators’ valuable prime time”. The commercial broadcaster said its airing of RTHK programs was “a relic of history” and “outdated arrangement” which “should be terminated as soon as possible”.
(Wow guys, can we take a class from TVB on how not to sound bitter and defensive?)
The news comes after RTHK announced that it filed an official complaint against TVB with the city’s communications watchdog over a scheduling controversy during president Xi’s highly publicized state visit last week. On Friday, TVB pulled the popular RTHK-produced political parody show Headliner from its prime 6pm slot on Jade, its flagship channel, just minutes before air time. The show, which has been repeatedly criticized by mainland Chinese officials, was later broadcast at 12:30am on the less popular J5 channel.
Instead of watching Headliner’s latest episode, which referenced jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and poked fun at Chinese President Xi Jinping, Jade’s Friday night viewers were shown a 15-minute recorded speech from president Xi (which other outlets had already shown 30 minutes beforehand) and a rerun of a feng shui program. Unsurprisingly, Headliner fans have speculated that TVB’s move was an act of self-censorship.
RTHK’s communications chief Amen Ng called TVB “not very professional” and said both viewers and RTHK should have been given adequate notice of the change. In addition, Ng noted that even if Headliner was bumped in favor of a breaking news story, it still should have aired directly after the news segment (you know, instead of a non essential, non time-sensitive show about rearranging your furniture).
In response, TVB snarked, “If Ms. Ng thinks that the speech given by the country’s leader to all of Hong Kong is not news, or is less important than Headliner, she is isn’t looking at the facts. It is also not something that a professional journalist or broadcaster should say.”
(Okay, but what about the point she raised about the feng shui program? We want answers, dammit.)
According to Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau, as of today, the Communications Authority has received 133 complaints from the public over the controversy. Yau said the Authority would investigate the matter accordingly.
