Asia Television Limited (Chinese: 亞洲電視有限公司, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television (Chinese: 麗的電視/麗的呼聲) on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial television on 30 November 1973 and was renamed Asia Television on 24 September 1982. ATV operated two main over-the-air channels: the Cantonese-language ATV Home and the English-language ATV World.
Despite its relatively small market share, ATV received numerous awards for its programmes. One of its successes was the local version of the British game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001, which allowed ATV to enjoy a short-term upturn in its viewing figures. After 2000, ATV faced a gradual decline in production quality and viewership, as well as financial difficulties—a process hastened under the leadership of Wang Zheng. ATV's credibility was severely damaged in 2011 after its news department had falsely reported that Jiang Zemin had died.[3]
On 1 April 2015, Hong Kong's Executive Council announced that ATV's broadcast license would not be renewed. ATV's channels ceased over-the-air transmission on 1 April 2016.[4] ATV announced that it planned to continue its business as a digital and satellite broadcaster.[5] Plans for the company's subscription-based internet content streaming operations were announced in December 2017.[1]
Rediffusion Television (RTV), the predecessor to ATV, began as a wired radio broadcasting service in 1949.[6] The original office was located on Arsenal Street and Hennessy Road. It launched its subscription-based TV service on 29 May 1957. In 1959, Rediffusion was moved to the offices that were occupied by Fortis Bank Tower.
In 1962, Typhoon Wanda passed over Hong Kong, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Following the passage of Wanda, Rediffusion broadcast the first-ever fund-raising special. The first televised artiste course broadcast was in 1966 under the title, "Ying Li's voice."
In October 1968, new shows were broadcast on Rediffusion, including variety, sports, and other leisure of interest that attracted more viewers. The most notable show at that time was "Master Q". It also led the trend in acquiring Japanese anime shows, including Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy in 1966.[7]