Eric Tsang Disappointed by the Departure of TVB Staff
Tasked with turning around TVB station’s content, Eric Tsang (曾志偉) has rolled out an impressive number of new variety shows in the 10 months since his return. Although quickly promoted to General Manager, Eric is disappointed by the departure of significant staff in managerial and production ranks.
Since TVB was once a broadcasting powerhouse, Eric’s goal is to produce great programming content to meet current audience’s tastes. He used the Orient Express as a metaphor for TVB, “This express train is from a previous era, but it still runs in Europe. Although the appearance didn’t change, everything inside has modernized like TVB. Our company has 55 years of history. How many television stations in the world have over 3,000 employees? This is why we need to conserve this business, while making changes to meet the needs of our era.”
While clear on his goals for the company, Eric faced numerous challenges with the management shakeup. With TVB facing financial losses for the third year, CEO Mark Lee (李寶安), as well as management executives Sandy Yu (余詠珊) and Herman Ho (杜之克) were pressured to leave.
“At first, I thought I would be entering the battlefield with a lot of people, but with the changes, we did not have enough manpower,” Eric admitted. Previously, there would be seven teams at meetings, but now there are only three. Accepting the limitations, he said, “I hope to find new talent who share my vision. I’m still optimistic [about the situation].”
Increasingly, Eric has turned to Wong Cho Lam (王祖藍) as his right hand man for new content generation. They both want to change the style of variety shows at TVB without any limitations to their creativity. “I really want to use new methods and styles of our time to help TVB progress. That is my biggest task.”
The Early Struggles of Working on “Super Trio”
Formerly a variety show veteran who hosted the popular Super Trio <獎門人> franchise, Eric understands that “as a host, I have to be entertaining,” but also realizes that the program should also make positive impact on society.
Reflecting on a past hosting gig, Eric said, “TVB had asked me to host a Sunday show that would attract a lot of viewers and make people happy. The show would give away prizes, and make people laugh. After the first episode, I could already hear children singing our theme song. However, in the song, there is a line that says millions of dollars should be treated as spare change. From that moment, I realized that wasn’t the message I wanted to teach children.”
Wanting parents to feel comfortable watching the show with their children, Eric changed the lyrics to “I love you and you love me,” hoping to promote happiness and the importance of family.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.
