First Look at HKTV’s “The Election”
Ricky Wong’s (王維基) HKTV launched its online and mobile service on November 19, coinciding with the 48th TVB Anniversary Gala.
The station held its opening ceremony at the JW Marriott Hotel in Admiralty, where it was attended by over 100 advertisers and 60 artistes, including artistes who have ended their contracts with HKTV. Felix Wong (黃日華), Liu Kai Chi (廖啟智), Frankie Lam (林文龍), Dominic Lam (林嘉華), Sunny Chan (陳錦鴻), Ha Yu (夏雨), and Bondy Chiu (趙學而), among others, came to support HKTV.
The broadcast of the channel’s first two dramas The Election <選戰> and The Borderline <警界線>, both starring Liu Kai Chi, will be going head to head with TVB’s Come On, Cousin <老表，你好hea！> and Overachievers <名門暗戰>. The next show to broadcast will be survival reality show The Challenge <挑戰>, which features celebrities performing dangerous challenges like storm chasing.
First Episode of “The Election”
The media was treated to the screening of the first episode of The Election, a political mystery drama starring Liu Kai Chi and Angelica Lee (李心潔). The drama has a movie-like atmosphere and many scenes were shot in real sets rather than in studios. The pacing of the first episode was as gripping as American dramas.
Wai Man Hin (Poon Chan Leung 潘燦良), the husband of Yip Ching (Angelica Lee) passed away in a car accident on the night before he was to be elected as the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive. The other candidate Luk Wai To (Savio Tsang 曾偉權) was discovered to have had an illicit affair, and he and his wife had to hold a press conference to apologize to the public.
Sung Man Shan (Liu Kai Chi), president of the Legislative Council, originally wanted to dispose Luk Wai To from power, but he was later ordered by Mainland Chinese officials to gather all his sources to support Luk as Chief Executive.
On the other hand, Wai Man Hin’s assistant is willing to go through all means, including forgery, to push Wai’s wife, Yip Ching, to become the next Chief Executive. Remaining faithful to her husband’s mission of freedom and democracy, Yip Ching wants to compete in the elections fairly, but she finds herself tangled in a web where she is unsure who to trust.
Source: Ming Pao
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
some real competition! good
HKTV needs better equipment to stream dramas and shows without the site crashing intermediately.
I agree. It’s going to improve soon or later.
doubt that’s going to improve, as it already sucks
The first thing I check is staring at the window, and see if they are filming in real location. So far they are true to their words. My next thoughts are the lights. I see there’s no sunlight in the show. It’s more natural. It also mean no fake lights, and proves this is real location. The cameras angle are much more different. I like how they actually follow the cast with camera instead of changing to a different angle.
Oh yeah, there’s a lot more creative shots and cuts in this, unlike TVB, they just cut back and forth!!! This first episode was pretty good!
The first episode was so good. Twists all around and solid acting ensemble. Hope this will be the quality for the next 14 episodes or even better! Can’t wait.
the app for HKTV is a piece of junk, waste of time and download … can’t watch and it’s region blocked for overseas what a big failure how they want to compete with TVB if nothing is working properly. Oh well I’ll just wait for the BT site.
it’s region blocked because they are trying to sell their series overseas. they also specified that access to content through the app/website was restricted to HK viewers. i definitely agree that they didn’t get their servers in order though. they maxed out their servers last night and 300k viewers had to rely on a ustream feed hosted by one of their viewers.
Gotta realise that there are overseas people trying to watch with VPN etc as well, so there’s non HK citizens taking up their servers as well.
LOL it sucks because u cant use it hahaha story of my life
hktv definitely cannot compete with TVB
Why not give them a chance. The little that we have seen so far is amazing, great programming and better opportunities for other artists. Competition removes the monopoly TVB over the industry and gives other aspiring artists a chance to show their true talent. This station fought for 52 months, why not just wait and see what they have to offer.
The media did an interview with Ricky. He said he’s not trying to compete. Its a different business.
Moon is a troll. She’s been posting hate comments since the beginning.
The media did an interview with Ricky. He said he’s not trying to compete. Its a different business.
If he’s not trying to compete, he wouldn’t have held his station opening ceremony in the same day as TVB Anniversary Gala.
I wish every success to HKTV. He has have it tough, having so many obstacles and hurdles to cross. But, he need to get off TVB’s back. Stop trying to fight TVB. Both station can co-exist in HK.
@kidd, He did tell why he choose the 19th. Here is the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYYBZs_qHko
i actually don’t like the show b/c it is not the type of story i enjoy. however, i do think there are people who will enjoy it. the show is so movie like, and very american drama like. it’s such a nice relieve to get away from the regular tvb theme movies. i am watching police boundaries now. it’s very good.
It is strange that you say you do not actually don’t like the show and ” i am watching police boundaries now. it’s very good.”
*You actually don’t like the show
reread that comment by m0m0. m0m0 is talking about two different shows here. m0m0 doesn’t like election, but likes borderline (or police boundaries).
I liked it. Liu Kai Chi’s character seems to be a copy of Kevin Spacey’s character (Frank Underwood) in House of Cards though, right down to the character motivations, his wife and the reporter he ends up having an affair with.
there is no such things as creativity, everything is plagiarized. no difference & it really is boring to watch.
I watched the first ep for like 20 mins and it was so boring! Idk if it is because I got used to TVB style or something, but like this drama didn’t caught my attention. I was watching it during dinner and I was like literally about to knock out watching it. & plus idk almost like HALF OF THE ACTRESSES & ACTORS SO it is like “who am I watching it for?” I’ll prob give it another try or something but as for now I don’t really like their drama, I’ll prob just stick to TVB.
Don’t know, I’m trying to watch it for the story.
Here, ladies and gentlemen, you see the average JayneStars TVB consumer: Airheaded teenagers and housewives who have no interest in actual quality and just want to see random assortments of pretty-yet-talentless puppets reenacting the same old ****** TVB plot for the 100th time.
Everyone is different. Maybe Borderline will catch your attention
For me, Liu Kai Chi (2 times HKFA winner for best supporting actor) and Angelica (HKFA best actress for The Eye) are more than enough for acting powerhouse. And also, those fresh faces are good too!
agree with @Lori.
the hktv dramas are really, really boring & that there are no reasons to watch more of it. give it a 2 thumbs down
I don’t think you should generalize all HKTV dramas by only watching one of their dramas.
It’s so ignorant to cut off an ENTIRE channel just because that ONE episode of ONE drama is bad. If that were the case, TVB would have 0 viewers by now.
They are following the model/styles of the American tv series, and it’s not half as good or probably worst imitation of it. Just give up hktv
I saw Borderline on Astro, and I am hooked.
Now, I have abandoned that uncomedic comedy ‘Come on cousin’ and shove ‘Overachiever’s to 2nd spot, not my first priority drama anymore.
Well done, HKTV. No streaming problem for me, hehehe
one of them is gregory wong. he’s been in atv and tvb dramas and alot movies. i do agree i don’t know some of the actors but you can watch for story.
Correct me if I was mistaken but I thought Wai Man Hin (Poon Chan Leung 潘燦良), the husband of Yip Ching (Angelica Lee) passed away under suspicious circumstances inside the vehicle in a car-park instead of “in a car accident on the night before he was to be elected as the 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive” as stated in the article.
He clearly dies in a car accident before meeting up with Yip Ching in the first episode. Savio Tsang’s character was found unconscious in a car park after having extramarital relations with an intern in his car.
I like the drama a lot. a lot of people watch shows only because of the stars not because of the content. they are the hehehaha spoonfed type. a show about politics is rare in Hong Kong’s current environment. I applaud the courage of the station to bring it out.
download it this morning, so will give it a go tonight!
You can;t argue about the quality of actors in Election. However Overachievers right now is getting mighty interesting. I am just afraid Election may be too complicated to follow.
agree! Overachievers is getting more & more interesting, much better than election (so boring to watch)
Election has the feel of a US drama. It appeals to a different set of audience from the regular TVB dramas. That said, Overachievers is looking promising – mainly due to the acting of a solid cast of Wayne, Power; an improved Edwin, and the two Raymonds.
i loved it…no more fake walls, fake doors when they open and close lol, no fake windows, u actually see real buildings and cars and people go by…music is great too, tvb plays the same background music and sounds every show…storytelling very good too, hope they keep it up
hktv is for 21st century people…tvb u dont even think when ur watching, i hate it
hktv won’t last long, their dramas are extremely boring with no attention grabber
hktv hate it
King, you don’t watch it with attention and you end up whining and complaining here.
Thumbs up for HKTV, so far very good. Beats TVB hands down,
I agree, HKTV is for 21st century people, those who doesn’t like it belongs to old school, trapped in the 90s. yeah!
^_^ I think King is trying to add as many comments as possible about how bad HKTV is to create the popular feeling. To bad, his comments are still counted as one
tvb is like 20 years behind…only american soap operas which are stupid, and just sitcoms are filmed in studios, its just so fake to look at…all olden day shows have the exact same sets, its embarrassing
and tvb covers the same old topics and storylines, its really getting old and repetitive
I see your point. However, we can’t deny the fact that TVB was great and popular back in the 80s and 90s. They had produced many great shows which are very rare and hard to find DVDs in original Cantonese version today. Speaking of studios, back then technology wasn’t as good as it is today, but I loved it because it gave viewers the feeling that scene was real. Now technology has grown so rapidly, the scenes look so fake even the mainland Chinese series. I was a fan of TVB but not anymore. Like I said, I miss TVB’s golden era back then in 80s and 90s.
ya most of us were probably younger back then to so we didnt care too much about the sets and quality, though the stories were better back then…but man its 2014 now lol, technology is crazy now, time for some improvements tvb, time for change
To be honest, I was born in the mid-90s and got to know TVB when I saw my sister watching the old 80s TVB series. I started watching it since 7th grade and mostly preferred ancient series. Back then I felt it very real and refreshing although lack of technology. Nowadays, whenever I start watching dramas, I never find the feeling that I had back then. I completely agree that improvement is good but somehow, people tend to take advantage of technology. That’s why I haven’t been watching TVB for years. Even if I do, I would rather rewatch the old series, especially of 80s & 90s.
TVB is like ur good ol’ (conservative) dad….& an obedient son to ur grandpa…..LOL!
Hence, TVB has to exercise self-censorship & will keep on recycling the same old stuff, again & again…knowing well, veering off course (like venturing into topics like politics, universal suffrage) will likely incur the wrath of ur grandpa …so will you sympathise ur good ol’ dad now?
I hate it when TVB shows a house with a certain theme, and then lo and behold, in another scene at a hospital, it also has the same look alike theme.
Talk about recycling props, and the creative designer just do not know how to change to new and fresh design sets.
Watched the first episode before I went to work this morning. Not normally not a massive fan of politics but man it was juicy! Love the story, the shots, locations, the acting. I recognise some of the actors and actresses, but that’s not the main point. Love the twist and the story is very timely! Can’t wait for the next episode!
I know right. The story might be gimmicky (given the current situation), but boy it is done well.
Are we watching the same thing, but election is so freaking boring, which I feel that old Chinese films
粤语长片 are much better to watch than this
I’m watching The Election right now and must admit that it’s really good. I’m not a fan of political dramas at all and I’m still not — but this one is well-made and the acting is top notch (love the real location filming, as it definitely makes the viewing experience more enjoyable). Too bad the second episode won’t be available until Saturday (and after that, we have to wait to watch 1 episode a week…darn…I guess I’ll have to busy myself with Borderline in the meantime, which by the way, is also very good so far).
Here’s the link to HKTV’s opening ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju2JgUF1mDA
Also, for those who would like more details on the 17 HKTV series already filmed, series threads have been created on AF with the cast lists, summaries, and trailers: http://afspot.net/forum/forum/572-hktv-series-and-programs/
Thank you for sharing the link!!!! Some of HKTV series look interesting.
Such subjects will NEVER get pick up by TVB anytime sooner cause they usually distance themselves away from politics.
Yup…TVB distances themselves from politics because it’s one of the “taboo” topics that the scriptwriters know they are supposed to avoid as mandated by the execs (I suggest reading former TVB script supervisor Alex Pau`s book — it’s essentially a “TVB scriptwriting bible” and reveals quite a bit about the “unwritten expectations” that scriptwriters are expected to follow…). Religion is another taboo topic and certain topics related to the Media are as well…
this sucks
Thanks for the links.
Great info, and that opening ceremony showed a bunch of clips of shows I have not heard about yet.
Really hoping some sub team picks up these series since I havent heard about HKTV officially subbing them yet.
That’s still one way TVB trumps them ATM. They are willing to sub their shows whether its a big production or not.
I watched d Borderline from Astro Channel 307..is The Election also available on Astro? If yes, which channel?
The first episode of The Election was great! The location is real and superb! No fake studio of TVB! The series looks like a movie! TVB series often has this bright cheap lighting effect but HKTV gives a HD fuzzy movie effectThe acting is top notch with the main cast are movie stars after all! Compare with TVB, HKTV hit the jackpot!
HKTV may run into debts unless they can get enough advertisers to jump onto their bandwagon. Real location filming can be very costly due to temporary rental.
hktv is crap
Astro chose Borderline for airing instead of The Election….which was obviously the HK viewers’ choice.
Malaysians are watching Borderline while HKongers are watching The Election (or both?) on the net.
The series Election pretty much explains why HKTV never got its licence. A propaganda series made 2 years ago to coincide with the issues relating to universal suffrage and election for the new chief executive of Hong Kong.
Whilst everyone here cheer about a new station with new innovations and new competition in HK. You seem to overlook the political significance behind it and why it is not good for everyone.
We are all sick of TVB shooting their series in studios but mainly due to lack of plot and not producing enough new stars in recent years. However, to claim that Election episode 1 is so much better than what TVB produce is ridiculous.
There are comments on here and elsewhere claiming TVB will be dead due to competition from HKTV. It’s not free to air TV. So HKTV are not in the same competitive market as TVB. It cannot win advertising revenue on prime time TV.
In addition, productive cost wise, you have your real settings but the cost will be substantially higher than TVB. Not accounting for the already higher salaries HKTV stars enjoy.
Traditional TV real time watching are dying nowadays where almost everyone watch entertainments on smartphones and tablets and pcs at their own sweet time. HKTV is taking the Netflix business model and we see how successful Netflix is.
hktv cannot compete with netflix, hktv sucks more
That’s what they are all saying and it’s true in some respect. However, almost every household still owns a TV and the preferred choices in HK remains to be TVB. Amongst the younger generation there is a higher demand for more diversity, but with the other and major demographics still stay true to traditional TV.
It is easier to access with a press of a remote button.
Whilst our younger generation may prefer other media, China and oversea market still desire watching TVB. You cannot deny that.
I am highlighting why TVB will still remain highly competitive even if they continue to shoot average series. They will still emerge the winner, unless HKTV gets a foot into Traditional prime time TV.
All your points are perfectly valid except for one. The Election was filmed this year. So when the license was not granted, I assume this series was not part of it yet.
And while Tvb has and will continue to produce some good series, isn’t some competition good?
Thanks for correcting me and surprised they managed to start filming in July and finish in October.
Competition is good, but they seem to be very politically motivated. Ricky Wong said it himself that he wants to challenge the authority. I need the exact quote but it was definitely said he was anti-government and anti-China.
I don’t believe people should be manipulated by others’ agenda via the use of media whilst pretending to be the agency of good.
Thanks Joshua, for clarifying. I thought I read that the series was filmed this year, amidst all the news of the protests and Angelica’s family issues.
@GingerMessiah: Yes, the series is probably politically motivated. On your point about manipulation of people through the use of media: it happens all the time, in HK, in SEA, in the US. Some are more subtle than others. As a counterpoint, TVB is also political in the sense of the subjects they would not touch. I don’t know whether Ricky Wong claimed to be the “agency of good,” (don’t know the guy, not defending him) but he does have the resources to produce content that reflects his own political leanings. That’s his prerogative as a businessman and media owner.
Personally, I am glad to see such content. It reminds me of the ‘original’ series on Netflix and HBO that are pushing the boundaries of TV serials (e.g.: setting, filming and editing, character development, plot development and novel adaptations, etc). I think HKTV is using a blended business model, part Netflix, part HBO (like HBO on the Go), and part traditional TV. Don’t know how this will all play out in future but I am glad to have options.
It’s not free to air TV, but they’ve already made eight figures in ad sales for their first quarter according to Ming Pao. I think they’ll be fine in terms of advertising revenue. They are not in the TV business. They are in the content business. It is completely conceivable that they will be sustainable by producing content for the internet. Vice Media produces gonzo documentaries on YouTube and writes left wing slanted articles to two million unique visitors a month and has a public valuation of $2.5 billion. They were valued at $1.4 billion before their HBO docuseries aired and before the sale of a stake to Rupert Murdoch. This is all because of their huge value in terms of advertising (banner ads, ads in their videos and their value as a content distributor).
They also have licensing deals in Southeast Asia, China and parts of Oceania.
Also, their deal with Tencent in China pretty much ensures they will be fine with the big wigs up north. No business deals get done with the approval of the central government. As long as they don’t air controversial content on Tencent, they will be okay.
I’m surprised they are already receiving eight figure sums in revenue. That is good for them if the business model works. But I thought they were making a loss before and they have just started operation (going live)? Well time will tell.
This series is considered very controversial so I am not sure how Tencent can accept it.
They were operating at a loss because they were spending money and they didn’t receive any revenue for 2013 once Ricky sold CTI.
It’s probably not going to air on Tencent. All dramas they produce with political commentary and gore will probably be exclusive to HK viewers.
Also, they reapplied for their TV license and Gregory So (HK’s Secretary of Commerce) was at their opening ceremony. He encouraged them to produce more dramas. Looks like the Mainland is fine with them possibly existing in the free TV market landscape as long as they can make money (which they are doing already).
Im sorry, but why is this film not good for everyone? Is it just because it is about politics and we’re not supposed to watch such sensitive drama? If thts so, you should go and live in a shell because the world doesnt need closed minded people like you.
This series is not merely about politics. It was shot this year between July to October thanks to Joshua for pointing it out. Which happens to coincide with the current Occupy Central.
I don’t consider it is good for everyone because it sways public opinions and is a propaganda machine to rally more sympathy for the protesters.
Closed minded people are those who refused to see the issues at hands. People who refuses to compromise and show acceptance are the actual closed minded people themselves. I wouldn’t tell you to go live in a shell just because you have different opinion to mine.
Democracy is just another form of fascism in this day and age. Just because people don’t agree with you and support the authority, you people just tell them to die and dis-value their views.
So called hktv dramas sucks so bad. It’s boring & more BORING. This won’t last long
nah – it has only 15 eps so it will not last long for sure
hktv replacing tvb is like having bing search engine replace google as the default search engine. Not & NEVER going to happen
the beginning is always difficult,dont underestimate hktv,if hktv can survive 2 or 3 years they will become a serious threat for tvb.
Hktv is not a threat to tvb. Well don’t underestimate tvb
@Moon, no one underestimates TVB. HKTV understands it well, at the end of the day, Ricky Wong is still a very successful businessman. Although it does not guarantee that he will succeed 100% on everything he does, he has vision and a willingness to take risk.
Competition is always a threat, small or big. Read all comments from this article and you will see HKTV has already done some damages to TVB.
@lkv
What damages to tvb??? I don’t see it. I see that people aren’t watching hktv dramas because it’s boring
@The demanding from viewers for better quality dramas. Do you think TVB will keep the same statics without any strategy in the future? If TVB does change its strategy, then you have the answer. It will definitely be clearer once there are more shows released from HKTV
Those who think the election is boring, is mostly because you are not into politics and that is just personal preference. But you cant deny that the whole production of the drama is excellent and with high quality. It’s obvious they would spend more on production and giving us their best, than TVB where it’s si si dan dan. Tbh, im really glad that we have HKTV now because they just set the bar so much higher. The storyline is not that straight forward which gives us space to envision or think about as to what will happen next. I find this lacking in TVB for quite a while already as everything seems so predictable.
Its boring because the problem of the actors/actress. Their acting really cannot compare with popular actors from TVB. Thats it.You dont think can simply asked some tom & harry to film a drama with a good scripts and it will work
@raymond
You have no idea what you’re saying.
Why is HKTV not using YouTube? Why waste their own server resources.
is that mean i can’t watch since I live in the US?
Sadly, I can’t read Chinese because I’m Vietnamese. I was hoping for English version of the website. Maybe I’m not seeing that setting on the website. But YouTube would be so much better.
Lol, this election, just look at what kind of actors/actresses did they got lar. OMG, i watched till 20-25mins i forgotten then already bored to death. This kind of quality , slowly wait lar to surpass TVB. haha
Btw i havent watch borderline yet..
Yea some people have no interest in these type of dramas. Definitely check borderline.
Its not related to what type of dramas. Its about the quality of the drama and also what kind of quality or likable actor/actress they had in the drama. Look at the actor/actresses can make someone bored to death.
Raymond is just arrogant and big tvb fan
Its not arrogant. I am just telling facts. And no where ur internet business can go. lol
What is this hktv show? No big stars, only ke le fe.
TVB may have recycled and unrealistic plots, fake sets, bad CGI, fake lighting, and so-so acting, but at least they have pretty lead actors and actresses to look at for 45 min.
Think outside the box.From what they said, everyone is fair and equal in hktv. For election, the female lead actress is a movie star… We all know about lai kai chu. Just these two is enough or else the story is going to drag.
Lol half of TVB’s ke le fe are better actors than the main ones they promote.
They have age discrimination at TVB and all the good actors get pushed into extra roles, that does not make them worse than the promoted younger actors.
It just shows how stupid TVB is when using talent. They value looks over talent.
Sorry, I dont feel ka le feh from TVB can do wonder. ahhahaha..The Elction like rubbish to be honest and i am no biased. Borderline has yet to watch..
:)Not sure why they are some people who hate the ideas of having more choices. If you do not like something than you can switch to another.
I am HK/Chinese but I grew up with HK movies/shows as my city did not have many choice. We had 1 national channel and 1 for local but both were broadcast for limited hours.
i know, shouldn’t be afraid of competition… if there’s quality then why worry?
everyone should be happy with hktv, even die hard tvb fans who refuse to believe that tvb is doing really really bad right now which they are cus ratings are just horrible…u should be happy cus competition makes u improve…u should like hktv not becus u support it but becus it might make tvb finally try harder to make better shows for u, rite? i havent watched a tvb show in years so many years, american shows and even china korean stuff are all better in quality than tvb now, its sad, i want tvb to improve
i agree here…more better shows for all of us
Agree. In addition, the company should treat their employees better or they would leave to other stations.
i watched the starting for both new hktv shows and they both really good, very good…some people have really bad taste
sorry but they are boring
dont worry, once more actors and actresses see the quality of hktv shows…they would want to film with them too…u think actors and actresses like filming in fake rooms and fake everythings all the time?
TVB should just do what most of the world does and sign artist per series. This way dramas would feel fresh because different people.
TVB is too stingy.
where can i watch?
Nori – I too, rather watch in the 80’s. The problem with TVB now days is not about the technology. I stopped watching TVB dramas for years because the scripts are so naughty and redundant. Most of the time I already knew what will happen after watching a couple of eps.
Doesnt matter even you dont watch, because still there are millions of people wanted to watch. You opinion is not significant. hehe
More and more people move away from TVB, that why the rating is so horrible. Of course, the reasons are not only about the quality but also new generation trend.
Come back to HKTV, the rating of TVB shows will come out soon. We can see how HKTV’s shows really impacts the rating after a few weeks.
*impact
Ikv – i live in the US, is there away I can stream hktv shows?
Dont always just comment on significant point without any evidence. How much is the percentage of leaving from watching tvb? and how much percentage of people enjoying HKTV? Provide the evidence if you can rather own assumption
Raymond: the evidence is already out. Go look at the ratings from the old tvb dramas and compare to the new ones.
I grew up watching tvb and i’m just very dissappointed with them now.
Same goes to you! doesn’t matter even if you don’t like hktv, because still there are millions of people wanted to watch. Your opinion is not significant. hehe~
wekekeke…if you really think more viewers to watch The election than the TVB drama, then you like lar. wahaha.
Sorry to say although their acting might be more superior than the current youngster, but its more boring. The modern drama more nice. I duno how you judge eh. How old are you? 50 ah? hahaha
and the rating how much the sample size ? Nowadays people can buy pirate CD and its we wont know the figure. We can even watch from ONLINE for free. So there is no way you can get the actual percentage and its will never be accurate.
^_^ The Raymond guy just tries to convince that HKTV does not and will not chance anything in Hong Kong TV industry but look at home hard he tries, we can see that he cares so much.
*How hard he tries
is Line Walker the only drama tvb can showtime? What else can they offer? One drama out of how many dramas? That’s ashame.
IKV – I know that Raymond guy is trying too hard to promote TVB. Big tvb fan.
@azn I was just mentioned the best viewership ever of Line Walker. So i will give you 1 decade for ur HKTV online business to prove it to the world what kind of achievement that they can get. LOL
Raymond: you don’t know what you are talking. Out of topics!
In mainland China, Line Walker broke TVB’s viewership records online, reaching 1.4 billion views in total.
Pray hard that your HKTV drama can achieve any success. DUH
is Line Walker the only drama tvb can showtime? What else can they offer? One drama out of how many dramas? That’s ashame.
So? Your HKTV is still a loser while TVB is so successful and big tv station. wahaha..Sad for ur ricky cant even get a license. DUH
There is only winner or loser in this world. There is aint in between. Hi Mr.Loser
Raymond: lol i think you are not educated just based on your comments. I can see why you like tvb because they make alot of non sense dramas and that matches your personality.
HKTV has no license is because the gov wants to support tvb with benefits. This is not about winning and looseing. Do you not understand english?
line walker must be the only one. Good job or should i say bad job.
wow, didn’t know being 50 was funny raymond, one day you will be 50 too ! I wonder if someone will be laughing at you then….
@azn So if you think you are more clever than all those HKTV people including Ricky? Oh so you already can foresee the government will not grant the license because of the benefit which based solely on your speculation without any evidence.
And yet you still wanted to fight with TVB grabbing their workers and so. At the end cannot get the license. This is sore loser lar just like you.
I watched them both, quite impressed by them. Election is a bit slower on the start but I feel the cogs turning and setting itself up. Since my parents follow HK politics, it was interesting to know the scandal mirrored LCY’s rival. This feels like it’ll be quite a hit with locals who are more intimate with the situation and is a nice step in the right direction towards choice in what is broadcasted.
The Borderline has me hooked, its been a while since I’ve really looked forward to a next episode. I like how their episodes don’t need to be dragged out to fill some kind of quota, each episode is nicely packed and tight leading to the next point while the dots connect.
I recognize a lot of the people and if you’ve only exposed yourself to TVB you should give them a chance. Joey Mung, Alice Chan, Kristal Tin were all former ATV and they’re actresses who can really act as well as a lot of the ones HKTV currently has.
Some other actors/actresses include Crystal Leung (Salad) who looks awesome, I really dig her look in the show. I had to look her up to find out who she was. Gregory Wong had that “Roy Cheung from Y&D” air about him like something bad ass was going to happen simply from his presence in the scene.
They’ve got a lot more star power then people seem to realize, my parents recognize almost everyone and I know their lead/support really well too. HK locals definitely won’t have trouble with them. Definitely was a nice first step HKTV took, we’ll see if they can keep it up but I was impressed.
whatever lar. You like then you just continue watch The Election lor. I wont waste my time on bored drama. So enjoying the 2 current tvb drama. Cousin that one laughed till my stomach pain. wehehehe.
TVB forever..
Raymond: your comment is just too funny. you like the two current tvb dramas then you go enjoy them. No one said you can’t.
Best television in HK for a long time.
The best actors from TVB are going to start doing dramas on HKTV. The quality of real acting is so high, plus you don’t need to sign a long term contract. There will be great things ahead for HKTV.
Dream longer lar. If what HKTV can do, TVB can do even more better.Just depends TVB wanted to do anot only. No way HKTV can win over TVB.
the only way TVB win is b/c they are big company and the governement highly support tvb because thats how the governement get taxes money and or other benefits from it. This doesn’t mean they beat HKTV. It’s just like ATV – was good and better.
Of course what. you reap what you sow. You think if you have the money then you can simply ruin into the industry? If you have money then you can open as many casino as you like? if you think you so powerful in producing drama, then do a collaboration with ATV la. TVB already in the industry for almost 5 decades and that is their competitive advantage. You think you got the money then can open as many tv station as you like? Dude you are too delusional and ignorant..
exactly TVB has been around for a long time and that’s the main reason the goverment is watching over them. is not because of their effort or good quality. if tvb goes out of business then that would just make hk economy looks bad and government needs to do something to support them to be able to collect taxes.
Dont act like if you know economy. There is not such thing as tax or whatever tax. TVB revenue is how much? You think the GOV heavily depend on the taxes from TVB alone? hahaha…How old r u? You still so ignorant until duno why the governement not granting license for Stpd ricky..
calm down and don’t cry Raymond. What’s wrong with having another company. Why you think there are different electronic companies like Microsoft and Apple. Why you think there are more name brand clothing companines and different cars? Otherwise the world is boring if it’s just one company out there.
You seem like you don’t understand the concept of reality and is very stubborn. I read alot of your comments and its really hard to understand.
It’s a bad thing that TVB is the only important thing out there for HK. Seriously TVB is nothing in this universal because HK has nothing good to offer. Businesses are depending on tvb for advertisement and that’s how government get taxes through sales from department stores and tvb.
It is so true that governement would be worried if the economy doesn’t do well because it might affect so many people in their country. For instance 9/11 in the US. The stock market crushed so badly and that affected the world not just US.
I think english is the major issue for you as your comments have proved it. You keep writing the same stuff over. That’s already saying you don’t understand.
@lala First of all There are Microsoft and Apple all over the world because the resources to produce electrical item or whatever smartphones are unlimited. As long as you have the money and idea, you can build ur factory in whatever country you like. But cantanose drama industry, the resources they had is very limited. Its just based on the 7million cantanose speaking hong konger. So there is no need 3 tv station.
It proved that your critical thinking analysis is very weak.
you are trying too hard! you are familiar with the economy politics? The government will loses face if TVB is out of business so that’s not gonna happen. TVB is like a second name of hk. It’s all about politics.
How old are you? We all know you are big tvb fan and is totally fine. Little boy acting and that’s what i’m hearing.
wahahaha..u know then good lar ignorant. So if u feel that TVB is second name of HK means thats tvh’s strongest competitive advantage in the industry for almost 5 decades. So no way ur HKTV can success. Thanks for showing out the point. Based on ur comments, no wonder you forever couldnt become a multi-millionaire and just a sore loser like Ricky. You trying very hard to promote HKTV but yet a loser
From the moment u mentioned about taxes, it adi showed how ignorant you could ever be..lol
Yes the were very good back then like i said i grew up watching tvb drama but since 2000’s they became so horrible and that the ratings are so low compare to before. The reason the government watching over tvb b/c is a lable for hk. That’s with anywhere else. This doesn’t mean tvb is that good. The stock market based on how economy do.
WOW are you a multi millionaire according to your below comment?
I think i’m done reading your comments because it jumps around alot and keep going off topics. You need to go school!
hahaha..so what for the rating? TVB is still expanding superbly and earned big money. All the leading actors/actresses all are millionaire. You think like you loser ah? haha
And pls, you are dump enough to compare with the past. The world now is different from before. People can start watching Kdrama or japanese ,taiwanese or whatsoever.
If you ignorant want to compare, then just compare about TVB and HKTV drama rating. But ops..ur HKTV is not even a tv station. Just merely like normal youtube ,filming some video and then posted online without any big revenue. What a sore loser trying to judge on successful TVB. LOL
You made me LOL hard..
That Raymond guy must be 5 years old! He is a big idiot. I read his comments and he slowly copying your wording AZN. HK fob.
You are legendary ignorant. From Taxes, then jumping into the second name of hong kong and then jumping into stock market. You should going back to school instead. You are hilarious. LOLOL
i’ll bet the koreans don’t think their drama industry is based on korean speaking koreans??
@Star – everything or any type of business can have competition. If speaking about television… they have different news channels, different company that makes cartoon movies and different music company.
I mean cantanose drama ah!
I am impatiently waiting for the musical series and the vampire series.
Please be patient people – just wait and we will have the answer of whether HKTV impacts TV industry in HK and how much HKTV influences TVB’s strategy. Right now HTKT just releases a few eps ^_^.
A few people came in this article and commented like they hated HKTV as if HTKV did something really bad. Be open mind and expect the better things coming from both stations.
I hate that ricky because he tot he got the money and then can ruin into the industry trying to grab people from TVB and at the end became a loser.
And pls HKTV is not even a tv station. lol.
There are merely doing an online business and wondered if there is any revenue for it to cover all their expenses. There are not even selling DVD for their dramas as well.
So its not a threat at all for TVB. Since its free food, viewers can enjoy eating it and it wont impact on TVB at all.
Raymond: blah blah blah – lots don’t make sense lol
Raymond… As for grabbing people, that’s how the world works… It’s common sense to go work for company that paid more than your old company. Plus those are all “ke le fe” you wouldnt care right? Oh if TVB treated people better and pay better, I’m pretty sure no matter what Ricky offers them with, they would say no and stick with TVB. Lastly, TVB is going down hill everyone is leaving…
Nope, those ka le fe,is just a small margin only la. Many old veteran still very loyal to TVB. Falling or not, we based on the result or knows as revenue. Is TVB revenue falling?
Raymond baby: some old veterans are still with tvb b/c they cherish tvb from way back. TVB has raised their family/children so is more like giving back. Also, if someone has work for a company for so long, is hard to leave the company even though they are unhappy or have negative thoughts. That’s what loyal means. It has nothing to do with tvb has good dramas.
You sow what you reap. Good drama anot is very subjective.You can say The Election is superb, but others can say The election like rubbish.Thats why we have election in real life. If i having 1101 votes and you have 1100 votes, you are still the loser. Most important is revenue. Is TVB revenue declining?
Being loyal is important because its TVB who raised ur family. So dont become like peanuts forgetting its own skin and join stpd Ricky.
Coolwater and lala: good point but don’t waste your breathe on that Raymond boy.
Obviously having more tv stations is a good thing for us, definitely more options, no need to even argue over that fact. Whether HKTV does well or not, it’s still a good start to break the monopoly. I fully support that. I grew up with TVB and I am sad to see its downfall after 2000s and even worse now that all the experienced actors have moved on. And even when they come back for a random series, they get stuck in crappy roles (Gallen Lo – Cat/Dog Drama) paired up with Myolie? or Dayo with Kate?). It really just isn’t what it used to be, lost its appeal or magic touch that made me super addicted watching from dawn to dust in the past. Now I can’t remember watching the entire series cause it’s getting so boring. zzz… It’s a combo of inexperienced actors/actresses and TVB politics that is making it worse now. S.Korea has three major tv broadstations and they have auditions for directors to see who fits the role for the drama, while I feel like tvb just assigns the role to the actors/actresses who are popular/favoured.
I liked Inbound Troubles so I’m trying to watch the sequel and it started out “ok” but then it got boring and kind of childish in a sense. Two thumbs down. Watched HKTV Borderline and Election and the graphics is pretty good, it has a good storyline but I can’t comment too much since I only watched ep1.
For people who watch Borderline up to episode 3, What are you thoughts? For me, Holy cow… So much twist and Thriller in every episode.
It’s brilliant television. And it’s for smarter viewers.
@CoolWater: If you would like to discuss Borderline specifically, you might want to go to the series threads in other forums specifically dedicated to the series, as you will probably get more “intelligent” discussions rather than having to argue with hard-headed “trolls” in this thread who haven’t even watched HKTV’s series and already claim that they “suck”.
By the way, I’ve watched up to episode 4 of Borderline — definitely great series so far! Won’t go into specifics here though, since I’ll most likely be posting up my thoughts on the series on my blog in a few days…
Sorry…meant to say episode 3 of Borderline.
By the way, just watched episode 2 of The Election — another brilliant episode. Honestly, 1 episode a week isn’t enough…but definitely worth the wait!
Although TVB has a huge history and is a big company, sometime passion and innovation can win, also. Just look at Pixar. Steve Jobs invested $US 10 million, a tiny amount against Disney’s billions, and with passion and innovation became the largest shareholder of Disney.
The problem with TVB now is passion and innovation. They have lost there mojo. They have lost their passion to be the best. Just like Microsoft losing major business to a once struggling Apple. Passion and innovation help them raise to become the biggest computer company in the world.
I’m looking forward to see what HKTV will do in the future!
Just finished the second episode of The Election. Some of the acting is fantastic, made me stop and take notice. Again, it’s for a smarter audience. For those that like brain slowing dramas, the vampire or musical series may be more of your taste.
Hmm..maybe because HK audience only have TVB as an option to watch cantonese speaking dramas that’s why they’re comparing it to HKTV. Honestly I think a majority of those who don’t understand this drama is either because they don’t understand or follow politics(I know I don’t) and they’re not use to the complex script and plot and TVB is rather more simple.
In my own personal opinion, I can tell HKTV takes their productions very seriously with scripts, filming, artistes…etc. They’re much more professional while TVB’s recent script is rather lazy. Not saying I prefer one over the other but if you like TVB that’s fine and you’re more use to the simple vocabulary that is use in the drama then stick with it. But for those that want something more fresh then stick with HKTV or both. Why make this a war? You can watch both and still enjoy both company’s productions.
Woah, just finished watching episode 1 of Borderline. Quality equally as good as The Election. Again, Liu Kai Chi is fantastic in the role.
So so many ignorant viewers here (on the verge of being stupid).
Just because one freaking episode of ONE freaking drama doesn’t mean that you should hate on the ENTIRE station as a whole.
Are you okay? Do you not want to see better quality dramas in HK?
I sincerely applaud you if you think that the hong kong entertainment industry is flourishing.
entertainment like movies, tv, and music are big parts of art and culture of a city/country…HKs entertainment industry has to get better…its so bad right now, glad hktv is pumping some new blood into it…watching hktv series it at least looks like they’re trying…at least they’re trying
Enjoying HKTV alot. Hktv is the best
Hmmmm…some fellas here do get agitated with the mere mention of HKTV gaining a foothold in HK ….remember this….the fittest survive …..with competition….comes quality productions & at the end of the day,we, the audience is the winner here.
Dont be pessimists, dear Moon, Raymond, Chinese & the others cos all of you are winners too as we WILL end up with more choices & variety. If you still PERSIST in pouring cold water then it’s pretty obvious that you are on someone’s payroll, of what I term it as the TVB’s cyber troopers…..my thumbs down then….boooo! Still can’t accept it, then pls go back to your cave & stay there, forever. By the way, I AM a TVB supporter & not WAS.
Meant to say, we, are the winners here.
Sorry girl. I did not feeling any agitated anymore because that Ricky is already a loser. And HKTV is not a threat for TVB as well. There are in different league. TVB is running a tv station, whereas Ricky is just merely running an online business same like any other youtube users filming their desired videos and posted it online. LOL.
Btw,i have mentioned earlier, the resources for Cantanose drama is very limited. Viewers will not become the winner because the quality of that kind of drama by HKTV. But of course its your choice to enjoy kei leh feh from TVB to leading in HKTV drama. The keh le feh that got very limited market value that only be seen so valuable by HKTV. What to do, they not able to grab valuable actors coz all inside TVB. LOL.You dont even know who is me leh,haha. My TVB so successful as a tv station even for the next 5 decades to come.So why should i hide myself in the cave? you should hiding together with HKTV in the near future to come. LOL. Enjoy your “The Election”..LOL
Look like you do truly care a lot about HTKV – If you hate someone so much, I believe the way is just to either let it go or ignore it. Otherwise, making comments suck as “loser” is somewhat make make people think bad about you. TVB will not fall, does not meant that HTKV cannot survive, if you are so persistent, then why not wait for a little bit long, just to see whether you said would be true
*opt, I am lkv not rle
Although HKTV is merely running a website for streaming their dramas, it doesn’t mean they’re a weak competition. We’re living in a time where actually watching cable tv is diminishing, and online streaming is widely used in our busy lifestyles. I think HKTV and TVB is fair competition. I haven’t seen HKTV’s drama yet so I have no comment on the quality of it, but I can see a lot of room for opportunities.
You hear this all the time by established player saying, “I don’t have to change. I have been great and I always will be great!” Nokia, Blackberry, Microsoft executives laughed at the iPhone innovations. They believe they don’t need to do much and rested on their past performance. Pride comes before a downfall. And look at where these once great, global leading mobile phone companies are day? When I hear TVB executive dismiss HKTV innovation, I hear the same pride that has brought these other great companies fall from the top.
Stop comparing Hong Kong drama with Smartphone company. Thats show high level of stupidity that you possessing. Smartphone industry has unlimited resources for you to compete. You can build ur factory or company in whatever country you. If not loser Ricky also no need so angry coz he can never get the resources from other country to produce the cantanose drama production. So those ignorant pls woke up!
But hong kong drama all in cantanose. Fluent cantanose speaker+good acting skill just can say from Hong Kong itself which consists of 7 millions citizen but yet we cant really see so many talented actors already but most of the high market value actors are inside TVB nw. Left those keh leh feh then no choice HKTV have to take it or else no need produce anything adi.
So no matter how HKTV going to produce, there are just burning money. And pls, TV station is still a business. Their ultimate goal is to have profit maximization. Unless TVB’s revenue is falling year by year , or else there is nothing to be worried. You should worry about ur HKTV online business better.
So many HKTV haters on here. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it, don’t respond to a HKTV article and bash it. Typical Hong Kong mindset.
TVB today is not the TVB of yesterday. Today the station is run by a talentless executive that is only interested in money. This is not the great Run Run Shaw company of yesterday.
Television and entertainment business thrives on innovation and creativity. Just look at the new players in the US market. If TVB wants to continue its success, it will now have to change, and innovate. If not, they will suddenly become a washed out brand that will lose a future generation of viewers to Japan, Korean, China and yes, even HKTV television productions.
Do you even have critical thinking analysis? US market consists of few hundred million citizens. But hong kong drama productions just basically based on the hong kong actors which are so limited. You dont need so many tv stations to compete. That will only affects the whole situation even more, later you grab my actors, i grab ur actors because its all so limited. Now HKTV just left with those Keh leh feh from TVB to leading in their drama for their online business which is totally different market segment than TVB business.
And due the this cockiness of RICKY, he cannot even survive in CHINA and left Hong Kong as his destination. Duh..
@raymond
The fact that your vision is only limited to HK drama production reserved for local markets (HK/China) and oversea Chinese market is extremely near-sighted. Any successful media production company would not only keep their local market (HK/China/oversea Chinese) interest in check, but will also take in account for the global non-chinese speaking audience. This is why Hollywood, Japanese and Korean productions are so popular. They take into account of the non-native speaking audience, so instead of targeting the 7 million HK audience. HKTV is/will target the 2.8 billion global audience that have access to the internet in their respective languages with subtitles. This is the path that all the major players are on (America, Japan, Korea, etc.), so your argument that there’s not enough slices of the pie to go around the HK market is flawed. HKTV isn’t ONLY targeting HK, they are targeting a GLOBAL audience with their production. TVB, as it stands, is only targeting Chinese audiences, which is very narrow-minded, and deemed to die, if they don’t change their ways.
Ppl that dislike hktv’s actors are too funny. Most of these actors dud work at tvb at one time or another. I think its good for more competition. Me- i have favorite shows from all over whether fox, nbc, abc, netflix. I used to be a true TVB fan but got bored when they always have a sappy ending. They do produce one very good series a yr but i get bored of the same pairing. Like Bobby Yeung said some of his costars used to be his love interest now becomes his gf’s mom or his mom lol. Dramas from other asian countries always have fresh pairings and faces. I got to know many more diverse group of really good actors/actresses.
Not dud but did
This Raymond here and his support of TVB’s unchanging attitudes is precisely the type of viewers that will keep the station asleep to innovation, and march the station off a cliff. Suddenly, at some tipping point, the best stars and the best viewers would have moved on, leaving an empty shell off a company milking their legacy profits like from a dry lemon. Please TVB, it is time to change…or die!
I see. If you think TVB is going downhill, but revenue still keeps on growing, and so?
The stock price is way down. The market can see its future and it’s not bright if they don’t change.
Microsoft revenue in the last decade continued to grow, but the stock price was dead for ten years. Now a once great company, Microsoft, is in steady decline. They didn’t innovate and their future is in question.
TVB seems to be heading in the same direction.