Cable TV Hong Kong

Hong Kong Cable Television
香港有線電視
Launched Wharf Cable Television:
31 October 1993
Hong Kong Cable Television:
31 October 1998
Network i-CABLE Communications Limited
Owned by Wharf Holdings
Country Hong Kong
Language Cantonese & English
Broadcast area Hong Kong
Headquarters Wharf Cable Television Headquarters
Number. 9 Hoi Shing Road
Tsuen Wan
New Territories
Hong Kong
Telephone: (852) 1832 832
Faximile: (852) 2112 7814
Formerly called Wharf Cable Television
(31 October 1993-31 October 1998)
Replaced Wharf Cable Television
(31 October 1993-31 October 1998)
Replaced by Hong Kong Cable Television
(31 October 1998-present)
Website http://www.broadbandhk.com/en/
Availability
Cable
Drama Channel Channel 5 (subtitle in Chinese)
Sports Channel Channel 6 (commentory in Cantonese & English)
Entertainment Channel Channel 7
News Channel Channel 8 (bilingual in Cantonese)
Cartoon Channel Channel 9 (subtitle in Chinese)
Movies Channel Channel 10 (subtitle in Chinese-English)
Music Channel Channel 11
English News Channel Channel 8 (bilingual in English)

Cable TV Hong Kong, also known as CTVHK and Hong Kong Cable, is a television network in Hong Kong owned and operated by i-CABLE Communications Limited. Prior to 31 October 1998, it was known as Wharf Cable Television. It is the 1st analogue cable television broadcaster of Hong Kong's 1st ever subscription-based pay television service it was incorporated on 1 January 1992 and officially inaugurated on 31 October 1993 and was operated by ATV and TVB, offering a broad range of information and entertainment to its viewers through over 100 pay television channels, of which 54 are produced by HKCTV.

Broadband service

i-Cable Communications Ltd provide broadband internet as one of their services.

History

Wharf Cable Television (1993-1998)

Cable TV Hong Kong was originally known as Wharf Cable Television (WCTV, Chinese: 九倉有線電視) was incorporated on Wednesday, 1 January 1992 with a consortium of ATV and TVB.

Cable-based transmissions was launched grand opened until officially inaugurated by the 28th Governor of Hong Kong's Christopher Francis Patten and broadcasts from Kowloon Peninsula until broadcast area was only limited to Pearl River Delta area on 31 October 1993 through a microwave-based broadcast system to followed by the first subscriptions in with an initial bouquet of 2 international cable television channels, 6 international cable television channels in television programmes such: drama, entertainment, the world's first 24-hour daily of the Cantonese news channel, movie premiere, music video and children while of 4 national terrestrial television channels in 2 officially language a subsidiary of 2 national terrestrial television stations with an initial 12 television channels

Channel № (Analog) Name (Englis]) Name (Chinese) Channel content Language Transmission Format Status Launch date Licence
Analog terrestrial television channel
1 TVB Jade 翡翠台 Cantonese free-to-air Cantonese Analog SDTV Terrestrial 19 November 1967 TVB
2 ATV Home 本港台 29 May 1957 ATV
3 TVB Pearl 明珠台 English free-to-air English 19 November 1967 TVB
4 ATV World 國際台 29 May 1957 ATV
Analog subscription television channel
5 Drama Channel 劇集台 Drama Cantonese (subtitle in Chinese) Analog SDTV Subscription 31 October 1993 WCTV
6 Sports Channel 體育台 Sports
Live broadcast of ESPN		 Cantonese & English (commentary) WCTV
ESPN
7 Entertainment Channel 娛樂台 Entertainment Cantonese WCTV
8 News Channel 新聞台 News
9 Cartoon Channel 卡通台 Cartoon Cantonese (subtitle in Chinese)
10 Movies Channel 電影台 Movies Cantonese (subtitle in Chinese-English)
11 Music Channel 音樂台 Music Cantonese
12 English News Channel 英語新聞台 News
Live broadcast of CNN International News		 English WCTV
CNN

Drama Channel

Wharf Drama Channel (Chinese: 劇集台) is a 24-hour daily of Cantonese cable drama channel in Hong Kong co-established by ATV & TVB owned by Wharf Cable Television on Channel 5 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 at 2 free-to-air terrestrial television stations such: ATV and TVB dubbed into Cantonese and Chinese subtitle.

Sports Channel

Wharf Sports Channel Chinese: 體育台) is a 24-hour in daily of English & Cantonese cable sports channel in Hong Kong owned by Wharf Cable Television and ESPN on Channel 6 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 with sport programmes]by the football are 7 national teams such: England (FA), France (FFF), Italy (FIGC), Italy (FIGC), Netherlands (KNVB), Netherlands (KNVB), Spain (RFEF) and Portugal (PFF) a member of UEFA with ESPN International simultaneously by the live broadcast on ESPN with Cantonese and English commentory

Event Country Language Broadcast channel
Football Matches
Premier League England Cantonese and English Sports Channel (Channel 6)
Ligue 1 France
Serie A Italy
Bundesliga Germany
Eredivisie Netherlands
La Liga Spain
Primeira Liga Portugal
FA Cup England
Coupe de France France
Coppa Italia Italy
DFB-Pokal Germany
KNVB Cup Netherlands
Copa del Rey Spain
Taça de Portugal Portugal
UEFA Europa League European Union
UEFA Champions League European Union

Entertainment Channel

Wharf Entertainment Channel (Chinese: 娛樂台) is a 24-hour in daily of Cantonese cable entertainment channel in Hong Kong owned by Wharf Cable Television on Channel 7 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 with entertainment programmes.

News Channel

Wharf News Channel (Chinese: 新聞台) is a 24-hour in daily of Cantonese cable news channel with news programmes of 1st 24-hours news service in Hong Kong owned by Wharf Cable Television and Wharf News on Channel 8 was officially launched on 31 October 1993.

News sections are named according to daily time period. (All time HKT)

News anchors are responsible for the casts on the channel and newscaster daily.

Cartoon Channel

Wharf Cartoon Channel (Chinese: 卡通台) is a 24-hours in daily of Japanese cable cartoon channel owned by Wharf Cable Television on Channel 9 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 with anime and manga cover of Japanese animated television series onward to Japanese cartoon series.

Movies Channel

Wharf Movies Channel (Chinese: 電影台) is a 24-hour daily of Asian cable movies channel owned by Wharf Cable Television on Channel 10 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 was backed by Shaw Scope and STAR TV Filmed Entertainment and motion pictures studios by Media Asia Distribution.

Music Channel

Wharf Music Channel (Chinese: 音樂台) is a 24 hours in daily of Cantonese cable music channel owned by Wharf Cable Television on Channel 11 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 with music video over Cantonese became Cantopop,

English News Channel

Wharf English News Channel (Chinese: 英語新聞台) is a 24-hours daily of English cable news channel with television news of 1st 24-hour news service in Hong Kong]owned by Wharf Cable Television and CNN International News on Channel 12 was officially launched on 31 October 1993 with CNN International News simultaneously by the live broadcast on CNN.

In Hong Kong, it is broadcast live on Wharf Cable Television's CNN International News daily at 24-hours.

Cable TV Hong Kong (1998-present)

Wharf Cable Television (WCTV) officially changed its name to Hong Kong Cable Television (HKCTV, Chinese: 香港有線電視) on Wednesday, 31 October 1998.

In October 2001, Cable TV Hong Kong became the first cable television channel in collaboration with ATV and TVB bringing Hong Kong's the live coverage of the UEFA Euro 2004.

In October 2001, Cable TV Hong Kong became the first cable television channel in collaboration with ATV and TVB bringing Hong Kong's the live coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In October 2001, Cable TV Hong Kong became the first cable television channel in collaboration with ATV and TVB bringing Hong Kong's the live coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Having the largest number of subscribers among other subscription television companies in Hong Kong, HKCTV has now become one of the top five media groups in Hong Kong. In particular, HKCTV has a firm establishment in news, movies and sports television programming. As announced in the Financial Summary of i-CABLE Communications Limited of 2004, its sales revenue reaches HK$2,372 million with a profit of HK$296 million.

Ownership

Hong Kong Cable Television Limited is owned as a subsidiary group of The Wharf (Holdings) Limited, which holds 73.3% of HKCTV's shares. The rest of its ownership lies with public shareholders. It became a public listed company in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 1999.

Specifically, HKCTV is operated by i-CABLE Communications Limited (I-Cable), one of the non-media conglomerates in Hong Kong. The conglomerate manages the first pay-TV service as well as a well-established broadband Internet access service provider with its Internet Protocol network. I-Cable is now the only integrated communications company in Hong Kong. It owns and runs the second largest two-way broadband network which produces its own media programmes, together with online news and other Internet services.

Target audience

HKCTV originally targeted the middle-class subscribers who would be willing to pay for a diversified choice of local and international programmes. Afterwards, it adopted a price discrimination marketing scheme charging residents of public estates with lower prices when compared to the private housing residents. Along with lowered prices, subscribers from the working class can also enjoy benefited services that come along with the combo offered, such as cheaper phone line services from Wharf Holdings Limited and broadband internet access services from I-Cable. Occasionally, HKCTV would use "give-away" marketing strategies to attract more subscribers such as its 12th Anniversary combo; subscribers would be gifted with a DVD recorder upon subscription to their combos. These business strategies have successfully increased HKCTV's sales to over 540,000 current subscribers as well as free news (Newsline Express) on Hong Kong's KCRC Railway.

Channels

HKCTV, producing over 10,000 hours of programming per year, claims to be the largest television programme producer in Hong Kong. It offers around 100 locally produced and international channels featuring news, drama series, movies and documentaries. A variety of fields are covered, including current affairs, science, culture, music, and sports.

News

i-CABLE News Limited(Cable News Hong Kong) offers four own-made local news channels, including a 24-hour, half-hourly basis news channel. It also has a supplementary channel providing forecast on world weather.

There were previously two channels about traffic updates on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, Shatin & Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun Highway. They were stopped broadcasting until the end of July 2009.

Sports

HKCTV offers numerous sports programmes with the emphasis on top quality football tournaments matches. HKCTV is one of very few broadcasting companies showing the important leagues in Europe; it was even appointed as the official broadcaster of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. HKCTV's leading position in sports programmes is further strengthened by Cable Sports and 6 other sports channels featuring international and national events such as NBA basketball, Premier League, the 10th National Games and soccer betting.

More recently, Cable's sports attractions have been decreased due to its competitor, Now TV having taken the broadcasting rights to many of the channels, such as ESPN and Star Sports. Cable TV won back the broadcasting rights for the Premier League for the next three years starting with the 2010/2011 season.

However, Cable TV announces through IOC that they have the broadcast rights across all media platforms for the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012 in Hong Kong. This is the first time in history that the two free-to-air channels (TVB and ATV) didn't get the broadcast rights. The free-to-air channels and critics have expressed concerns that the Olympic games should be provided to as many audiences as possible. However, Cable TV only has pay TV channels and satellite TV channels currently.

Movies

Since July 2006, Cable's Movie Channels: HBO, Cinemax have not been presented on its platform anymore, as its main competitor, 現代電視now TV, had gained the exclusive broadcasting rights.

There are currently 4 movie channels, all Cable TV home-made: HMC 1 (Hollywood Movie Channel 1), HMC 2 (Hollywood Movie Channel 2), Movie 1 (Chinese movies) and Movie 2 (foreign language movies other than English).

Specials

One of the features of HKCTV is its variety of flavours for its viewers when compared to other corporate television channels in Hong Kong. For instance, Channel 18 provides the latest local and international financial information as well as horse racing programmes. To meet the tastes of different members in a family, HKCTV offers family-oriented channels featuring programs concerning entertainment, cartoons, music and trends.

Entertainment Channels

Its International Pack aims to accommodate Hong Kong residents originating overseas. It is an incorporated pack with overseas international channels like Australia Network, NHK World Premium and NHK World TV, Arirang TV, Deutsche Welle-TV and The Filipino Channel. This does not only facilitate the entertainment variety of the above-mentioned viewers but also help to spread the culture of the channels' originated countries.

Operation

HKCTV is operated through two separate yet complementary networks, namely the wireless Multipoint Microwave Distribution System coaxial network (MMDS) and the wireline Hybrid Fibre coaxial network (HFC). The combined networks serve 1.70 million viewers, which take up 95% of the local households.

MMDS is a programming broadcast through specific transmitters throughout Hong Kong. Broadcast signals are released from the transmitters to various "dishes" which are located on the rooftops of buildings, and are further transmitted to customers' televisions through the in-built coaxial cable.

The hybrid fibre-coaxial network consists of a fibre optic backbone which forms the base of the whole broadcast centre. It develops into smaller "branches" and penetrates into different areas in Hong Kong along the MTR tunnels, ending in customers' homes through the coaxial cable that the MMDS uses. This network enables high capacity which allows HKCTV to house over 31 channels as well as other telecommunication services.

Multi-media service

Taking the advantage of i-CABLE's comprehensive optical fiber and cord network, the group dived into the swiftly expanding Internet market. Its multi-media service center was found in January 1999 to facilitate the development of the second core business that the group eagerly aims to expand. The group started the dial-up Internet service in March 1999, with subscriptions climbing to 185,000 in October 2000. This huge number took up 10% of the dial-up Internet service market. In March 2000, it further developed into a cable modem-based broadband service. This service proved to be successful when the service crept to the local households at an average rate of 80,000 homes per month, resulting in a total of 700,000 homes by October 2000. It is thus not surprising that the Group has the fastest development in expanding its cable modem service in the world.

The skyhigh-speed broadband network service was presented after the acquisition of the certification of telecommunications service. Its provision of a 24-hour online broadband network service made the surfing speed faster and steadier than the traditional dial-up network. The outstanding basic service construction and sales tactics successfully made the group one of the two main broadband network service suppliers in Hong Kong.

The visual content of HKCTV provides the platform for the multi-media service unit to develop fee-charging portals on news, movies, horse racing, stocks and adult entertainment.21126888.com as well as HKCTV e-Programme Listing were also designed to provide value added services to HKCTV's subscribers and advertisers. Besides, 21126888.com provides an online platform for its advertisers.

Since 2005, the company have also launched its "Multi-Media On Board" (MMOB) service on public transit vehicles. HKCTV's Hong Kong Cable News Express is the sole airtime sales distributor and content provider to KCR Newsline Express. Instant and updated news are broadcast between the various railway notices of KCR journeys through the use of KCR's Passenger Information Display System, also known as PIDS. This further emphasises HKCTV's theme of providing updated news to its viewers, even when its viewers are not sitting in front of a television or computer. This is also a useful marketing tactic to attract more clients to its home subscriptions after experiencing its instantaneous service. Simultaneously, it gains income and reputation from advertisers for interactive advertising in KCR, one of the most essential transport systems in Hong Kong.

Competition and development

HKCTV is the second subscription-based TV station in Hong Kong apart from the 1957 Rediffusion Television (RTV). Before the liberalisation of the pay-TV market, the market was dominated by HKCTV and iTV, previously a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless HKT, currently owned by PCCW. In 1999, the HKSAR Government invited bids to open up the Pay TV market so as to give consumers more choices. The pay-TV market was officially opened for bid in early July 2000, leading to its expeditious development. Its opening also led to the increase in competitions for programming and market shares, as evidenced in the various extensive use of advertising and propaganda.

According to the Hong Kong Annual Reports 2003- Telecommunications, there were four domestic pay television programme service licensees in Hong Kong:

By the end of 2003, a total of 130 pay TV channels have become available in Hong Kong. The total number of subscribers has exceeded 860,000. With the entry of new competitors such as NOW Broadband TV and TVB Pay Vision, increasing competition is expected in the future Pay-TV market.

Comparatively, HKCTV would have a lower flexibility if compared to its new competitor NOW Broadband TV. This is because HKCTV sells its channels and services to its subscribers through fix-priced packages and the preset and prepaid subscription packages determine the viewers' choice of programmes. On the other hand, NOW Broadband TV's subscribers enjoy greater flexibility in choosing which channels to watch at will on a monthly pay-per-view basis without a need of prior application to the company. Thus, the contract period is shorter and the cost is minimised for users who might not be interested in all the programmes in the offered package. Moreover, subscribers to PCCW's Netvigator broadband services would enjoy certain free trial channels along with their internet service subscription. In this sense, along with the overlapping of numerous incorporated international channels, HKCTV has a less privileged stand in competition since all of its services are only available to its pay-television service subscribers.

Cable TV Awards

1st Cable TV Awards

Hosted by Luk Ho-ming (陸浩明) and Ali Lee (李嘉馨)
Best Drama (presented by Wu Yung-hing)

Best Actor (presented by Wu Yung-hing)

Best Actress (presented by Wu Yung-hing)

External links