ATV executive director Louie King-bun hit back at disgruntled television audiences and told them to “use their brains” after social activist Lui Yuk-lin threw “hell money” outside the venue
February 25, 2014 Leave a comment
ATV boss tells furious viewers to use brains
Kelly Ip
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
ATV executive director Louie King-bun hit back at disgruntled television audiences and told them to “use their brains.”
In the first public hearing on the license renewals of TVB and ATV at City Hall in Central, many participants urged the government not to renew ATV’s license as its programs are mostly reruns and lack quality.
But Louie told the participants they were being irrational and unfair.
“I have been in the media since 1979 after graduating from university. I have witnessed the changes in society, but irrationality has never been so serious as it is today,” said Louie, the former executive editor of the pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao.
He refuted the claim of one participant who said that the complaints against ATV had exceeded the station’s number of viewers.
“Are such complaints rational? Please use your brains to think about it. Present your rationale,” Louie said amid yells from the audience.
The station’s senior vice president, Nick Ip Ka- po, said ATV will invest HK$2.7 billion in the next six years, improve its equipment and strengthen its production line.
Those opposing the station said it is torturing its audience by repeating its programs. “We do not want such a station,” a man said. “Its programs lack quality and it does not deserve a license renewal.”
Social activist Lui Yuk-lin, who threw “hell money” outside the venue before the hearing, said nobody wants to watch ATV. She was later removed from the venue for disrupting other speakers.
Some participants said they support the renewal of licenses for both stations but that they should give away some of the channels to Hong Kong Television Network, which failed to obtain a license.
Others said they supported ATV and called on the station to produce programs featuring the mainland and the Basic Law.
The hearing was temporarily disrupted when participants with opposing views yelled at each other.
A few, meanwhile, suggested that TVB had used its public resources for private affairs.
TVB executive director and general manager Mark Lee Po-on said the company accepts constructive opinions on program arrangements and future development.
Communications Authority chairman Ambrose Ho Pui-him said everyone is encouraged to express their opinions.
The licenses for both TVB and ATV will expire on November 30, 2015.
The next public hearings will be on March 7 in Ngau Chi Wan and March 10 in Sha Tin. The consultation period will end on April 3.
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