Hong Kong's television industry received what could be a major boost when it was recently disclosed that the smaller of the two free-to-air broadcasters, Asia Television (ATV), is on the verge of receiving a substantial investment from mainland property tycoon Wang Zheng, who could be on his way to becoming the major shareholder.

When asked what he, as a staff member, expects specifically from Wang, who could become the majority shareholder of ATV in the future, ATV Assistant controller Gilbert Au said, "I think for everyone working with ATV, what we should consider is the job at hand. As to ATV's future plans, we'd better leave that to those who really have power to make those decisions."

But even if Wang's investment materializes, ATV still faces considerable challenges. Television broadcasting is capital-intensive, especially for a company such as ATV with only a 10 percent market share in Hong Kong. Cash-strapped ATV is reported to be losing HK$1 million every day.

Wang is technically not yet a shareholder. But he already has promised more hiring. He also brought hope to the station, with plans to inject billions of cash himself and bring in more support from a number of major mainland companies, such as China Life.

"I am not expecting any changes within the short term at the station," said Cheuk Pak-tong, director of the Academy of Film at Baptist University.

"What ATV needs most now is talent, which could not necessarily be bought with money. But without money, there is no hope for the cash-strapped station to be revived, not to mention his (Wang's) ambition to build an Asian CNN. I don't know really how much ATV needs to spend to make a change - several billions at least I guess, and I believe the investment has to be perpetual and persistent," Cheuk added.

Cheuk said as the first free-to-air television broadcaster in Hong Kong, ATV had a long history and still holds a place in the hearts of Hong Kong viewers. As to a timetable for ATV to stage a comeback in head-to-head competition with Television Broadcaste Pearl TV, an operation 5 times larger, Cheuk said 10 years could be optimistic.

Cheuk said Wang's plan to launch a Putonghua channel could be a nice start, considering the vast audience and economic opportunities on the mainland. But success is by no means certain. Phoenix Television, a Hong Kong-based mandarin television broadcaster, which has been in the market for more than 10 years, failed to achieve a mass audience on the mainland.

Wang Zheng has vowed to turn the struggling broadcaster into Asia's CNN, as well as a TV station reflecting Hong Kong's conscience. He said he is not afraid of losing on the proposition. But he has confessed, "perhaps I am having a midlife crisis." But Wang's age is not what analysts worry about. It's his lack of television experience.

Ronald Soong, chief technical officer at KMR Media Research Group, said Wang's CNN ambition already sounds too naive for him.

"If it is broadcast in the universal language - English, why wouldn't they watch the authentic CNN directly?" Soong said.

Soong has watched developments in Hong Kong television over the decades. He said Wang's lack of experience would make it difficult to save the struggling ATV, even if he brought a lot of cash.

"ATV needs to solve tons of internal problems first. I am now indifferent to its rows and debates, because all I hear about ATV is its internal fight and quarrels," said Soong.

Not long ago, ATV shareholder, Taiwanese snack-food tycoon Tsai Eng-meng filed a lawsuit, still pending, asking for an injunction to stop ATV's majority shareholder Payson Cha and his brother from selling their stakes to Wang.

Soong hopes Wang's takeover, if eventually realized, could end the chaos, as a first step. He said as other broadcasters in the city are also applying for free-to-air licenses, Hong Kong is on the verge of ending duopoly, which will impose more pressure oo ATV when free TV stations are plentiful.

(HK Edition 03/30/2010 page2)