The Hong Kong Broadcasting Scene - 14 Hong Kong as a Regional Broadcasting Hub

Hong Kong is a broadcasting hub in the Asia Pacific Region with 14 non-domestic TV licensees operating and broadcasting from Hong Kong. Altogether they broadcast a total of 61 satellite television channels serving hundreds of millions of viewers in four continents, Asia, Australasia, Europe and Africa14, of which 17 channels were receivable in Hong Kong14.The footprints of two major satellites Apstar IIR and AsiaSat 3S are shown in figure 32.

Figure 32 : Footprint of Satellite Broadcasting

Picture

(Note : - footprint of Apstar IIR; - footprint of AsiaSat 3S)

A summary of the non-domestic television programme services as at August 2004 is set out in figure 33.

Figure 33 :  List of Non-Domestic Television Programme Services  

Licensee
Date of
Launch
of
Service
No. of
Channels
(no.
receivable
in HK)
Nature of
Channels
Coverage
of
Service
Satellite
1.
Starvision Hong Kong Limited
4.1991
23(3)
General entertainment, movie, music, sports & news etc.
Asian region including the Mainland, India & Middle East
AsiaSat 3S
2.
Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited
8.1998
22(0)
Drama, general entertainment, movie, & news etc.
Asian region, Australia & Europe
AsiaSat 3S
Apstar IIR
PamAmSat8
3.
APT Satellite TV Development Limited
8.1998
1(1)
Women channel
the Mainland & East Asian countries
Apstar IA
4.
Starbucks (HK) Limited
6.2000
1(1)
Weather, sports, music and video games etc.
Asia-Pacific region
AsiaSat 3S
5.
Asia Plus Broadcasting Limited
5.2001
1(1)
General entertainment
the Mainland, Australia, New Zealand & some other East Asian countries
AsiaSat 3S
6.
MATV Limited
4.2001
1(1)
Movies & general entertainment
All of Asia, Australia, Eastern Africa & Europe
AsiaSat 3S
7.
China Entertainment Television Broadcast Limited
3.1995
1(1)
General entertainment
the Mainland, Southeast Asia & Asia-Pacific region
AsiaSat 3S
8.
Turner International Asia Pacific Limited
1989
5(3)
News, finance, movie, children & family programmes
Asia-Pacific & South Asia
AsiaSat 3S
PanAmSat8
PanAmSat10
9.
i-Cable Satellite Television Limited
12.2001
1(1)
Infotainment & documentary
Asia-Pacific region
AsiaSat 3S
10.
Pacific Satellite International Limited15
1.2002
0(0)
News, music, movie & general entertainment
From Fiji in the East to Turkey & Kazakistan
AsiaSat 3S
11.
Sun Television Cybernetworks Enterprise Limited
8.2000
1(1)
History & culture-related documentaries
Asia-Pacific region
AsiaSat 3S
12.
Pacific Century Matrix (HK) Limited
11.2001
4(4)
General entertainment, finance & religious services
Asia-Pacific region
AsiaSat 3S
13.
Skywave TV Company Limited
December 2004
40
General entertainment, news, movies, sports & documentaries
Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South China
AsiaSat 4
14.
Asia Television Limited
mid 2005
1
General entertainment
Mainland
Apstar V

14For example, Star TV alone provides service in seven languages to over 300 million of viewers across 53 countries.

15Service terminated on 1.2.2004 and the licence was surrendered with effect from 1.11.2004.

top

1 History 2 The Broadcasting Landscape 3 Transmission Modes 4 Penetration of Different Broadcasting Services 5 Broadcasting revenues 6 Investment in TV Industry 7 Viewing Habits 8 Programme Sources 9 Programme Genres 10 Programmes and Channels for Minority Ethnic Groups in Hong Kong 11 New Advertising Modes 12 Compliance with Regulatory Requirements 13 Developments of Pay TV Services in Hong Kong 14 Hong Kong as a Regional Broadcasting Hub 15 Hong Kong as a Stepping Stone into the Mainland Market