The 2010 TVB monopoly case () is a case surrounding

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

television station

Television Broadcasts Limited Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

being a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

station.

Background

For a long time ATV, the main free over-the-air rival station, have been associated as a pro-Beijing station. This has allowed TVB to gain a substantial lead in ratings and market share. The 2009 Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority forum however, led to complaints about TVB also practicing self-censorship. Since then, major issues of monopoly have come up. In a 2009 press conference

HKRIA Hong Kong Recording Industry Alliance Limited (HKRIA, ) is a not-for-profit copyright management organization, formed to handle copyright issues for recording companies regarding the broadcast, public performance and relevant usage of sound record ...

announced that they would increase royalty tax to TVB exceeding HK$10 million for music programs. TVB then banned singers from

EMI Group EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012 ...

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

from participating on the

2009 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation The 2009 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation (Chinese: 2009年度十大勁歌金曲頒獎典禮) was held on January 16, 2010 at the Kowloon Hong Kong Coliseum. It is part of the Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation seri ...

show.

Case & complaints

* TVB imposed unwritten restrictions on artists and singers that deprived ATV an opportunity to hire artists.The Standard HK.
The Standard.com
." ''Probe launched into TVB `monopoly' row.'' Retrieved on 2010-02-10. According to Sing Tao Daily, in the past no music company was willing to use contracts (between TVB and the artists) as evidence against TVB.HKATVnews.com.
HKATVnews.com
." ''亞視向廣管局投訴無綫涉嫌壟斷料快有結果.'' Retrieved on 2010-02-10.On.cc.

" ''HKRIA圖破無綫壟斷 Mr.叫好.'' Retrieved on 2010-02-10. For example, if a HK artist was interviewed by competing station like

Cable TV Hong Kong Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (), formerly known as Wharf Cable Television Limited () until 31 October 1998, is a cable television provider in Hong Kong currently owned by Forever Top (Asia) Limited, which operates it as a part of i-Cable ...

, they were forced to speak Mandarin. This gave TVB an advantage as HK is mostly a Cantonese-speaking territory. * Some of the best

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...

productions were broadcast exclusively on TVB only. * Many complaints were brought up about singers and artists having to sign contracts to be restricted to TVB. Some cannot appear in other competing stations at all.Singtao.ca.
Singtao.ca
." ''廣管局要無綫交資料.'' Retrieved on 2010-02-10.

Entertainer responses

Some bands like Mr have come out and responded it was better to be doing interviews in Cantonese because their Mandarin skill was not so good. Other artists like

Kelly Chen Kelly Chen Wai-lam (born Vivian Chen Wai-man on 13 September 1972) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. She has been referred to as a " Diva of Asia" (). Chen has great success in the East Asian entertainment industry with nearly 20 m ...

said it would benefit all if music videos could be broadcast on all stations.

Jacky Cheung Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Dubbed the " God of Songs", he is regarded as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hong Kong pop music. Cheung is known for his technically skilled vocals, lengthy tours, and ...

said TVB never had enough time available for music shows. In the past he could appear on

Jade Solid Gold Jade Solid Gold ( Chinese: 勁歌金曲, literally ''"powerful song golden melody"'') is a music show on the TVB Jade television channel in Hong Kong. It has been running since October 10, 1981. Broadcasting time TVB Jade *Sunday at 11:00pm to 11 ...

and sing for 3 minutes, but now he is limited to 1 minute. He further added that "TVB should just support the people they sign. Currently they have total control, and when they don't get what they want, they talk about whom to kill off."Yahoo.com.
Yahoo.com
" ''不滿郁吓就封殺盼打破壟斷學友炮轟無綫付出少要求多.'' Retrieved on 2010-02-10. Artists who have tried to avoid legal disputes with TVB would simply turn down invitations to appear on rival stations.

Aftermath

A scandal probe was made by the ICAC on Stephen Chan Chi Wan in early 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:TVB Monopoly Case, 2010 TVB 2010 in Hong Kong