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 Communications i-Cable Communications Limited () is a Hong Kong telecommunications company owned by Forever Top (Asia) Limited, which acquired the company from The Wharf Group in 2017. Overview Founded in 1999, the company provides broadband internet and ...

business. It was the second company to provide cable television services in Hong Kong (after

Rediffusion Television Rediffusion Television (, RTV) was a defunct television station in Hong Kong. It was the city's first broadcaster and the first in any British colony or majority-Chinese city.Kitley, Philip. 003(2003). ''Television, Regulation and Civil Soci ...

, which ceased cable operation with the launch of their

terrestrial television Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...

channels in 1973). It was incorporated on 30 June 1993 and officially inaugurated on 31 October same year, offering a package of over 100 pay television channels, 54 of which are directly operated by the company.

History

The company was founded as Wharf Cable Television (), incorporated on 30 June 1993. Cable-based transmissions were officially inaugurated by the

Governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the United Kingdom, British The Crown, Crown in British Hong Kong, Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Executiv ...

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes (; born 12 May 1944), is a British politician who was the Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992, and the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. He was made a lif ...

. It went on air with eight channels, including the world's first 24-hour Cantonese news channel. Wharf Cable Television changed its name to Hong Kong Cable Television () on 31 October 1998. It was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1999 under i-Cable Communications. With the largest number of subscribers of subscription television companies in Hong Kong, HKCTV became one of the top five media groups in Hong Kong. According to the financial summary of i-CABLE Communications Limited in 2004, its sales revenue reaches HK$2,372 million with a profit of HK$296 million. In February 2023, Cable TV announced to fold their pay-television licenses over to the Hong Kong government six years earlier than planned as they no longer compete with Now TV and TVB's MyTV SUPER, along with streaming giants

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. The pay-TV services would stop operations on 1 June of the same year. Since then, the company would put their focus on three of their currently existed free-TV channels: Hong Kong International Business Channel, HOY TV and .

Ownership

In 2017, i-Cable was sold to Forever Top (Asia) Limited. In 2021, Henry Cheng Kar-Chun, the chairman of

New World Development New World Development Company Limited (NWD) is a Hong Kong–based company focused on property, hotels, infrastructure and services and department stores. It was established on 29 May 1970 by Cheng Yu-tung. The company is publicly listed on t ...

, pumped up his stake in i-Cable by acquiring shares from chairman of Far East Consortium David Chiu Tat-cheong through Cheng's company Celestial Pioneer. This increased Celestial Pioneer's stake in Forever Top from 31.5% to 72%, making it the largest shareholder of the company.

Controversy

i-Cable TV fired at least 40 journalists, editors, and production crew, including the whole team of News Lancet (an award-winning investigative journalism show) in December 2020. The management claimed the firings were simply to "save resources". However, Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) questioned the real aim was reducing or eliminating the reporting of sensitive news, after the team of News Lancet covered stories critical of the police and the authorities in 2019.

References

External links

Hong Kong Cable Enterprises Limited

Hong Kong Cable Television Limited

i-Cable Satellite TV Limited

i-cable.com

The Wharf (Holdings) Limited
{{Television in Hong Kong Cable television in Hong Kong The Wharf (Holdings) Television stations in Hong Kong Television channels and stations established in 1993 1993 establishments in Hong Kong