After broadcasting for 59 years, Hong Kong’s Asia Television (ATV) has been forced to shut down after court-appointed liquidators determined that the struggling station’s Chinese investors were unable to come up with the cash for its continued operation.
All the remaining staff at the station will be dismissed, according to local news reports.
Representatives of accounting film Deloitte China said last night that the $1 million cash injection needed to maintain the broadcaster’s operation was not forthcoming.
The first Chinese-language TV station in the world, ATV has been short of cash for the past few months, with staff delayed payment and the nightly news broadcast discontinued.
The station was denied renewal of license last April, with its end of broadcast date scheduled for April 1, 2016.
There will be a week of Hong Kong having only one free terrestrial broadcaster, TVB, as Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), tasked with replacing ATV’s broadcast, will not be able to roll out services until March 10, said Gregory So, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development.
