Li Ruigang acquires stake in TVB parent company to gain influence in Hong Kong television market

Young Lion, the largest shareholder of TVB, has transferred part of its shares to Chinese Culture Media Entertainment Investment Co., Ltd. under Li Ruigang. Li Ruigang once said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald that CMC's investment goal is to cultivate leaders in the relevant sub-sectors of the cultural industry. TVB's announcement stated that Chen Guoqiang will continue to serve as the chairman of the board of directors of TVB, and Li Ruigang will be a new member of the investment group.

After many twists and turns, a rumor that was debunked three years ago is now presented in another form, showing the inextricable bond between Li Ruigang and Hong Kong's "Wireless" Television.

At 4 p.m. on April 22, Hong Kong Television Broadcasting Limited (TVB) issued an announcement stating that the Communications Authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has approved the equity change of its single largest shareholder, Young Lion Holdings Limited. The investment company under Li Ruigang's name completed the investment transaction and acquired a stake in TVB's holding parent company, Young Lion.

TVB, commonly referred to as "Wireless" by Hong Kong people, was founded in 1967 by Li Ka-shing, Johnnie To, Run Run Shaw and others, and has been managed by Run Run Shaw for a long time since then. It was the first TV station in Hong Kong to obtain a free wireless television license that year, and its ratings topped the free TV market in Hong Kong. The five free TV channels it operates account for more than 80% of the ratings during prime time in Hong Kong on weekdays. Over the years, it has cultivated hundreds of performing stars such as Chow Yun-fat, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, etc. The programs it has produced have a wide influence in Hong Kong and Chinese communities around the world. It is also the world's first television media to be legally approved by the governments of Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and mainland China.

When the Run Run Shaw family planned to transfer the controlling stake in TVB, the Hong Kong media once rumored that Li Ruigang's Chinese Culture Industry Investment Fund (CMC) was a potential buyer. The rumor even pushed up TVB's share price repeatedly. Later, the Young Lion consortium composed of Hong Kong businessman Chen Guoqiang and others purchased the Shaw family's shares - a total of 114 million shares, with a par value of HK$0.05 per share, accounting for approximately 26% of the group's issued share capital.

However, CMC and TVB are not completely unrelated. In 2012, CMC joined hands with Shanghai Media Group Co., Ltd. (SMG) and TVB to jointly invest in the establishment of Jade East, which is specifically responsible for all TVB's business in mainland China.

Young Lion transferred part of its shares to Chinese Culture Media Entertainment Investment Co., Ltd. As the founder and chairman of CMC, Li Ruigang is also the chairman of several companies under the fund, including Star Media, Oriental DreamWorks, Caixin Media, and Ti-Ao Power.

Founded in 2009, CMC focuses on investment and operation in the pan-cultural media and entertainment industry. Li Ruigang has planned three investment sectors for it, including media and entertainment, Internet and mobile, and lifestyle. Since its official operation in 2010, it has created a number of well-known companies in the fields of film, television, animation, music, fashion, sports, performing arts agency, ticketing, financial media, financial data services, education, advertising, e-commerce, home shopping, social networks, online games, smart TVs, culture and tourism real estate.

Li Ruigang once said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald that CMC's investment goal is to cultivate leaders in relevant sub-sectors of the cultural industry.

TVB announced that Chan Kwok Keung will continue to serve as the chairman of the board of directors of TVB, and Lai Ruigang will be a new member of the investment group. Chan Kwok Keung revealed that he invited Lai Ruigang to join Young Lion. He said Lai is an outstanding media entrepreneur in China and can make many contributions to the long-term development of TVB. In addition to helping further expand its core business of Chinese program production, it will also promote TVB's development in film production, Internet new media and other fields.

It is not clear whether there are other reasons why TVB's owner took the initiative to invite mainland media tycoon Li Ruigang to join, but TVB is indeed facing its own development bottleneck. Due to its long-term dominance in the Hong Kong free TV market, TVB has been criticized for not making progress and relying on "inertial ratings". Some of its programs produced in recent years have been criticized for being vulgar and plagiarized. Some local TV producers have therefore called for the immediate full opening of the Hong Kong TV market.

On January 29 this year, TVB sold its Taiwan television business for NT$4.695 billion, and granted 53% of the equity of Lianyi Company, which mainly operates Taiwan TVBS Channel, TVBS News Channel and TVBS Happy Channel, to three investment companies: Li Mao, De En and Lian Xin.

In the Hong Kong television market, TVB's competitor, Asia Television, which has long been at a disadvantage, has entered the countdown to closure. The Hong Kong Executive Council announced on the 1st of this month that the 58-year-old Asia Television will not be renewed. Currently, Asia Television can continue to operate for 12 months until the expiration of the license on April 1, 2016.

ATV has changed hands many times over the years. In recent years, it has been disliked by Hong Kong people because of its simple and boring program production, no self-produced dramas, and only relying on replaying programs. A former senior employee of ATV publicly criticized the mainland investor, Shanghai businessman Wang Zheng, as a complete amateur and doomed to fail. The Hong Kong media also exposed his private life scandal. Wang Zheng's search for a buyer for ATV was also fruitless.

Interestingly, according to our newspaper, on the same day, David Chiu, son of former ATV chairman Degen Chiu and chairman of Hong Kong listed company Far East Consortium, also announced the establishment of Ever Rise (Asia), applying to the Hong Kong Communications Authority for a local free television program license and a unified carrier license, planning to open a new TV station and invest HK$3.2 billion in TV station hardware and program production over the next six years.

The other shareholders of Yongsheng are also no ordinary people, including Pansy Ho, managing director of Shun Tak Group, and Li Silin, chairman of R&F Properties. All three of them have invested in Yongsheng in their personal names. The fourth shareholder is Hony Capital, the investment flagship of mainland China's Lenovo Holdings.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.