Hong Kong advertisers fear loss of competition with demise of ATV

Advertising industry veterans in Hong Kong are urging the government to decide as soon as possible on the reallocation of the free-to-air spectrum to ensure fair and open competition in the television market.

They say that with ATV out of the picture and its analogue spectrum to be taken over by public broadcaster RTHK - which does not take advertising - TVB will be the only option for high-penetration television ads.

They estimated that more advertising money will go to digital online platforms - which have already increased 50 per cent, from HK$1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2014 to HK$2.7 billion, in the first quarter of this year.

Estimates of industry advertising spending obtained by the - based on the pre-discount price tag listed on rate cards - show that TVB's Chinese Jade channel, available via analogue spectrum, is the dominant player among all television stations.

However, estimated advertising spending on TVB Jade in the first quarter this year dropped by nearly 4 per cent from the first quarter of last year.

ATV, which had been urging advertisers to place ads with the beleaguered station to pay staff, saw a nearly 79 per cent jump in the estimated ad spend in the first quarter of 2015 to HK$350.86 million - from HK$196.32 million in the first quarter of 2014.

But the increase is still small compared with TVB Jade's HK$3.98 billion.