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Hong Kong’s TVB to broadcast mainland streamer Bilibili’s New Year’s gala after Victoria Harbour fireworks are axed

  • Hong Kong’s television viewers will be watching Bilibili’s New Year’s Eve gala on TVB instead of the usual waterfront fireworks
  • Bilibili is a growing video platform targeting China’s younger generation with anime, gaming content and internet culture

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Bilibili's New Year's Eve celebrations, streamed on the video platform on December 31, 2019. Photo: Handout
Karen Chiu

Breaking with tradition, Hong Kong’s dominant television broadcaster TVB will ring in the new year by airing a New Year’s Eve event put on by Chinese online video platform Bilibili after the typical fireworks display over Victoria Harbour was cancelled this year.

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The 4.5-hour-long show touts a star-studded cast that includes piano superstar Lang Lang and Hong Kong heartthrob Nicholas Tse. It will also feature live events in Beijing, Wuhan and Taipei, according to a commercial for the event.

For years, the free over-the-air channel, which reaches the majority of Hong Kong’s population, has broadcasted the city’s midnight fireworks and light show that typically takes place on the night of December 31. It is usually followed by TVB’s own entertainment programmes. But this year’s fireworks display was called off as the government seeks to control a resurgence of coronavirus cases.

In lieu of fireworks, a drone light show will instead take place over Victoria Harbour and will be included as part of the countdown show, TVB said.

This marks the first time that Bilibili’s New Year’s event, previously only streamed online, will be broadcast on television. In the mainland, where the show competes with spectacles aired by regional networks and state broadcaster CCTV, Bilibili has been positioning itself as an alternative platform tailored for China’s Generation Z demographic.

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