Rediffusion Television
| Rediffusion | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Government Franchised[1] |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Headquarters |  Hong Kong |
| Industry | Radio broadcasting Television broadcasting |
Rediffusion Television (RTV) (麗的電視有限公司) was the first Chinese language television station in the world, established in 1957 in Hong Kong, making it the first British colony to have television.[2] It began as a radio station in 1949 and became ATV by 1982.
History
"Radio Rediffusion" was officially founded in 1949 as a highly successful wired radio station run by the Rediffusion company.[2] It was known by the Chinese name (traditional Chinese: 麗的映聲; pinyin: li4 de5 ang3 sheng1). The radio service was highly successful with its main competitor Commercial Radio. Some of the early contents included plays, stories, concerts and Cantonese operas. The broadcasts were some of the main attraction in Hong Kong tea shops. One of the most famous broadcaster was Li Ngaw.[1] The other was Uncle Ray the pioneering DJ.
It later became a subscription TV station on May 29, 1957 becoming the first Chinese TV station. The content at the time was black-and-white. The monthly fee during its launch was HK$55, which was expensive at the time; Hong Kong tea shops once again provided an outlet for the broadcasts to the working class who could not afford the subscription fees. When competitor TVB made its first free-to-air broadcast in 1967, RTV had 67,000 subscribers.[2] In April 1973, it was offered a free-to-air television broadcasting license, which ended its fifteen-year cable service in October 1973. Later in December 1973, it was renamed to Rediffusion Television Limited or RTV (麗的電視有限公司). In 1982 it was renamed to Asia Television Limited.
See also
References
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