TVB Pearl

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TVB Pearl
File:Tvbpearl.jpg
TVB Pearl
Launched 19 November 1967
Owned by Television Broadcasts Limited
Picture format 576i 4:3 (PALSDTV)
1080i 16:9 (Digital HDTV)
Audience share 75%[1]
Country Hong Kong
Language English
Broadcast area Hong Kong
Macau and parts of Guangdong Province
Website pearl.tvb.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Hong Kong analogue Variable by district
Hong Kong digital Channel 84 (HD)
Satellite
Astro (Malaysia) Channel 740 (HD)

TVB Pearl (Chinese: 無綫電視明珠台) is one of the two free television services in Hong Kong that mainly broadcast in the English language, the other being ATV World. It is owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited, and together with its sister Cantonese language station TVB Jade, is broadcast from TVB City at 77 Chun Choi Street in Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate in Tseung Kwan O, in the Sai Kung District, which is in the Eastern region of Hong Kong's New Territories.

Apart from the use of English rather than Cantonese, TVB Pearl's daytime output differs from TVB Jade's in providing more serious programming, such as documentaries and news, and during peak viewing time it is much more reliant on overseas-made TV series and films. Occasionally, TVB Pearl also shows programmes in other languages (but usually well outside peak viewing time), including Mandarin, Japanese and Korean (see #Non-English programmes).

Established on 19 November 1967, TVB Pearl broadcasts free of charge to over 2.1 million households in Hong Kong. The channel is operated by Television Broadcasts Limited or TVB, along with its sister channel TVB Jade. In 1991, TVB Pearl began to broadcast in NICAM, a digital audio modulation system that provides a facility for stereo or bilingual or trilingual audio transmission. (For the digital counterpart, multiple AC-3 streams are transmitted for the same purpose.) With a compatible television, the viewer can receive audio in their choice of language; typically, English and Cantonese. Chinese subtitles are available on most programmes after 18:20.

The transmission of TVB Pearl digital TV channel have been upgraded from SDTV to HDTV video format on 28 October 2012 at 02:50.

Programmes on TVB Pearl

Originals

An entertainment package which shows the latest fashion, dining, beauty, leisure, luxury, lifestyle, shopping and celebrities in Hong Kong. The hosts are usually well-established TVB actors and actresses, employed on long-term contracts.
Those programmes are followed by Earth Live, which is produced by earthTV.
  • Sports Live
Most live broadcasts of sports are shown on TVB Pearl, including NBA, Football, Olympic Games and others, with the channel providing its own English-language commentary.

TVBS News on TVB Pearl

TVBS News is carried on TVB Pearl delayed at 05:00 until 05:30 Hong Kong Time (live television at 23:00 until 01:00 Taiwan Time) and is currently the only Republic of China daily news television stations carried on TVB Pearl.

China News on TVB Pearl

China News is carried on TVB Pearl delayed at 05:30 until 06:00 Hong Kong Time (live television at 19:00 until 19:30 Beijing Time) and is currently the only People's Republic of China daily news television stations carried on TVB Pearl.

NBC Nightly News on TVB Pearl

On 2 January 2008, NBC Nightly News is carried on TVB Pearl live television at 07:30 until 08:00 Hong Kong Time (18:30 until 19:00 New York City Time) and is currently the only United States of America daily news television stations carried on TVB Pearl.

CCTV News Live on TVB Pearl

CCTV News Live is carried on TVB Pearl live television at 12:00 until 13:00 Beijing/Hong Kong Time and is currently the only People's Republic of China daily news television stations carried on TVB Pearl.

Bloomberg TV Indonesia on TVB Pearl

From 1 May 2013 to 1 January 2014, Bloomberg TV Indonesia is carried on TVB Pearl live television at 06:00 until 07:30 Hong Kong Time (05:00 until 06:30 Jakarta Standard Time) and is currently the only Indonesia daily business and financial news television stations carried on TVB Pearl.

Weekend Blockbuster and audience popularity

Movies are the most watched programmes on TVB Pearl. The generic title for movies on the channel was originally Studio 930, as the starting time is 9.30pm, but was replaced by Weekend Blockbuster. This title is familiar to most Hong Kong viewers, according to ratings surveys conducted by ACNielsen in 2001. While most drama programmes air over four nights (Monday-Thursdays), Weekend Blockbuster generally airs on Fridays and over the weekend.

Themed programmes

The channel produces themed collections of programmes during some special occasions. For example, the collection Be My Valentine (featuring a series of love movies) is released a week before Valentine's Day, and horror movies are shown at Halloween.

Other programmes broadcast include:

  • mini-series
  • documentaries
  • informative
  • musical
  • drama
  • entertainment

TVB Pearl started producing a new programme known as "Dolce Vita" from the spring of 2006. Dolce Vita is a topical lifestyle magazine programme that focuses on current events in Hong Kong, including new restaurants and interviews with visiting English-speaking celebrities.

As a free TV broadcasting channel, TVB Pearl is important in introducing drama produced outside Hong Kong to the populace. This includes such award-winning drama series as Lost, Without a Trace, Nip/Tuck, The O.C., 24, Las Vegas, and Medium. The success of these shows prompted the production of Hong Kong versions of ER (Healing Hands), Desperate Housewives (La Femme Desperado) and Sex and the City (20/30 Dictionary). Moreover, the ratings on the debut of the Japanese Drama Mother at 14 have been the highest ratings recorded for drama on the channel in the last 20 years.

Since the Hong Kong government does not have its own television station, its agency Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) requires the two domestic free television stations to broadcast their programmes and advertisements. One of the most well known programmes is Educational Television (ETV) which began in 1971. This follows the Hong Kong education syllabus, serving as a reference for primary and secondary school students of mathematics, the English language, Putonghua, and other school subjects. During the thirty-two week school year, ETV programmes are shown on ATV World from 09:00 to 12:00 and on TVB Pearl from 14:00 to 16:00 each weekday.

Other programmes produced by RTHK are broadcast on TVB Pearl on a weekly basis. These programmes are mainly documentaries covering politics and social issues, such as A Week in Politics and Hong Kong Connection.

Non-English programmes

Both ATV World and TVB Pearl are permitted by the Broadcasting Authority of Hong Kong to broadcast non-English programmes for up to 20% of their daily transmission time, outside peak viewing time. In fact, only 12% of TVB Pearl programmes are in languages other than English: 83.6% of those (10% of its total transmission time) are in Mandarin. The remainder include broadcasts in Japanese, Korean, Filipino and Cantonese.

Obtaining schedules

Schedules are published in the South China Morning Post, The Standard, The Manila Times, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star and The New Standard and in other daily Hong Kong and Philippine newspapers, including Chinese newspapers.

TVB Pearl operates its own official homepage which contains information about the programmes shown by the channel. In addition to schedules, this includes featured special collections, highlights of some movies, and "editor's choice". A discussion area called Pearl Club, where audience members may post their opinions about the programmes of TVB Pearl, is also available; membership is free. Viewers can also register to receive programme information via email, through the "Pearl e-alert" service.

Partnership with SCOLAR

Since the 2002/2003 academic year, TVB Pearl has been in partnership with SCOLAR (The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research) in a pilot project to promote language education in Hong Kong. TVB Pearl will continue to be one of the partner stations of SCOLAR in launching the "English in the Air 2003/04" project, aiming at promoting the learning and teaching of English through television programmes for secondary school students and teachers. Two teenage English television programmes entitled Road Scholars and Lizzie McGuire are to be broadcast on TVB Pearl in accordance with the project. English subtitles will be provided to facilitate the learning of English.

Partnership with ABC Asia Pacific

Television Broadcast Limited cooperated with ABC Asia Pacific (now called Australia Plus), operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), to provide a broadcast of ABC National news every morning after midnight on TVB Pearl. This partnership ended on 17 June 2006.

Reception

TVB Pearl is broadcast through UHF from its six main transmission stations at Temple Hill, Golden Hill, Castle Peak, Kowloon Peak, Tai Mo Shan, and Lamma Island, and two repeaters at Tsuen Wan and Tsing Yi. The Tsuen Wan repeater started service on 22 August 2003, and the Tsing Yi repeater started on 18 September 2003. The repeaters were built to enhance reception of TVB Pearl.

Censorship in Southern China

Hong Kong

Censorship in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is implemented or mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC). However, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has its own English Common Law system and is largely self-governing, so the censorship policy is not implemented in Hong Kong.[2]

Guangdong Province

TVB Pearl is re-broadcast in Guangdong Province by Southern Television (南方电视台), the state-owned and operated television network in the Province. Due to the media censorship in China, TVB Pearl is not always available in some parts of the Province. For example, in some cities (like Shaoguan), during those times that the scheduled programme's nature is deemed to be "sensitive", the local TV provider replaces the programme with pre-taped videos (such as on STD/AIDS prevention).

Guangzhou

TVB Pearl is re-broadcast in the city of Guangzhou by Guangzhou Television (广州电视台, GZTV), the state-owned & operated TV network in Guangzhou. In addition to using advertising to replace censored Hong Kong programmes, GZTV also broadcasts adverts during the hours that TVB Pearl is off the air.

Awards

TVB Pearl has received a number of awards during the years of its programming production. For example, The Pearl Report: Outsider won a merit at the [Hong Kong Human Rights Press Awards]Human Rights Press Awards 2002 co-organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Amnesty International Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Journalists Association Meanwhile, 2008 Olympic Image was awarded the Bronze Medal (Station and Image Production) in the New York Festivals.

See also

References

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External links

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