Struggling Hong Kong broadcaster TVB to cut 300 jobs, reduce number of channels to 4

Hong Kong’s biggest free-to-air broadcaster will lay off more than 300 staff, or 8 per cent of its headcount, and cut the number of its television channels to four as part of a restructuring plan following five straight years of losses.

TVB said on Monday that the restructuring of its businesses would result in savings of HK$100 million on content and another HK$50 million to HK$60 million in annual fixed costs and overheads in its e-commerce unit in 2024.

The planned job cuts follow earlier lay-offs in March when the broadcaster axed 255 workers, or 6.5 per cent of its workforce, leaving 3,599 full-time staff as of March 31.

Television Broadcasts said the moves were a reflection of its efforts to optimise its services, “while creating a leaner and more cost-efficient organisation that can deliver superior returns to shareholders over the longer term”.

The broadcaster also announced a round of lay-offs in March. Photo: May Tse

More than 200 staff will lose their jobs on the finance, sports and information channel, which will be merged with younger-audience-focused J2 into “TVB+”.

The broadcaster said the new TVB+ channel would also provide content for digital platforms, with a focus on young audiences, including dramas as well as sports and informational programmes.

“We expect TVB+ will appeal to a larger combined audience than our current J2 and [the finance, sports and information] channel, and thus also deliver a stronger value proposition to advertisers,” the broadcaster said.

The station said some finance-related content, including programmes on the stock and property markets, would be broadcast on its Jade and TVB+ channels.

TVB said it expected to transition from five to its new four-channel line-up – Jade, TVB+, TVB News and Pearl – starting from December, subject to the Communications Authority’s approval. It expects approval in the first quarter of 2024.

The Communications Authority said it had received TVB’s application and would process it under established procedures.

The broadcaster said the merger of the two channels was expected to save an additional HK$100 million by 2024, on top of HK$260 million by the end of this year and announced in March.

Another 100 staff will lose their jobs under the merger of its two e-commerce platforms, ztore.com and Neigbuy.com, which is set to be completed by the end of the year.

The company said the Ztore website and mobile app would no longer be available from December 19, with the move helping to eliminate HK$50 million to HK$60 million in costs.

Senior economist Gary Ng Cheuk-yan from Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank said TVB’s restructuring was an example of how traditional broadcasters were coping with fierce competition from streaming platforms.

“Audiences have more choices today, and most options are just one click away,” he said. “Any traditional broadcaster needs to differentiate themselves by producing good local content or finding a way to get on the global stage from an economic perspective.”

Economist Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at Chinese University, said among the broadcaster’s challenges was finding a wider audience base, which was not easy given Hong Kong’s population size.

“Combining some departments can definitely reduce fixed costs, but I doubt whether it is enough,” he warned.

TVB has struggled with low viewership and advertising revenue. The pandemic added to problems caused by the 2019 anti-government protests, when some internet users called for a boycott over what they said was a pro-Beijing bias in its news coverage.

The broadcaster reported a HK$406.7 million loss (US$51.89 million) in the first half of the year, an 81 per cent increase, or HK$224 million, compared with the same period in 2022.

The company has posted losses for five consecutive years, hitting a record deficit of HK$807 million in 2022, following HK$647 million in 2021 and HK$281 million in 2020.

E-commerce revenue dropped by 41 per cent to HK$271 million in the first half of the year from the same period last year, the broadcaster said, citing reduced demand for pandemic-related goods.