MarketHong Kong Cable Television
Company Profile

Hong Kong Cable Television

Hong Kong Cable Television Limited, formerly known as Wharf Cable Television Limited until 31 October 1998, is a cable television provider in Hong Kong currently owned by Forever Top (Asia) Limited, which operates it as a part of i-Cable Communications business. It was the second company to provide cable television services in Hong Kong. It was incorporated on 30 June 1993 and officially inaugurated on 31 October same year, offering a package of over 100 pay television channels, 54 of which are directly operated by the company.

History
The company was founded as Wharf Cable Television (), incorporated on 30 June 1993. Cable-based transmissions were officially inaugurated by the Governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten. It went on air with eight channels, including the world's first 24-hour Cantonese news channel. Wharf Cable Television changed its name to Hong Kong Cable Television () on 31 October 1998. It was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1999 under i-Cable Communications. ==Ownership==
Ownership
In 2017, i-Cable was sold to Forever Top (Asia) Limited. In 2021, Henry Cheng Kar-Chun, the chairman of New World Development, pumped up his stake in i-Cable by acquiring shares from chairman of Far East Consortium David Chiu Tat-cheong through Cheng's company Celestial Pioneer. This increased Celestial Pioneer's stake in Forever Top from 31.5% to 72%, making it the largest shareholder of the company. ==Controversy==
Controversy
i-Cable TV fired at least 40 journalists, editors, and production crew, including the whole team of News Lancet (an award-winning investigative journalism show) in December 2020. The management claimed the firings were simply to "save resources". However, Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) questioned the real aim was reducing or eliminating the reporting of sensitive news, after the team of News Lancet covered stories critical of the police and the authorities in 2019. ==References==
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