Survey: HK viewers slam TVB for lacking creativity in programmes, excessive boy groups exposure on ViuTV

Hong Kong viewers have expressed dissatisfaction regarding the programme quality of three domestic free TV services providers, of which some of them said TVB kept broadcasting nostalgic programmes which lacked creativity, while HKTVE, parent company of ViuTV, provided excessive exposures for the boy groups in its programmes.

The Communications Authority has received a total of 460 submissions from the public during a consultation exercise from 10 September to 9 November 2021, gauging public views on the services provided by the three domestic free television programme service licensees and two sound broadcasting licensees including TVB, HKTVE and Fantastic TV.

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The survey showed that some viewers said TVB's reality shows kept up with the current trend and the content was interesting, some said that its dramas and variety shows were repetitive in content, lacking creativity and were not appealing to viewers.

In addition, some said there were too many programmes on Greater Bay Area (GBA) which were boring. Some audience was annoyed by the excessive use of product placements in programmes like “Scoop” (東張西望) and “Come Home Love: Lo And Behold” (愛·回家之開心速遞). Indirect advertising of “Big Big Shop” was also considered excessive. There were also views concerning TVB often broadcasted programmes with political stances, advertised products of companies in which TVB had an interest and made use of its TV platform for marketing. There was also suggestion that TVB News Channel should be terminated.

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In terms of the general dissatisfactions regarding the TV programmes of ViuTV, some viewers said the programmes were creative and brought new impacts on the industry. The programmes, produced in depth with a genuine reflection of the reality, were memorable to the audience and inspiring.

However, some expressed negative views on ViuTV as it has provided excessive exposures for the boy groups in the programmes, with repetitive themes and contents, relied overly on acquired programmes and lacked local elements, self-produced programmes were predominately variety shows and there were too many reality shows. Some audience revealed that “The Couples’ Gambit” (賭命夫妻) , a production of ViuTV which aimed to explore spousal relationship problems in a light-hearted manner, was of bad taste, too erotic, indecent and advocated extramarital relationship. 

In terms of Fantastic Television's content quality, some audience said that its programmes on weekdays lacked variety and were not appealing and it kept on broadcasting news, financial programmes and repeated of old programmes. Some said its productions lacked creativity and should broadcast a greater variety of programmes.

On the other hand, the Communications Authority has conducted an opinion survey between 4 October 2021 and 7 January 2022. A total of 1,712 people of age 15 or above were successfully enumerated, with a response rate of 73.2%. Among them, 1,579 had watched free TV programmes in the month prior to the opinion survey. 

The survey revealed that the viewership of free TV services was about the same as that of that of 2017 (91.0%) and that of 2014 (91.0%) but had dropped when compared to 2009 (96.0%). Among the viewers, 70.2% watched free TV programmes on a daily basis. 10% did so between four and six days a week and 19.9% watched free TV programmes between three days a week and one day a month. 

The free TV channels most often watched by viewers were TVB Jade (74.4% on weekdays and 73.5% on weekends), TVB News (62.1% on weekdays and 61.5% on weekends), ViuTV (47.6% on weekdays and 47.2% on weekends), TVB J2 (44.0% on weekdays and 45.0% on weekends), TVB Finance & Information(25.3% on weekdays and 24.2% on weekends), TVB Pearl (19.6% on weekdays and 21.3% on weekends) and Hong Kong Open TV11 (19.1% on weekdays and 18.1% on weekends).

News programmes (85.4%) and drama (66.1%) were the most popular among viewers, followed by travelogues/talk shows/gourmet programmes (52.0%), current affairs programmes (43.7%) and celebrity/talent/variety shows (35.4%). Regarding the reasons for watching free TV programmes, viewers did so “for obtaining information such as news, weather, financial and traffic reports” (73.7%), followed by “for entertainment” (61.4%) and “for education/enrichment” (40.0%).

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