TVB denies rumours on chief creative officer's resignation

TVB has reportedly denied that its chief creative officer Wong Cho-lam had left the company, saying that he is working in China for the company on a number of programmes. According to multiple reports in Hong Kong including HK01, TVB denied rumours on the internet about Wong's departure. According to media statements, the company added that promoting its business development in China is one of its key strategies, and it has been regularly assigning teams familiar with the Chinese market to develop its programmes. Currently, Wong is said to be in China to help produce programmes for TVB.

Previously, he was reportedly at odds with senior executives Catherine Tsang and Virginia Lok just a year after he took on the role. According to media reports including Ming Pao and HK01, Wong allegedly clashed with Tsang and Lok over Linda Chung losing out on the Best Actress award at the TVB Anniversary Awards last month. Chung, who currently lives in Vancouver and returned to the showbiz scene with her TVB drama Kids' Lives Matter, received praise from viewers for her work and was reportedly the hot favourite to win Best Actress. She was also persuaded by Wong to fly over to Hong Kong for the awards ceremony. Tsang and Lok, however, did not agree with Chung and the film won Best Actress and Best Drama respectively, media reports said.

As a result of the internal disagreement with Tsang and Lok, Wong reportedly turned his sights to mainland China, helping TVB artistes expand their careers in the market. According to HK01 and Ming Pao, Wong is acting as an agent and helping TVB artistes secure projects in mainland China. This has also reportedly caused a stir internally, as some feel that it would be impossible for Wong, who helms a senior role, to be away from the headquarters in Hong Kong for a long period of time, HK01 said.

In addition to the rift between its management, TVB announced last month that it recorded a loss of up to about HK$647 million in FY 2021 due to the increasing loss of eCommerce and Hong Kong broadcast business, in addition to the reduced income of OTT business. One of the highlights of its loss was the negative EBITDA of HK$314 million due to the increase in its operating costs for the year, and the absence of any COVID-related wage subsidy income from the Hong Kong government. In 2020, the company's EDITDA was HK$74 million. There was a 14% increase in total operating cost from HK$3,253 million to HK$3,707 million in 2021, mainly due to continued investment in content production talent and resources, and its consolidation of Ztore Group’s operating costs from late August 2021. In August 2021, TVB acquired Ztore which owns and operates two eCommerce platforms in Hong Kong, namely ztore.com and neigbuy.com. TVB owns a majority of shares and voting rights in this investment.

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