TVB Pearl

World Screen Weekly, September 18, 2008

COUNTRY: Hong Kong

LAUNCH DATE: November 19, 1967

OWNERSHIP: Television Broadcasts Limited

DISTRIBUTION: 2.2 million television households

DESCRIPTION: TVB Pearl seeks to entertain its audience with English-language programming ranging from drama and reality shows to documentaries and blockbuster movies.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:

Assistant Managing Director: George Chan Ching Cheong

General Manager, Broadcasting: Stephen Chan Chi Wan

General Manager, Broadcasting: Cheong Shin Keong

General Manager, Finance & Administration: Mark Lee Po On

Deputy Controller, Program Division: Cecilia Tan

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: TVB Pearl aims to provide its viewers with “up-market, stylish, international programming relevant to the Hong Kong audience,” says Cecilia Tan, the deputy controller of the program division at the channel. “Pearl has a balanced and specially selected mix of theatrical blockbusters, drama series, documentaries, reality shows and lifestyle programs from U.S. studios and internationally acclaimed producers, plus sports, news and current affairs.”

TVB Pearl buys productions based on a title’s unique edge, local appeal and ratings potential, Tan says. The English-language channel, which runs 24 hours a day and reaches 2.2 million homes in Hong Kong, also subtitles all, while dubbing most, of its prime-time programming in Chinese.

The network’s schedule is packed with popular imports such as Heroes, House, Lost, Ugly Betty, Dirty Sexy Money, Prison Break, 24 and Hotel Babylon, in addition to reality programming such as America’s Got Talent and Celebrity Apprentice. Classic films such as Titanic and Ghost, action movies like Hellboy and AVP: Alien vs. Predator, adventure flicks such as the Indiana Jones trilogy and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl also air on Pearl. A Movie of the Month and Weekend Blockbusters also fill the channel’s slate, which is about 75 percent acquired.

Original productions such as documentaries, current affairs, news and lifestyle programming make up the rest of TVB Pearl’s schedule. The half-hour weekly current-affairs program Money Magazine and the half-hour weekly documentary The Pearl Report provide factual content and analysis to viewers. Weekly lifestyle program Dolce Vita explores fine dining and luxury products as well as hi-tech and fashion trends. TVB Pearl also featured extensive live coverage and highlights of the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the opening and closing ceremonies of both events.

The channel’s website supports programming by providing updated schedules along with viewer forums where people can comment about their favorite shows. Through a recent deal with Disney-ABC International Television, TVB Pearl launched CatchUp TV, which offers a selection of free, ad-supported series to viewers through the channel’s website. Twelve hours after the TV broadcast, the episodes become available on demand for four weeks. Dirty Sexy Money, produced by ABC Studios, was the first show made available on this service in July with programming such as Lost, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters to follow.

TVB Pearl has around an 80-percent audience share and claims all of the top 100 programs on English-language channels for 2007, Tan says. TVB Pearl is the English-language channel offering from Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), which also operates the Chinese Jade channel and digital channels HD Jade and J2.

WHAT’S NEW: TVB Pearl started airing the BBC documentary Wild China at the end of August. Additionally, the channel has acquired Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which premiered in September, and Cashmere Mafia, which will make its debut in October.

WEBSITE: pearl.tvb.com

—By Jackie Stewart