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Xiang Xin says his offer is “perfect timing” as China Trends has avoided much of the ownership chaos that has plagued ATV. Photo: Felix Wong

‘ATV could be Asia’s Netflix’: investor’s plan to save Hong Kong’s dying TV station

Boss of tech company China Trends highlights the broadcaster’s selling points after offering HK$500 million in loans

The latest investor offering to throw a lifeline to ATV has revealed ambitious plans to transform the dying station into “Asia’s Netflix” after its free-to-air licence expires at the end of the month.

The new bid to turn around the cash-strapped broadcaster has echoes of past promises made by former mainland investor Wong Ching, who said he would turn Asia Television into “Asia’s CNN” six years ago but ended up in court trying to liquidate the company.

Xiang Xin, chairman of Hong Kong-listed tech firm China Trends, told the Post he aspired to turn the city’s oldest television station into another Netflix – the global provider of streaming movies and TV series – after offering HK$500 million in loans for ATV.

“We wish to transform ATV into Asia’s Netflix, and there is no other target in sight that is better-positioned than this one to take the shift,” Xiang, who is already an ATV creditor, said on Friday.

Xiang was born on the mainland but has lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years

READ MORE: Vultures circling ATV’s mainland China landing right

His company raised eyebrows on Wednesday when it said in a regulatory filing that it wanted to extend a lifeline of up to HK$500 million in loans to reinvigorate ATV and develop its online television business.

“What comes first is that ATV has landing rights of its programmes on the mainland, and it also possesses a sizeable area for us to place data centres,” Xiang said as he highlighted ATV’s selling points. “Except for TVB, I can’t come up with any other station in Hong Kong with similar strengths.”

While it remains unclear whether Beijing would take back the dying station’s landing rights in Guangdong after its licence expires, Xiang said ATV’s online and satellite programmes should still be kept on air across the border “at least in the legal sense”.

READ MORE: ATV’s collapse exposes Hong Kong-China cultural divide of the type that breeds localism

The 51-year-old businessman said his offer was “perfect timing” as China Trends had managed to avoid much of the ownership chaos plaguing ATV last year and to finally get to sit down with provisional liquidator Deloitte quietly to discuss a deal.

This came as a senior manager at the station said ATV was looking at designing an internet platform to help it stay afloat after April 1, with some 160 staff still available to keep the show going.

Jeff Wong Sau-tung added that the broadcaster would go ahead with this year’s Miss Asia pageant for the last time, before the end of March.

China’s Trends’ proposal, which needs the green light from Deloitte and the other creditors, was greeted by doubts among ATV employees, who questioned the tech company’s motives and ability to revamp the dying broadcaster.

But Xiang promised “wise plans would be laid out” to rebuild ATV, suggesting his firm could do well in areas beyond its expertise as it had a board of directors who “know their stuff”.

The tech boss also declared that his company was “more reliable” than current ATV investor China Culture Media, which is controlled by mainland businessman Si Rongbin.

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