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(SCMP)TheplightofdoomedHongKongbroadcasterAsiaTelevisionhasprovokedstrongemotionsallthewayfromBeijing,withsomeformerassociatesattendingamajorpoliticalconferenceinthecapitalexpressingtheirconfusionandunhappiness.
RepresentativesfromaccountingfirmDeloitteareexpectedtohandoutterminationletterstoATVstaffonFridaymorningandfigureouthowtoshutdowntransmissionafterthecourtgavethego-aheadonThursday.“Istillseeaglimmerofhope,”saidasecurityguardsurnamedChow,whohasbeenwiththebroadcasterformorethan25years.”Iwastoldlastnightthatthenewinvestorwillmakeanall-outefforttostopDeloittefromtakingusoffair,andhepromisedtopaytwomonthsofsalariesaslongastheaccountingfirmagreed,”Chowsaid.
Scores of reporters and photographers have been gathered outside ATV’s headquarters in Tai Po. Photo: Sam Tsang
At 9am on Friday, very few employees walked into the broadcaster’s Tai Po head headquarters, outnumbered by the scores of reporters and photographers gathered outside to witness the final moments in ATV’s 60-year history.
There was a clash between journalists and an ATV staff member who tried to drive onto the premises and stopped only about 10 centimetres away from a crowd of reporters.
Outrage broke out among the journalists over the driver’s behaviour. The car then left and did not return.Programmes are still running on ATV’s local and world channels.
In Beijing, former ATV chief executive Chan Wing-kee, who spoke on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said on Friday morning: “I’m in a very bad mood today, I don’t know what those folks are doing. It’s just such a big mess!”He declined to speak further.
CPPCC delegate and former ATV director Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said: “I’m not familiar with details of their problems, but as an outsider, I also feel that the station is in a mess.
Why has it turned out this way? It’s such a pity for it to close down before this month’s end.”The station’s licence is due to expire at the end of March.Staff shuttle bus services are still running at ATV.
Over the past half hour, two to three people were at one point seen next to a van belonging to the broadcaster’s news department.
Asked if he would be staying on, a staff member who carried bags of personal belongings to a car outside and later rushed back to office said: “I don’t know. [I’m] waiting for the Labour Department.”
He did not answer further questions from reporters.Jan He, the representative of new investor Si Rongbin, was seen arriving at the office at 10.15am.
He is expected to show two suitcases of cash to Deloitte to prove that Si has the money to continue running the broadcaster. But they reportedly will not give it to the accounting firm because they do not trust the liquidators.
