Chapter 406: TVB Launches, Sweeping Across Hong Kong
With the birth of a new pair of children, the Yang family once again became lively. Yang Wendong now had five children: Su Yiyi had given birth to a son and a daughter, Bai Yushan had two sons and a daughter—including a pair of twins—and for the moment, Bai Yujie had no children.
Yang Wendong was quite satisfied with this family configuration. His lineage was thriving. After all, this wasn't ancient times—modern medicine had made childbirth relatively safe. What's more, he had specifically invested in building a world-class medical examination center to ensure the health of his family. As for security, there was even less to worry about.
These investments, for the current scale of the Yang financial empire, were merely a drop in the bucket.
A few days later, after various health checks confirmed both newborns were completely healthy, Yang Wendong could finally relax.
August 27, Yang Wendong visited an eight-story building in Tseung Kwan O. On its rooftop, in bold letters, was the name: Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB).
"Mr. Yang, welcome."
Qin Zhiye, Zou Wenhuai, and several senior executives of TVB had already been waiting at the door. As soon as Yang Wendong's car pulled up, they quickly gathered to greet him.
"Gentlemen," Yang Wendong nodded, casting a glance at the TVB leadership, then turned to one individual and asked, "Old Qi, TVB officially launches tomorrow. Are all the preparations ready?"
The Chinese love the numbers 8 and 6. In Yang Wendong's previous life, car license plates with triple 8s or 6s could be more expensive than the car itself. A plate with four or five 8s was a priceless collector's item. Even the Olympic Games had their opening ceremony at precisely 8:08 on 08/08/2008.
For this reason, TVB's launch was scheduled for August 28 at 8:08 AM—an auspicious number, and one that resonated with the public psychologically.
The man Yang addressed was Qi Ruifan, the current acting general manager of TVB. He had formerly worked at a Japanese television network and had been recruited by Changxing Group.
Qi Ruifan replied confidently, "Mr. Yang, everything is ready. Once you go upstairs, you'll see all the content we've prepared."
"Great, I'm looking forward to it," Yang Wendong said with a smile.
And it was no empty politeness—he genuinely meant it. Not because he expected TVB to generate massive profits, nor because he thought it would bring extraordinary PR value to his group. Those things mattered, but they weren't strategic.
What truly excited him was that with TVB established, he could now invest heavily in content creation—dramas, variety shows, and more. Done right, these shows would be of great quality. Even in his previous life in the 2020s, many people still watched 70s and 80s Hong Kong dramas and films. They were classics.
After living in this new world for six years, Yang Wendong had often felt bored. There were no truly entertaining programs to watch. Now, not only could he enjoy TV again, but these programs could also go global.
Soon, the group entered the TVB building. Qi Ruifan personally led Yang Wendong through a detailed tour, ascending floor by floor, until they reached the top-floor conference room.
Qi Ruifan began, "Mr. Yang, our TV station's programming schedule is as follows: we start at 8 AM with a half-hour news segment—15 minutes local news, 15 minutes international.
At 8:45 AM, we begin broadcasting dramas, with interspersed commercials, continuing until 11:30 AM. At noon, another half-hour of news. In the afternoon, we air movies and TV programs, then cartoons at 5 PM, followed by more dramas from 7 PM to 11 PM.
During those time slots, commercials are inserted. After midnight, we'll occasionally play movies or repeat advertisements."
"Mostly movies? Because there aren't enough TV dramas yet?" Yang Wendong asked.
"Yes," Qi Ruifan replied. "Even with Mr. Zou's help, we only have three dramas so far—nowhere near enough for a proper TV station schedule.
However, Hong Kong has a long history of movie production. We're buying up old films to air on TV. Licensing is cheap, since many are outdated."
Yang Wendong continued, "Have you considered acquiring foreign TV dramas?"
"I have," said Qi Ruifan, "but we're a new network. International licensors are quoting us very high prices—it's not worth it. Plus, even after purchase, we'd still need to dub and translate the content, which adds cost and time.
We're not even sure if Hong Kong viewers would like it. It's risky.
On the other hand, old Hong Kong movies are easy. Once we buy the rights, we can air them right away. Pricing is based on historical box office numbers, so we rarely lose money."
"Fair enough. Different cultures, after all," Yang Wendong nodded. "Then let's start with old films, and produce more of our own dramas to fill the gaps."
"Yes, sir," Qi Ruifan replied.
Yang Wendong asked again, "What about news content? Are you ready for that?"
"No problem there," said Qi Ruifan. "We've recruited several experienced journalists from Oriental Daily. They're transitioning from print to video, but storytelling and scripting remain the same. It's just a matter of adapting.
As for camera crews, we poached talent from Rediffusion Television and some Hong Kong film studios. They're more than capable.
For international news, we simply select major headlines and repackage the content."
"Are you paying for licensing rights?" Yang Wendong asked.
"No," Qi Ruifan admitted. "We're using short clips, not full broadcasts, and changing the delivery. It doesn't constitute a direct copyright violation."
"Alright, I'll let it slide for now," Yang Wendong said.
Changxing Group had built its empire on patents and copyrights, so he was very sensitive to IP issues. Generally, he avoided infringing on others.
But the news industry was a gray area. Even in the internet age, so long as you marked content as "reposted," it was typically fine. In the 1960s, as long as they paraphrased major foreign news, there would be no legal trouble.
Besides, even if TVB wanted to pay licensing fees, real-time news couldn't wait. By the time they reached out to negotiate, the news would be old.
In Western media markets, speed is everything. Whoever breaks the news first wins. Everyone else is an afterthought.
Outside of the U.S. and Europe, foreign media often just reused Western content—sometimes word-for-word—and Western outlets rarely objected.
Qi Ruifan added, "Mr. Yang, right now, ad slots aren't sold out yet. Many companies are waiting to see how large our audience will be before committing.
So I filled the blank spaces with commercials for our own group's products."
"That's not a problem," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "Once our TV station gains a larger viewer base, advertisers will probably have to line up for spots."
Qin Zhiye also added, "Yes, according to my market research, many Hong Kong residents have long been anticipating our free-to-air television station."
"The whole city has suffered from paid television long enough," Yang Wendong nodded. "But we still need to keep promoting it. Everyone in Hong Kong who owns a TV should know about us."
There's a saying that "free is the most expensive", but in media and the internet, free is the foundation. Once that foundation is established, then you can slowly start to monetize—what people like to call "harvesting."
Of course, this kind of harvesting is fair—people opt in voluntarily. Just like freemium games: you can play for free, you'll just be weak. But for most people, that's better than the old pay-to-play model. And those who spend big on microtransactions? As long as they're not minors, there's nothing wrong with that—after all, they're paying for enjoyment.
Hong Kong's TV landscape was just like this. Rediffusion Television (RTV) had a monopoly for years. Their programming wasn't impressive, and yet they charged HK$30 a month—enough to buy a low-end television set in a year. For working-class families, it was a real burden.
Qi Ruifan laughed and said, "Understood. Oriental Daily has already run multiple campaigns promoting TVB. I've also arranged for flyers to be distributed at major shopping malls and amusement parks across Hong Kong.
Anyone who regularly visits malls probably has some money. That means there's a good chance they already own a television."
"Right. Focus your future promotions in places like that," Yang Wendong said. "Our ultimate goal is to make television sets a common household item. Once TVB becomes successful, demand for TVs will also skyrocket."
Rongyao Electronics had been working hard to localize TV production in Hong Kong, including as many components as possible. While full vertical integration was still out of reach, the more they could produce in-house, the lower their costs would be.
But affordable TV sets alone weren't enough. People also had to be able to watch TV without paying monthly fees. Previously, with RTV charging HK$30 per month, many families stayed away—just like how mobile data in the early 2000s deterred smartphone use.
Now, with a free over-the-air TV station, the TV market would see explosive growth. Once more people owned TVs, TVB would gain viewers and attract advertisers. It was a win-win model, an absolutely mutual benefit.
August 28, morning.
Ding~~! The alarm rang. A student-looking young man jumped out of bed and turned on the TV.
"Ah Hin, why are you up so early?" a middle-aged woman asked.
"Mom," the boy grinned, "TVB launches today. I want to see what kind of programs they have."
"What's TVB?" the mother asked.
"It's Hong Kong's new wireless TV station," Ah Hin explained. "It broadcasts through radio waves, so we can watch TV at home without needing cable."
"Wait, you mean it's free? We don't have to pay HK$30 every month for cable anymore?" As a housewife, she was highly sensitive to household expenses.
HK$30 per month might not seem like much, but for the average working-class family, it was a heavy financial burden. Yet they couldn't go without a TV—life would be unbearably boring.
"Exactly," Ah Hin nodded. "But we still need to see if the quality is good. If it is, we won't have to pay for RTV anymore."
The mother walked over and looked at the TV playing a news segment. After a moment, she said, "Looks pretty similar to Rediffusion."
"Being similar is already great!" Ah Hin explained. "This is a brand-new channel. Even though it's backed by the 'Post-it Note King' Yang Wendong, it can't possibly compete with RTV right away.
But give it some time. It's bound to improve. Then we'll have free TV."
"Not bad," the mother nodded. "I'll keep watching too. If the quality holds up, I'll cancel RTV this week. No point paying HK$30 next month again.
HK$30 could buy so much meat. Watching TV becomes a dilemma—you don't want to pay, but once you do, you feel obligated to watch. And if you watch too much, it affects work and study. So stressful."
"…," Ah Hin didn't know what to say. He didn't dare argue, lest he be told to go do his homework.
Scenes like this played out across Hong Kong. Once people realized there was a free TV station, they tuned in right away.
And if it's free, why pay for something else—unless the content is significantly better?
Thus, countless families spent their day in front of the television. Students especially, who were still on summer break, found themselves glued to the screen. Even if the content wasn't perfect—mostly news and old movies—it was still better than reading newspapers or textbooks.
Besides, the station also aired a lot of movies. Sure, they were old, but free was free. Who could complain?
The next morning, Qi Ruifan and Qin Zhiye arrived at Changxing Tower to report to Yang Wendong.
Qi Ruifan said, "Mr. Yang, we've done a preliminary calculation. Yesterday, our average viewership rating was 23%—about 16,000 households tuned in.
That's not exceptionally high, but it's largely because we haven't reached full market awareness yet. Many people still don't know we exist. Once they find out, I'm confident our viewership will climb."
"How did you measure that?" Yang Wendong asked, curious.
"Sampling surveys," Qi Ruifan said with a smile. "It's not 100% accurate, but it's a good estimate—probably 80 to 90 percent correct."
"Good. We've taken our first step," Yang Wendong nodded. "Keep running ads in the major newspapers. Word of mouth will help, too. I think it won't be long before TVB becomes Hong Kong's biggest TV station."
Free vs. paid was an overwhelming advantage. Even internationally, paid TV only succeeded when the content was phenomenal—and RTV clearly wasn't at that level.
In the following days, major newspapers like Kong Wah Daily, Oriental Daily, Ming Pao, and Sing Sian Daily all ran front-page ads promoting Hong Kong's new TV station.
At the same time, leaflets were distributed across the city. Carrefour stores began playing TVB programming on all in-store TVs. Large signs reading "Free TV Station" hung above the displays, drawing huge interest. Customers asked questions—and TV sales surged.
Since TVB's content was already better than RTV's, and it was free, viewership soared.
In just seven days, TVB's ratings jumped from 23% to 51%.
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