TV gold? When Hong Kong’s TVB and ATV battled for broadcast rights of the 1988 Seoul Olympics
- Ahead of the 1988 Summer Olympics, Hong Kong broadcaster TVB sought a High Court injunction against ATV – a multimillion-dollar deal saw both screen the games
“Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is seeking a High Court injunction order to share the telecasting rights of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games with Asia Television Limited (ATV)”, reported the South China Morning Post on August 9, 1988. “TVB contended that it would be in the public interest to have both television stations showing the Olympic Games because it could allow for a wider audience for different programs at different time slots.
“Opposing the application, however, ATV claims any injunction would impose on it undue hardship and affect the rights of the Seoul Olympic Organising Committee (SLOOC), advertisers and the agent through which it acquired the rights, Telesports Limited.”
On August 16, the Post reported that ATV had “acted in a ‘clandestine, underhand and dishonourable’ manner to acquire the exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympic Games, a judge said yesterday.
“Mr Justice Jones ordered that ATV must share the broadcast rights to the games with [TVB] and ATV would have to seek permission from the [SLOOC] to share the games. If the permission is not forthcoming then ‘the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games will unfortunately not be able to be shown in Hongkong’ […] The ‘complete secrecy of unilateral negotiations with SLOOC by ATV and Telesports was aimed at TVB’ […] said Mr Justice Jones. ‘ATV’s actions were not only dishonourable but also unreasonable’, he said.”
