has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . no cleanup reason has been specified . please help improve this article if you can . august 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message this article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality . discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page . august 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message hong kong cable television launched wharf cable television 31 october 1993 hong kong cable television 31 october 1998 network i cable communications limited owned by wharf holdings country hong kong language cantonese & english broadcast area hong kong headquarters wharf cable television headquarters number . 9 hoi shing road tsuen wan new territories hong kong telephone 852 1832 832 faximile 852 2112 7814 formerly called wharf cable television 31 october 1993 31 october 1998 replaced wharf cable television 31 october 1993 31 october 1998 replaced by hong kong cable television 31 october 1998 present website http www.broadbandhk.com en cable tv hong kong also known as ctvhk and hong kong cable is a television network in hong kong owned and operated by i cable communications limited . prior to 31 october 1998 it was known as wharf cable television . it is the 1st analogue cable television broadcaster of hong kong s 2nd subscription based pay television service the 1st one is rtv it was incorporated on 1 january 1992 and officially inaugurated on 31 october 1993 and was operated by atv and tvb offering a broad range of information and entertainment to its viewers through over 100 pay television channels of which 54 are produced by hkctv . contents 1 broadband service 2 history 2.1 wharf cable television 1993 1998 2.2 cable tv hong kong 1998 present 3 ownership 4 target audience 5 operation 6 multi media service 7 competition and development 8 external links broadband service edit i cable communications ltd provide broadband internet as one of their services . history edit wharf cable television 1993 1998 edit cable tv hong kong was originally known as wharf cable television wctv chinese was incorporated on wednesday 1 january 1992 with a consortium of atv and tvb . cable based transmissions was launched grand opened until officially inaugurated by the 28th governor of hong kong s christopher francis patten and broadcasts from kowloon peninsula until the broadcast area was only limited to pearl river delta area on 31 october 1993 through a microwave based broadcast system to be followed by the first subscriptions in with an initial bouquet of 2 international cable television channels 6 international cable television channels in television programmes such drama entertainment the world s first 24 hour daily of the cantonese news channel movie premiere music video and children while of 4 national terrestrial television channels in 2 officially language a subsidiary of 2 national terrestrial television stations . cable tv hong kong 1998 present edit wharf cable television wctv officially changed its name to hong kong cable television hkctv chinese on wednesday 31 october 1998 . in october 2001 hong kong cable television became the first cable television channel in collaboration with atv and tvb to carry hong kong s live coverage of the uefa euro 2004 . in later years it carried live coverage of the 2006 fifa world cup followed by those of 2010 and 2014 . it also carried live coverage of the london 2012 summer olympics and is due to carry live coverage of the rio de janeiro 2016 summer olympics . having the largest number of subscribers among other subscription television companies in hong kong hkctv has now become one of the top five media groups in hong kong . in particular hkctv has a firm establishment in news movies and sports television programming . as announced in the financial summary of i cable communications limited of 2004 its sales revenue reaches hk 2 372 million with a profit of hk 296 million . ownership edit hong kong cable television limited is owned as a subsidiary group of the wharf holdings limited which holds 73.3 % of hkctv s shares . the rest of its ownership lies with public shareholders . it became a public listed company in the hong kong stock exchange since 1999 . specifically hkctv is operated by i cable communications limited i cable one of the non media conglomerates in hong kong . the conglomerate manages the first pay tv service as well as a well established broadband internet access service provider with its internet protocol network . i cable is now the only integrated communications company in hong kong . it owns and runs the second largest two way broadband network which produces its own media programmes together with online news and other internet services . target audience edit hkctv originally targeted the middle class subscribers who would be willing to pay for a diversified choice of local and international programmes . afterwards it adopted a price discrimination marketing scheme charging residents of public estates with lower prices when compared to the private housing residents . along with lowered prices subscribers from the working class can also enjoy benefited services that come along with the combo offered such as cheaper phone line services from wharf holdings limited and broadband internet access services from i cable . occasionally hkctv would use give away marketing strategies to attract more subscribers such as its 12th anniversary combo ; subscribers would be gifted with a dvd recorder upon subscription to their combos . these business strategies have successfully increased hkctv s sales to over 540 000 current subscribers as well as free news newsline express on hong kong s kcrc railway . operation edit hkctv is operated through two separate yet complementary networks namely the wireless multipoint microwave distribution system coaxial network mmds and the wireline hybrid fibre coaxial network hfc . the combined networks serve 1.70 million viewers which take up 95 % of the local households . mmds is a programming broadcast through specific transmitters throughout hong kong . broadcast signals are released from the transmitters to various dishes which are located on the rooftops of buildings and are further transmitted to customers televisions through the in built coaxial cable . the hybrid fibre coaxial network consists of a fibre optic backbone which forms the base of the whole broadcast centre . it develops into smaller branches and penetrates into different areas in hong kong along the mtr tunnels ending in customers homes through the coaxial cable that the mmds uses . this network enables high capacity which allows hkctv to house over 31 channels as well as other telecommunication services . multi media service edit taking the advantage of i cable s comprehensive optical fiber and cord network the group dived into the swiftly expanding internet market . its multi media service center was found in january 1999 to facilitate the development of the second core business that the group eagerly aims to expand . the group started the dial up internet service in march 1999 with subscriptions climbing to 185 000 in october 2000 . this huge number took up 10 % of the dial up internet service market . in march 2000 it further developed into a cable modem based broadband service . this service proved to be successful when the service crept to the local households at an average rate of 80 000 homes per month resulting in a total of 700 000 homes by october 2000 . it is thus not surprising that the group has the fastest development in expanding its cable modem service in the world . the high speed broadband network service was presented after the acquisition of the certification of telecommunications service . its provision of a 24 hour online broadband network service made the surfing speed faster and steadier than the traditional dial up network . the outstanding basic service construction and sales tactics successfully made the group one of the two main broadband network service suppliers in hong kong . the visual content of hkctv provides the platform for the multi media service unit to develop fee charging portals on news movies horse racing stocks and adult entertainment .21126888 . com as well as hkctv e programme listing were also designed to provide value added services to hkctv s subscribers and advertisers . besides 21126888 . com provides an online platform for its advertisers . since 2005 the company have also launched its multi media on board mmob service on public transit vehicles . hkctv s hong kong cable news express is the sole airtime sales distributor and content provider to kcr newsline express . instant and updated news are broadcast between the various railway notices of kcr journeys through the use of kcr s passenger information display system also known as pids . this further emphasises hkctv s theme of providing updated news to its viewers even when its viewers are not sitting in front of a television or computer . this is also a useful marketing tactic to attract more clients to its home subscriptions after experiencing its instantaneous service . simultaneously it gains income and reputation from advertisers for interactive advertising in kcr one of the most essential transport systems in hong kong . competition and development edit hkctv is the second subscription based tv station in hong kong apart from the 1957 rediffusion television rtv . before the liberalisation of the pay tv market the market was dominated by hkctv and itv previously a subsidiary of cable & wireless hkt currently owned by pccw . in 1999 the hksar government invited bids to open up the pay tv market so as to give consumers more choices . the pay tv market was officially opened for bid in early july 2000 leading to its expeditious development . its opening also led to the increase in competitions for programming and market shares as evidenced in the various extensive use of advertising and propaganda . according to the hong kong annual reports 2003 telecommunications there were four domestic pay television programme service licensees in hong kong hong kong cable television limited hkctv now tv operated by pccw vod limited pccw vod tvb pay vision operated by television broadcast company tvb and distributed through now tv and hutchison global communications hgc hkbn bbtv operated by hkbn an internet service provider of hong kong . by the end of 2003 a total of 130 pay tv channels have become available in hong kong . the total number of subscribers has exceeded 860 000 . with the entry of new competitors such as now broadband tv and tvb pay vision increasing competition is expected in the future pay tv market . external links edit hong kong cable enterprises limited hong kong cable television limited i cable satellite tv limited i cable.com 1 the wharf holdings limited v t e cable satellite and other speciality television providers in africa asia and oceania cable cable tv hong kong cablevision lebanon cablelink destiny cable docomo pacific digicable india eonet japan first media foxtel hathway hot incablenet itscom japan jctv japan kbro lanka broadband networks sri lanka montage cable tv nigeria nayatel okevision optus television ooredoo qatar ppctv rostelecom siti cable skycable tbc taiwan tokai cable top tv indonesia transact tata sky truevisions united communication service vodafone new zealand worldcall satellite airtel digital tv aora astro malaysia bein big tv indonesia canalsat afrique canalsat cal donie cignal consat nigeria dd free dish ddishtv dialog tv sri lanka dish tv dish tv sri lanka dish home dishhd dream satellite tv dstv foxtel g sat hitv indosat indovision k vietnam kristal astro kt skylife medianet metro digital mbc mrtv 4 myhd njoi ntv plus orangetv osn