Broadcast Drive
Encyclopedia
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon Tong , formerly Kau Lung Tong, is an area in Hong Kong. Within New Kowloon, it is administratively divided by Kowloon City District and Sham Shui Po District...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. The road is notable as it is only 1 km long but having played host to all five broadcasting outlets in Hong Kong at one point in the 1970s, and the hill on which the road is located was known in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
as Ng Toi Shan (五台山, lit. five-station hill) during that time. The five broadcasters were:
- Radio Television Hong KongRadio Television Hong KongRadio Television Hong Kong is a public broadcasting organisation in Hong Kong that is operated as an independent department in the government under the Broadcasting Authority. RTHK operates seven radio channels, and produces television programmes that are then broadcast through local television...
(RTHK), whose headquarters (Broadcasting House) was inaugurated in 1969 - Commercial Radio Hong KongCommercial Radio Hong KongCommercial Radio Hong Kong , aka Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited is one of only two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong along with Metro Radio Hong Kong. It contains a balanced array of entertainment including informative, educational, arts and cultural programmes...
(CRHK) - Television Broadcasts LimitedTelevision Broadcasts LimitedTelevision Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB, is the second over-the-air commercial television station in Hong Kong. It commenced broadcasting on 19 November 1967...
(TVB) - Rediffusion TelevisionRediffusion TelevisionRediffusion Television was the first television station in Hong Kong, established on May 29, 1957, making it both the first British colony and the first predominantly Chinese city to have television...
(RTV), later renamed Asia Television LimitedAsia Television LimitedAsia Television Limited is one of the two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong, the other being rival Television Broadcasts Limited . It launched in 1957 under the name Rediffusion Television as the first television station in Hong Kong...
(ATV); and - Commercial Television
The area became known as Four-station Hill (四台山) in 1978 following Commercial Television's collapse. Its studio building was acquired by RTHK for its television unit, and was reopened as Television House in 1986.
TVB moved its operations to the Clearwater Bay TV City in 1988, and ATV moved to Tai Po
Tai Po
Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui and the Tai Wo Town on the other side of the Lam Tsuen River, near the old Tai Po Market Station of the...
in 2007, leaving RTHK and CRHK the only remaining broadcasters on the road. RTHK has announced plans to move its operations to Tseung Kwan O
Tseung Kwan O
Tseung Kwan O is a bay in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. In the northern tip of the bay lies the Tseung Kwan O Village....
within the next few years. The reason for the departure of broadcast stations is partly due to the rising value of the land occupied and stations cashing in the rise in value.
The area is also a well known high end (though gradually aging) residential neighborhood, and is home to those mainly from professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
and upper middle class
Upper middle class
The upper middle class is a sociological concept referring to the social group constituted by higher-status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term "lower middle class", which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle class stratum, and to the broader term "middle...
backgrounds.
TVB Headquarters
TVB first headquarters and studios were located on Broadcast Drive in Kowloon Tong and were neighbours with fellow broadcasters RTHK and ATVAsia Television Limited
Asia Television Limited is one of the two free-to-air television broadcasters in Hong Kong, the other being rival Television Broadcasts Limited . It launched in 1957 under the name Rediffusion Television as the first television station in Hong Kong...
. The six storey office tower and studios were located along the hills along Broadcast Drive. By the late 1980s, TVB had out-grown the facility at Broadcast Drive, and built a new studio complex, named T.V. City, at 220 Clear Water Bay Road in 1988. From the late 1970s to 1987, TVB also used the office of the defunct Commercial TV for additional studio space.
The old headquarters were demolished to make way for residential flats. The old Commercial Television Building is now RTHK Television House.
Rival ATV has also left the neighbourhood. in 2007
Trivia
- Broadcast Drive intersects two other roads with names related to broadcasting: Marconi Road (for Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand...
) and Fessenden Road (for Reginald FessendenReginald FessendenReginald Aubrey Fessenden , a naturalized American citizen born in Canada, was an inventor who performed pioneering experiments in radio, including early—and possibly the first—radio transmissions of voice and music...
).
- Ng Toi Shan is a reference to an existing Wutai ShanWutai ShanMount Wutai , also known as Wutai Mountain or Qingliang Shan, is located in Shanxi, China. The mountain is home to many of China's most important monasteries and temples...
in Shanxi provinceShanxi' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
which is a notable setting in Louis Cha's novels.
- It is also notable for being one of the most popular 'skate spots' for skateboarders in Hong Kong.
- In 1988, cantopopCantopopCantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
singer Prudence LiewPrudence LiewPrudence Liew Mei-Gwan is a multi-platinum selling Hong Kong pop singer and Golden Horse Award winning actress, having released 14 studio albums and appearing in numerous films.-Career start:...
included a song in her album, Loving PrinceLoving Prince公子多情 Loving Prince is the third studio album of cantopop singer Prudence Liew, released in 1988.-Background information:This album contains less covers than her previous album, Why; however two of the three covers made it as singles. The title track and lead single "公子多情 Loving Prince" is actually...
公子多情 entitled "The Legend of Broadcast Drive 廣播道神話" which talks about media in Hong Kong.