China media mogul Li Ruigang’s takeover of a free-to-air Hong Kong station with a dominant share of the market has left Hongkongers worried that political messages from China will pollute local airwaves.
Li, 46, indirectly secured the controlling stake in Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) on April 22 through his investment in Young Lion Holdings. TVB chairman Charles Chan, non-executive director Cher Wong, and Providence Equity Partners previously controlled Young Lion Holdings, which has 26 percent of TVB’s voting shares.
Li is known as the “Rupert Murdoch of China” because he has made a number of prominent media deals in China that could potentially transform the media landscape in the mainland.
Incidentally, the founding chairman of the state-sponsored equity fund China Media Capital and chairman of Chinese media conglomerate Shanghai Media Group is a friend of Rupert Murdoch, according to the South China Morning Post.
