Jul 5, 2005, 9:46 GMT
Hong Kong - Hong Kong TV companies were criticized Tuesday for turning down the opportunity to screen last weekend's historic Live 8 series of concerts.
No TV station in the former British colony, which has a population of 6.8 million, screened the full event live and only one terrestrial broadcaster, ATV, showed a package of highlights.
In a letter to Tuesday's South China Morning Post, C. Y. Au, an executive from the company that distributed the TV rights to the concerts said Hong Kong broadcasters were apathetic to Saturday's globe-spanning event.
"When our company sent out information regarding the event in Hong Kong (terrestrial broadcaster) TVB never replied and (satellite broadcaster) i-Cable rejected the idea in three days."
Au said Singapore had two channels covering the event while Malaysia and Indonesia used limited programme budgets to pay for the screening of the historic concerts.
Thai viewers were also able to view the entire 10-hour concert live on the national satellite channel UBC.
"Hong Kong in the past has relied heavily on our interaction with the world," wrote Au, who works for China Culture Programme Investment Company Ltd. wrote. "Let's be more concerned with what is happening in the world."
There was no immediate response to the criticism from the Hong Kong TV companies singled out by the executive.
Your Talkback on this Story