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Veteran filmmaker Eric Tsang steps down as TVB general manager.
The glittering spectacle of the TVB Anniversary Awards 2025, beamed live from the opulent Grand Lisboa Palace Resort in Macau, was always destined for headlines, but no one expected the bombshell that would drop right from the stage. As the red carpet shimmered with sequins and the air buzzed with anticipation for the usual Best Actor and Actress showdowns, veteran showbiz titan Eric Tsang Chi-wai, 72, stepped into the spotlight to accept a specially created ‘Thousand Stars Glory Legendary Honour Award’.In a moment dripping with the kind of dramatic irony you’d script for a season finale, Tsang didn’t just bask in the accolade; he used it as his exit cue, confirming he will step down as general manager of Hong Kong’s leading free-to-air broadcaster, TVB. Just like that, months of swirling speculation about his future were put to rest not in a sterile boardroom press release, but under the hot lights of television’s biggest night, a move so perfectly theatrical it could only come from a man who has spent over five decades mastering the art of performance.This isn’t just a corporate reshuffle; it’s the end of an era for a network that has been the backdrop to countless living room dramas, from the classic wuxia series of the 80s to the modern family sagas, and Tsang has been a constant, formidable presence through it all. His journey reads like a map of Hong Kong entertainment itself: a beloved comedian and actor in the 70s and 80s, a prolific film director and producer who helped shape the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, and then, in a later-act pivot, a television executive tasked with steering the aging TVB giant through the turbulent waters of streaming wars and shifting audience loyalties.His tenure as general manager, which began in 2020, was marked by aggressive forays into mainland China co-productions and desperate attempts to claw back younger viewers with digital platforms, a Herculean task given the intense competition from platforms like ViuTV and the gravitational pull of mainland Chinese content. Industry whispers suggest that despite his star power and deep connections, the financial headwinds were simply too strong, with TVB reporting consecutive years of staggering losses, making his position increasingly precarious.The timing of his announcement, at the Awards, is a masterclass in narrative control—it ensures the story is framed as a celebratory passing of the torch on his own terms, rather than a reaction to boardroom pressure, allowing him to leave draped in glory rather than shrouded in gossip. What comes next for TVB is the million-dollar question.The search for a successor will be fraught, needing someone who commands respect both in the traditional Cantonese-speaking market and in the vast, lucrative Mandarin-speaking one across the border. Will they double down on mainland integration, or try to reclaim a distinctive Hong Kong identity? And what of Eric Tsang? True legends never really retire; they simply change stages.
#featured
#Eric Tsang
#TVB
#management departure
#Hong Kong television
#Anniversary Awards
#executive change
