7 Artistes Left TVB In The Past Month; Former TVB Actor Gabriel Wong Says The Company Created This Problem For Itself
The star-studded 2021 TVB Anniversary Awards was held on Sunday night (Jan 2), but TVB is also under less flattering scrutiny no thanks to the recent departure of five artistes and two news anchors.
In the past one month alone, actresses Grace Wong and Burmie Wong, veteran actor Lau Yat Fei, presenters Agnes Lam and Jasmin Wong, as well as news anchors Yoyo Li and Keina Chiu exited the Hongkong broadcaster, prompting discussions around what could’ve made them all leave.
Well, former TVB actor Gabriel Wong Yat San, who appeared in several Stephen Chow comedy classics such as Fight Back to School and Hail the Judge, has shared a couple of his theories in a video.
Gabriel played Turtle Wong (right in both pics) in Fight Back to School I and II
First of all, Gabriel, 57, pointed out that audiences these days are way too spoilt for choice when it comes to entertainment.
In China, each province has its own satellite TV station, and young people — actually, even older folks too — prefer to stream web dramas or short clips on their mobile devices.
This has inevitably led to intense competition and as a result, fewer people are watching TV the old-fashioned way.
Grace Wong, Lau Yat Fei, Agnes Lam, and Jasmin Wong are among those who left TVB over the past month
However, Gabriel thinks that artistes walking out almost en masse is actually a problem that was caused by TVB itself.
He explained that ‘cos the company employs so many actors, it costs a lot of money to pay their salaries, so TVB has adopted a “one year one show” contract, which also helps to reduce the amount of long service payments to be made.
In Hongkong, a long service payment, which may be given out if an employee has been working under a continuous contract for at least five years, is calculated based on two-thirds of the last month’s full wages multiplied by their reckonable years of service.
Companies will do anything to save money
Gabriel explained how the contract puts most artistes at a disadvantage, saying: “If your salary is based on just one show where you were paid HK$3,000 (S$520), then at the end of your contract, [your long service payment] will be calculated based on that HK$3,000.”
This has helped to greatly reduce TVB’s cost of labour.
Gabriel added that many “green leaf actors”, a term for older supporting actors who may not necessarily be as famous but are still recognised by regular viewers, don’t have much bargaining power and usually have no choice but to renew their contracts as they may have limited options outside of TVB.
On the other hand, those who are able to will naturally go out to seek better opportunities, so TVB has lost a lot of artistes who are skilled, experienced, and/or very popular with audiences.
In the end, those who stay are left to support the newcomers, and the lack of more established stars in their 30s and 40s supposedly entices less people to tune into TVB productions, causing a drop in viewership (but, uh, what about these highly paid A-listers?).
“So all the disastrous consequences that TVB has created today were all planted back then,” said Gabriel. “As the saying goes, every cause has an effect.”
Wonder if TVB general manager Eric Tsang will have anything to say about this.
He sure didn’t sugarcoat things
Photos: IMDb, HK01, Grace Wong/Instagram, Agnes Lam/Instagram, Jasmin Wong/Instagram
