On 29 January 2016, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance quashed a 2013 decision (“Decision”) by the Communications Authority (“CA”) – upheld by the Chief Executive In Council (“CEIC”) – against Television Broadcasters (“TVB”), primarily on the grounds that the CA and CEIC are inherently political entities lacking objective impartiality as decision makers due to their concurrent policy, advisory and executive roles.

While the Decision was ultimately set aside on constitutional grounds, as the CA and CEIC were not found to be an independent and impartial tribunal, the Honourable Justice Godfrey Lam of the Court of First Instance upheld most of the competition analysis by the CA and confirmed that TVB’s practices were anticompetitive. As the first President of the Competition Tribunal under Hong Kong’s new competition regime, Justice Lam’s judgment provides considerable insight as to how future competition cases might be interpreted in Hong Kong.

September 2013 Decision

In September 2013, the CA found that TVB had violated the antitrust provisions of the Broadcasting Ordinance, in that the station had imposed certain restrictions with their artistes and singers with the purpose and effect of restricting or distorting competition in the Hong Kong television programme service market (“downstream market”). The restrictions included the: