More than 3.2 million people tuned into a live streaming by Hong Kong soap stars.
A screen shot of Moses and Sharon Chan's live stream session on Taobao, March 7.
By CHENG Lu
Hong Kong broadcaster TVB has produced its first live streaming session on Taobao. When Moses and Sharon Chan appeared as their characters from the Cantonese drama Heart of Greed that they played years ago.
Moses and Sharon were in front of the camera for six hours on Tuesday night, selling snacks, clothes and cosmetics in Cantonese. During the session, 131 products were introduced, most of them priced under 500 yuan (US$71.75), the most expensive product was iPhone 14, priced at 6,059 yuan.
More than 3.2 million people joined Moses and Sharon during the session and sales exceeded 235 million yuan. TVB’s Taobao account has more than 100,000 followers overnight.
The channel is planning 48 live streaming sessions on Taobao this year with many more celebrities. The company described its cooperation with Taobao as “a milestone” that will bring millions of dollars.
On Wednesday, shares in Television Broadcasts Limited, the parent company of TVB, soared as much as 100 percent and closed 85 percent higher at HK$13.4, the highest level in almost three years.
The Hong Kong-based broadcaster already has accounts on the short-video platform Douyin. In the past six months, sales are close to 100 million yuan.
TVB certainly has enough celebrities – washed-up or not – to bring back memories of its glorious past. But selling sentimentality is not always easy.
TVB actor Joseph Lee famous for his roles in 1990s martial arts dramas, only attracted about 1,000 people to an eight-hour session, but no one bought anything. Many celebrities are obviously uncomfortable selling.
Founded 56 years ago, TVB has been struggling since people's attention moved from the TV screen to phones in recent years. Eric Tsang, actor and general manager of TVB said the company used to be so successful because it was a unique source of high-quality Cantonese programming.
Since 2018, TVB has lost more than 1.6 billion yuan. In its financial report, TVB said its revenue in the first six months of last year went up 45.82 percent year-on-year to US$1.82 billion.
