Hong Kong's Leading TV Outlet Drops Oscars Ceremony

HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s leading free-to-air TV network Television Broadcasts (TVB), which has ties to the "Rupert Murdoch of China," will be dropping coverage of the Oscars ceremony for the first time since 1969.

The station confirmed Monday that it would not renew the rights to the ceremony usually carried by Pearl, TVB’s English language channel. No other Hong Kong outlets announced plans to acquire rights to broadcast this year’s ceremony and as of Thursday, Pearl is still listed as one of the networks that will air this year’s ceremony on the official website. The Hollywood Reporter, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported in early March that Beijing’s media watchdog had instructed Chinese press outlets to skip live coverage of the 93rd Oscars ceremony and to downplay reporting of the event.