TVBS Media Inc. (Chinese: 聯利媒體股份有限公司; pinyin: Lián Lì Méi Tǐ Gǔ Fèn Yǒu Xiàn Gōng Sī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-lī Mûi-thé Kó͘-hūn Iú-hān Kong-si), formerly Liann Yee Production Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 聯意製作股份有限公司; pinyin: Lián Yì Zhì Zuò Gǔ Fèn Yǒu Xiàn Gōng Sī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-ì Chè-chok Kó͘-hūn Iú-hān Kong-si), is a Taiwanese commercial television broadcasting company. It was originally established as a joint venture between TVB in Hong Kong and Era Group in Taiwan, but TVB took over Era's shares in the company in 2005. Later, TVB sold all of its shares in the company to HTC Corporation Chairwoman Cher Wang.[1] As of 2019, TVBS operates four domestic channels and one international channel: TVBS, the flagship channel; TVBS News, 24-hour news channel; TVBS Entertainment, which shows variety and drama series; TVBS E! (formerly TVB8), an alternative channel available on CHT MOD IPTV platform; and TVBS Asia, available outside Taiwan.
The company's flagship channel, TVBS, began its broadcast through satellite DTH and local cable systems on 28 September 1993.[citation needed] The name originally stood for "TVB Superchannel", while its Chinese name was Wuhsien Weihsing Tienshiht'ai (Chinese: 無線衛星電視台; pinyin: Wúxiàn Wèixīng Diànshìtái). It was originally a part of the so-called "Gang of Five", which was a consortium that was set up to compete against Star TV across Asia. (The others in the group were CNN International, HBO, ESPN International [with its Asian operations] and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [with Australia Television International]) The consortium's channels were initially transmitted via Palapa satellite, but were later also added to Apstar satellite. TVBS later launched an international version named TVBS Asia in 1997, and TVB launched separate satellite channels that targeted East and Southeast Asia in 1998.
As the first privately owned broadcaster, it broke the decades-long oligopoly of the three state-owned terrestrial television stations in the Taiwan market.
TVBS Media was the first Taiwanese broadcasting company to go full HD, from filming to production to broadcast. It was the first to introduce 4K cameras paired with movie-quality lenses to film and produce its dramas, programs, and news special reports.
TVBS operates four channels:
