TVB Celebrity News

Since the news came out that Hacken Lee’s contracts with TVB and Universal Music expired at the end of March, he has been a ‘hot commodity’ among the record companies. Earlier, there were rumors that EEG purposefully sent Hacken’s good friend Joey Yung to try and persuade him to join their company; plus add to that Universal’s dispute with TVB over royalties, which had placed Hacken – known as ‘TVB’s god-son’ – in a difficult position. Nevertheless, despite the struggles, Hacken has decided that due to his deep-rooted relationship with Universal, he will renew his contract with the record company.

According to reports, even though Hacken’s contract with Universal expired in March, he still ‘owed’ the company several albums. With both parties agreeing on a ‘happy rate’, the album contract was extended as well. Universal’s Vice-Chairman Huang Jian Tao confirmed yesterday: “Yes, Hacken has indeed renewed his contract. The company was able to use its sincerity to convince Hacken to stay.” Hacken’s management company E.N.G. expressed that they are satisfied with the terms of the contract, saying: “Hacken’s collaboration with Universal has always been pleasant.”

Due to the birth of his second son, Hacken has been at home keeping his wife and sons accompany. Tomorrow, he will officially resume working and start recording for his new album. With Universal’s other front-line artists such as Jacky Cheung, Kelly Chen, and Kay Tse already making appearances on ATV and i-Cable, will Hacken be doing the same? His management company expressed: “Currently, there have not been any discussions about promotional opportunities yet. The priority is to first record the album, then later see which shows fit with promotional efforts.”

Known for being ‘crazy’ about soccer, Hacken was rumored to have signed a multi-million dollar contract with i-Cable to host the World Cup, however it is reported that for this year’s WC, i-Cable will not be hiring an ‘outsider’ for the job. In a surprising turn of events, Hacken has been reportedly hired by TVB to host their World Cup programming, despite his recent contract renewal with Universal. Asked if Hacken was granted ‘amnesty’ due to his good relationship with TVB, the station’s Manager of Production (variety shows and special events) Ho Lai Chun responded: “The host for the World Cup programming has not been confirmed yet; we are in contact with several people at the moment and Hacken is one of them.” As a huge fan of the Manchester United soccer team, Hacken will be attending the ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow for the specially-themed MU restaurant opening in Hong Kong.

In addition, with i-Cable being granted the exclusive broadcasting rights for the entire World Cup competition, there have been reports that the company has also bought out the rights to report on the World Cup in their news programs, which means that TVB and ATV would not be able to air i-Cable’s World Cup footage in their news programs -- they would only be able to air footage of the few games they are jointly broadcasting. This has sparked renewed talks between the paid TV provider and the 2 stations to hopefully come to an agreement that would work for all parties.