(Yicai Global) March 6 -- Shares in Television Broadcasts surged as much as 36.7 percent today after the Hong Kong-based television broadcaster said that a unit is teaming up with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding’s e-marketplace Taobao on livestreaming in a deal that is expected to significantly boost income.

TVB’s share price [HKG:0511] was trading up 17.6 percent as of 2 p.m. China time today at HKD6.88 (USD0.88). Earlier in the day it hit HKD8. The stock has almost doubled in value since March 3.

TVBC will conduct over 48 e-commerce livestreaming events this year, which are expected to generate tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to millions of US dollars, in revenue, the parent firm said on its WeChat account on March 3. The broadcaster posted an English-language statement on its website on March 1.

The first live sales events, which will supply mainland customers with high-quality goods from Hong Kong and a wide range of foreign countries, will begin tomorrow and will be hosted by actors and actresses from TVB’s talent pool, it added.

“TVB has a wealth of talented artists and robust content production capabilities," said Doyle Cheng, general manager of Taobao Live. By launching livestreaming on Taobao, TVB can convert its viewership into purchasing power, realizing a win-win collaboration, he added.

It is not the company’s first foray into online live sales. TVB is already operating three e-commerce livestreaming accounts on TikTok's Chinese version Douyin which it opened in April last year.

This collaboration helped boost revenue by 46 percent in the first half last year from the same period in 2021 to HKD1.8 billion (USD229.3 million), TVB said in its interim report, without disclosing the earnings from Douyin. Business on the mainland accounted for 22 percent of total revenue, a jump of 42 percent year on year to HKD400 million (USD51 million).

Editor: Kim Taylor