TVB holds a large-scale poon choi banquet every year, which is actually an annual dinner. Most of the staff and entertainers will attend, and there are about 3,000 people. This year's annual meeting was held on the roof of TVB TV City. Since the venue was not large enough, it was held for two nights.
This poon choi feast was as starry as last year. There were no stars present at all on the first night. In addition to Zeng Zhiwei, Le Yiling and other leaders, there are also a group of newcomers, or some old actors who have worked hard for many years but have not yet emerged, such as Ou Ruiwei and Shao Zhuoyao.
The lineup on the second night was "stronger", and only Ma Guoming and Chen Zhanpeng were stars. Ma Guoming's face looks even more flabby, and his age is obvious. Chen Zhanpeng, who is three years younger than him, is in much better shape.
Ma Guoming, who had just "gone to the next level" by playing the role of Liang Jingren in "News Queen", became the focus of the crowd that night, and many employees lined up to take photos with him.
There are also many familiar actors, such as Liu Dan, Shan Liwen, Teng Liming, Tang Yingying, Wang Juntang and so on from the crew of "Love Home". However, everyone looked a little tired and forced a smile when taking a group photo.
So this pancai banquet is really dim, no matter how dim it was in previous years, there are still familiar faces such as Zhang Guoqiang, Zhuang Simin, Li Zhishan, Li Chengchang, Li Nuoyi, Chen Shancong, etc.
A little further on, TVB's poon choi banquet was even more lively, with Ma Dezhong, Li Yaoxiang, Huang Haoran, Wu Qihua, Wang Zulan, Wu Zhuoxi, etc. also present.
Nowadays, many of TVB's old actors have left the nest. In addition, the company has been losing money for many years and was forced to lay off 300 employees last year. It's normal for celebrities to be weak at annual meetings. At the annual meeting, CEO Xu Tao announced a salary increase, and the audience cheered, but Zeng Zhiwei admitted that the salary increase was "very little".
Netizens are not optimistic about TVB's so-called salary increase, thinking that it may only be 1,200 yuan, and maybe there will be further layoffs, after all, the annual loss is so big.
Poon Choi Feast, on the other hand, is as down-to-earth as ever. There are still two tiers of tables in the venue. The six tables near the stage are more advanced and have two pots of vegetables. The remaining 100 or so tables are shabby, with plastic film tablecloths and red plastic stools, and only one pot of vegetables.
I didn't expect TVB to even make a distinction between tableware. Although the tableware on the high-end table is also made of disposable plastic, the texture is much better, and it comes with two kinds of cups. Cutlery on a parity table is the cheapest disposable cutlery.
In fact, it is very economical for TVB to hold such a banquet in its own venue. Not surprisingly, they also want to save money on the cutlery of the annual meeting, which is also too frugal.
TVB also saves money on random gifts that everyone can share. Last year they gave away tea worth NT$50, and this year they only gave away soda crackers worth NT$16.5.
This kind of casual gift is so down-to-earth that ordinary companies really can't afford it. In terms of food and drinks, it is similar to previous years. There are also abalone, soy sauce chicken, nine-section shrimp, roast duck and other ingredients in the basin. Even at exclusive tables, people still use the cheapest beers and drinks.
It's not a big company meeting. So although everyone knows that this kind of poon choi banquet is TVB's "good tradition", and they also know that such a banquet is lively and has fireworks, they still can't help but complain about TVB's shabby, slamming the door, and being stingy, after all, many rural banquets now actually exceed this level.
Of course, TVB's operation in recent years has actually had problems and is very difficult, so in order to feed so many people, it is also to save some money.