CONFIDENTIAL
Le new services would be put out in September.
This
could mean an on-air date of mid 1973. RTV(HK) accepted
that the decision to call for tenders could not be
reversed, and felt they were in a strong position to
tender successfully. They therefore placed orders for
a considerable amount of new equipment.
K
Rediffusion again made representations this time
to Mr Royle - in July this year in view of further delays
in the Hong Kong Government's timetable which meant that
the call for tenders would not be made until the end of
the year.
Rediffusion's case was that the further delay,
which would entail an on-air date of early or mid-1974, would cost
them at least £100,000 and much more if the proceedings
were further protracted.
Part of the reason for the further delay was that
the Government's proposals envisa ed the sharing of
transmission sites in future and TVP (HK)
Rediffusion';
main competitor were strongly opposed to these pro-
posals. Hong Kong sought the advice of the BFC on
co-siting, and were told that whilst co-siting of trans-
mitters was desirable it was not absdutely essential.
Mr yle had a word with the Governor in September
about Rediffusion's representations to him. We have
subsequently learnt that Hong Kong are continuing their discussions with TVB and are hopeful that they may be
prepared to modify their attitude. In order to gain
time for the solution of the problem, legislation has
been introduced into the Legislative Council to extend TVB's current licence unchanged (it expires on
19 November) for a limited period. The Governor hopes
that it will still be possible to call for tenders for
the new stations before the end of the year.
Nigel Watt has been appointed Commissioner for
2 CONFIDENTIAL
/Television
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