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12.
on the current basis, Rediffusion would incur cash
losses at an average rate of £20,000 a month between
April and December 1973, and at a rate of £40,000
a month during the calendar year 1974. Thus, if the
new forecasts in regard to timing prove correct, we
could incur cash losses of over £600,000. The
alternative would be to close down our cable broadcasting
operation; but that would lead to the dispersal of
our long-established television broadcasting team of about 500 loyal employees and in the process we should
lose most of the advantages we have as prospective
operators of the second station.
It is Rediffusion's considered view that the Hong Kong
Government has been guilty of the most inordinate delays in policy decision-making and now look like incurring appalling delays in implementation of decisions made. Despite repeated assurances of its sympathetic understanding of Rediffusion's position, it
is the case that the Government has never kept to a
single forecast date or time-table, since the Working
Party was first formed. If further delays are allowed to happen Rediffusion believes the following consequences
will ensue:-
(a) TVB's monopoly will be extended de facto
from November 1972 to either January 1974,
mid-1974, or January 1975. This would
enable TVB to continue to earn, without
competition, airtime revenue currently running at £210,000 per month and certain
to increase as the number of sets able to
watch only their service grows. It would be
impossible to over-estimate the degree of
entrenchment that would be conferred on TVB
by monopolistic revenue of this order, thus
making effective competition by a new
broadcaster extremely difficult.
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