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Page 8 Wednesday, March 15,
Moncheng
Standard
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
ESTABLISHED 1949
DAILY READERSHIP OVER 120,000
A new TV
station?
IIK-TVB'S
In
managing
director Mr Andrew Eu yesterday sparked a significant debate on the future of television in Hongkong.
his speech before Rotarians, Mr Eu brought out statistics on advertising revenue and profitability to show the economics of television.
To an audience who look at television as a means of communication and source of entertain- ment, what Mr Eu said was really heavy stuff. And at the end, they must have wondered what was the purpose of the luncheon eloquence.
Mr Eu nevertheless put up а remarkable per-
formance.
He did not
say that another television station should not be granted in Hongkong. In fact, he emphasised that he was not making a special plea. Yet the real purpose of the speech was to prove how b 17- economical the existing TV
would becom arrival of
titor
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Was.
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Appropriate
So, when would the time be more appropriate than now for a tele- vision boss to present his side of the argu- ment?
What Mr Eu did not were the explain
circumstances that make the opening of a third and even a fourth TV station viable. Advertisers support a station if it is popular and reaches the kind of audience the advertisers want 10 reach.
So the basic question Mr Eu and other TV station managers must ask themselves is how popular are their stations? Do they provide high quality entertainment and the up-to-date news their audience wants to see? Burying these questions under the issue of advertising revenue and profitability is an attempt to avoid the crux of the matter. Equally important is why
should certain TV stations enjoy com- petition-free franchise in a place where laissez-faire is the core of the economy. Lack of
competition would mean only that franchise existing
continue
owners
can
with their inert policy without having any special urge to improve the quality of their ser- vice.
We have already seen what suc.. franchise
done rights have
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