अर
Mr Wilford
PS to Mr Royle
HONG KONG TV
1.
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. Stuart (Hecrow)
farce
A.R.
62
Miss Kelly the P/A
Colonel David Stirling is a director of TVB Hong Kong.
Des
He has recently been very active in arguing that TVB should
be allowed to retain all its present transmission frequencies
on Band IV, leaving the new second contractor to find its own
audience on Band V. More recently still, he has shifted his
tack, and has argued that TVB might be satisfied if the third,
Chinese, channel was postponed or cancelled.
2. He has been outspoken in his belief that the Hong Kong
Government has been overpersuaded by Sir Y K Khan on behalf
of a fully commercial third channel. He has also told us that
he personally wishes to sell his shares in TVB and to offer
his services to the Government of Hong Kong for the development
of public service television on the third channel.
He argues
that this end can only be achieved if a decision on the third
channel is postponed to give the Governor time to think out
all the implications of public service television. He therefore
claims that his personal interest and that of TVB run together.
3. While Colonel Stirling was in Hong Kong in November he had
a somewhat stormy interview with the Governor. But in the
course of this the Governor told him he personally believed
that a decision on the third channel might be postponed.
Colonel Stirling knows that the question of television was to
be considered by the Hong Kong Executive Council this week.
He has already telephoned to ask if we know the result and when
/he could
CONFIDENTIAL