&
DRAFT
CHR Bell Esq
Deputy Managing Director
BBC World Service
HKD 306/4
RECE
2 2 SEP 1988
INL
FICEH
PA
akum
6S
Please refer to Andrew Joynes' letter of 18 August about
the proposal for the BBC to provide a 24 hour medium wave
service for Hong Kong.
This is to confirm that the Hong Kong Government has
agreed that 24 hour broadcasting of the World Service on medium wave may proceed, but only on a low key and experimental basis by extending RTHK Radio 5's present transmissions from 10 to 24
hours a day. The mix of World Service broadcasts between
English and vernacular services is something to be worked out
between RTHK and the BBC.
Ni-duhu
This expansion of Radio 5's World Service broadcasts will be made possible by moving its present cultural and minority interest programmes in Chinese to a new channel (Radio 6), which will be exclusively for such material and enable RTHK to increase the quantity and variety of this type of programming.
In keeping with the decision to proceed on an experimental basis only and to adopt a low key presentation, it is intended that RTHK should either make use of its existing transmission
equipment at Golden Hill or a newer medium wave transmitter likely to become available for hire towards the end of 1989,
which is about the time the Hong Kong Government wishes to
implement the new arrangements. We understand no capital expenditure or other financial inp would be required from the
BBC to introduce the 24 hour service.