Rediffusion
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953
Rediffusion (Hong Kong), Limited, under a a franchise granted in 1948, operates a wired broadcasting system in the Colony. Under the terms of this franchise, Rediffusion relays programmes from Radio Hong Kong for a minimum period of 21 hours a week. The Company pays to the Government $1 a month, in respect of each subscriber, in the form of a Radio Licence Fee. Programmes comprising relays of Radio Hong Kong, B:B.C., and other broadcast programmes, but mainly originated in the Company's studios, are distributed over a network which now covers the whole of the urban area and parts of the Peak.
There are three amplifying stations, two on the Island and one in Kowloon. Each subscriber has a loudspeaker and selector switch installed in the house, and pays a service rental charge of $10 per month and may pay an additional $5 a month for an extra point. Altogether 53,300 loudspeakers have been installed. Two programmes are provided, one in English and one in Chinese, and the service operates from 7 a.m. to mid- night. The English programme consists mainly of musical items, but the Chinese programme includes plays, stories, con- certs and other features originated in the studio and gives regular relays of Cantonese Operas. News Bulletins in three dialects are broadcast several times a day.
Films
The number of cinemas in the Colony has grown rapidly during recent years, and at present fifty-nine are in operation, with three more under construction.
Film production has steadily been gaining momentum since the war, and has considerably increased since 1950, when certain studios, formerly located in Shanghai, came to Hong Kong. Chinese film production is, therefore, now an established and
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