234
HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
undertaken during the year, necessitating for Radio Hong Kong the recruitment of extra staff, both programme and technical, the ordering of equipment, the preparation of new programme schedules and technical experiments on coverage. While certain increases in transmission time were made. on both Chinese and English programmes in November, the full effect of the expansion of services will not be felt until the middle of 1957. At the end of the year additional technical staff had been recruited and were being trained by Cable and Wireless, recruitment of extra programme and clerical staff was in hand, new equipment was under order, plans were in hand for building alterations to certain studios, and the problem of improving reception was under discussion. At the end of the year both programmes were on the air for an average of eleven hours daily.
As in previous years, much effort was expended in increas- ing the range of broadcasts reflecting the character of Hong Kong. To the weekly feature 'We are Living Below the Victoria Peak' the Chinese section added 'Topical Events' and 'Workers' Playtime'. The former is a weekly news magazine similar to the English programme 'This Week'. For the latter, artists, musicians and engineers take a show out to one of the Colony's factories each week, and this programme has proved immensely popular. This year more programmes than ever before were broadcast both in English and Chinese stressing the interdependability of both commu- nities in the Colony. For example, in the spring a series of inter-school quiz programmes, organized by the Hong Kong Junior Chamber of Commerce, were broadcast in both services; the English version of 'Beginners Please', an amateur talent show, first broadcast in English at the beginning of the year, was followed by a similar programme on the Chinese service at the end of the year, and both filled the Concert Hall to capacity. 'Its in the News', a panel game adapted from a television feature, proved as popular with Chinese audiences as with English. These programmes
Page 285Page 286