PUBLICATIONS, BROADCASTING AND FILMS
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the past few years, as have also the number of programme services available from both Radio Hong Kong and commercial stations. The diversity of services available has provided Radio Hong Kong with an opportunity to place greater emphasis on information, education and the arts in general, and audience research carried out during the year, and comments made in listeners' letters, which now average 300,000 annually, indicate that there is a demand for more serious programmes.
Internationally, Hong Kong was represented by the Director of Broadcasting and the broadcasting engineer at the 5th Asian Broadcasters' Conference held at Seoul in October. The conference decided to form an Asian Broadcasting Union, of which Radio Hong Kong will be eligible for associate membership.
The Chinese Service. Broadcasting on 640 kc/s, 3940 kc/s and 94 mc/s FM, the service is on the air from 7 a.m. to midnight daily. The programme organizer has a staff of 11 producers and seven announcers, with some 1,000 outside contributors and artists employed in writing, preparing and taking part in a wide range of programmes. Cantonese is the principal language used, but some programmes, particularly news bulletins, are broadcast in Kuoyu, Chiuchow and Hakka. The range of programmes offered is wide, including frequent news bulletins, news magazines, opera, storytelling, drama, variety shows, religious services, music from many parts of China, sports and magazine programmes, outside broadcasts, modern western and Chinese music, children's and women's programmes, market reports, programmes for specialized groups such as farmers, fishermen and industrial workers and educational programmes for adults and children. Two special educational series were produced during the year, one consisting of 20 programmes designed to help improve the standard of spoken English among Form I and Form II students, the other of 20 programmes designed to assist students of the same grades in Chinese literature. Towards the end of the year, the service in- augurated two daily one and a half-hour periods devoted exclu- sively to educational broadcasts.
The service maintains close links with its audiences by means of extensive outside broadcasts and recordings, both in the Colony and overseas. Men, women and children in all walks of life regularly appear at the microphone in features and magazine