PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA
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part in broadcasts. The BBC Transcription Service is an invaluable source of drama, variety and comedy.
Commercial Radio. The English service of the Hong Kong Com- mercial Broadcasting Company Limited preserves a high musical content and continues to place emphasis on locally-produced shows and interviews. 'Special events' programmes were produced as well as a weekly series by the station's drama group of staff members and contributors. Several of the plays were by local writers. The relaying of the news from the BBC was discontinued and News Headlines, followed by short talks or interviews, were substituted. A monthly series from a staff member of the University of Hong Kong, sent by the government for a course at the University of Illinois, was broadcast, and the number of local music shows was increased. Live performances were relayed from the City Hall, hotels and nightclubs. Commercial Radio's two Chinese services both broadcast 17 hours daily. Outside broadcasts continued throughout the year with coverage given, whenever possible, to local events. Transcriptions were supplied to Radio Singapore and Radio Malaysia, and the film rights of many studio productions were sold for adaptation into Cantonese films.
Bilingual broadcasting in English and Cantonese was started on 19th June in the second Chinese service and concerts by the Cin- cinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra were broadcast with bilingual commentaries from the City Hall. Favourable comments on these broadcasts have been received from listeners in the form of letters and telephone calls.
Rediffusion. Wired sound and television are supplied by Rediffu- sion (Hong Kong) Limited, a locally controlled subsidiary of the organization which operates in Britain and in many other Com- monwealth countries. The wired sound service is distributed to practically all the urban areas and to many outlying villages in the islands and New Territories by more than 1,000 miles of main trunk lines and another 3,000 miles of installation cabling. At the end of the year there were 30,000 subscribers to these sound services. Rental for a speaker is $10 a month, giving a choice of four pro- grammes. The three Chinese programmes broadcast a total of 45 hours daily. The silver and gold networks each broadcasts 17 hours daily, offering news, music and other programmes in a variety of