182

PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA

commercial facilities for programme sponsorship and spot advertis- ing on both channels. The two channels now provide some 152 viewing hours each week.

Television House, the company's new multi-studio centre at Broadcast Drive in Kowloon is a modern production centre equipped with 19 studios. Of these nine are television studios, eight are audio studios and two are dubbing suites.

Hong Kong Television Broadcast Ltd (HK-TVB) began regular programming on two wireless networks-Jade (Chinese) and Pearl (English) on November 19, 1967. It is registered and controlled in Hong Kong under the Television Ordinance (1964).

HK-TVB employs the UHF, 625 line-PAL colour system. Its main transmitters are on Temple Hill. The company also maintains translator stations in various parts of the Colony.

Jade Network programmes are designed primarily for Chinese audiences (principally Cantonese), but they also attract a large number of viewers who cannot speak any Chinese dialect. The programmes of the Pearl Network are designed to attract both European and Chinese viewers.

HK-TVB also maintains an independent news service with its own editorial staff and reporters. HK-TVB staff is almost entirely Chinese and includes a number of talented youngsters who returned from abroad to work for the station.

11

FILM INDUSTRY

Hong Kong's thriving film industry this year maintained its position among the top three or four volume producers in the world. An estimated 280 feature films were produced by local studios during the year. There was also renewed interest by major overseas producers in Hong Kong location shooting and a continued upsurge in the numbers of advertising films and commercials made here for both local and international clients.

The two principal Hong Kong companies are Shaw Brothers and the Cathay Organisation, and they control the bulk of 28 shooting stages. A number of smaller independent companies have studio complexes. Most of the Mandarin films are widescreen and in lavish colour-Shaw Brothers' films are renowned for their outstanding

Share This Page