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THE MEDIA
RTHK also announced it was working on a new plan for local radio, to cater for the tens of thousands of people moving to the new towns in the New Territories. The proposal is for an experimental local radio station at Tsuen Wan, and if the scheme is successful others may follow for Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.
RTHK policy was set out in a document published by the Information Secretariat in May. It stated that RTHK was required to provide a balance of information, education and entertainment, a service of objective news and public affairs programming, and to expand productions which encouraged audience participation. It was to reflect fully the views of the government and the people of Hong Kong, providing a two-way channel of communication between them.
On the radio programme side, both English and Chinese channels became even more involved in Hong Kong's cultural life. The English Fine Music section received high praise for its role in presenting, with the Hong Kong Arts Centre, a production of Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale. The three public performances formed part of the 1980 Hong Kong Arts Festival and the opening night was attended by HRH Princess Alexandra.
The Chinese music section was equally active and, as well as producing nearly 20 hours of music each day on channels 2 and 4, the section produced 13 special community in- volvement projects. One of these, the Amateur Singing Contest, was organised in conjunc- tion with the Urban Council. It attracted more than 2,000 contestants and seats for the final judging were sold within two hours.
On the general programmes side subjects as diversified as the Transport White Paper, illegal immigration, politics and the Olympic Games, were all given an airing on the weekly panel discussion In Perspective, while the Talk About programme, the Chinese service equivalent to Open Line, moved to an earlier and more popular time of 8 to 10 a.m.
The English language Open Line programme continued to be one of the most popular and important channels of communication between members of the public and the govern- ment. Nearly 5,000 different enquiries, complaints, suggestions and comments were aired on the programme during the year.
On the English service the new Cantonese by Radio series Everyday Cantonese proved to be a worthy successor to the Kwang Tung Wah lessons which were first broadcast in 1963. Educational programming in Chinese now averages about one hour each day on subjects ranging from medical advice to courses on Chinese history and literature. English lessons still prove to be extremely popular, with courses such as English Examined and The Bellcrest Story being well received by both school children and working adults.
Commercial Radio celebrated its 21st anniversary with record growth in all areas. Several major outside broadcasts were mounted, including a free open-air pop concert attended by more than 10,000 people; a charity celebrity basketball match; soccer and tennis from Canton; golf from the United Kingdom; and harness racing from Macau. Funds were raised for several charities and, as usual, the stations were heavily involved in the Community Chest's Walks for A Million. All three channels provided valuable service during typhoons. A wide range of live shows from overseas was presented - ranging from the serious (Vincent Price as Oscar Wilde), to the entertaining (The Osmonds). Listenership and advertising revenue grew at an encouraging rate.
The British Ministry of Defence operates the British Forces Broadcasting Service Hong Kong from studios at Sek Kong in the New Territories. Designed to serve the particular requirements of the British and Gurkha forces stationed in Hong Kong, the station's brief is to broadcast programmes of entertainment, information and education and to provide a link with home for servicemen, their families and the civilian component of the forces.