COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA
RTHK maintained its international links with overseas radio stations. Apart from the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Chinese Programme Service co-produced programmes with overseas radio stations throughout the world, and the Chinese com- munities abroad were kept informed of the developments in Hong Kong and vice versa.
RTHK now broadcasts 1 134 hours a week. Its main Chinese and English services, Radio 1 and Radio 3 respectively, operate 24 hours a day. The station has developed an individual identity for each of its channels.
Dreams of Hong Kong was RTHK's flagship project this year, expressing the hopes and feelings of the people of Hong Kong through music. A series of community events and concerts culminated in a grand concert at the Coliseum performed by Hong Kong's top artists and an album of songs in Cantonese and Putonghua was released.
Radio 1 provides a full news service with regular financial and traffic reports. The channel joined with World Vision Hong Kong for a third consecutive year to launch the Heart to Heart mission, a project which encourages the people of Hong Kong to care for the needs of the greater community of the Asia-Pacific Region.
Radio 2, the most popular station in the territory, is primarily designed as a channel for young people. The channel also fosters social awareness in its audience - encourag- ing young people's participation in the Voters Registration Campaign and promoting volunteer activities through its Solar Project. The ever popular Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs presentation which continues to promote local music talent was organised for the 13th year.
Radio 3 broadened its profile, adopting a more international outlook and sound in response to the needs of the multi-national English-speaking community in Hong Kong. The station broadcasts local, regional and international news, locally-made features, music and magazine programmes including its morning current affairs programme Hong Kong Today, Radio 3's charity campaign Operation Santa Claus raised a record $3.4 million for the Children's Cancer Fund.
Radio 4 is the bilingual channel for fine music and the arts. It broadcasts a wide range of fine music and numerous relays of concerts and recitals in conjunction with major cultural organisations in Hong Kong. The channel also produces its own recitals and concerts such as the prestigious Artist-in-Residence series featuring top local artists. Last year, Radio 4 initiated a highly successful Inter-Schools Music Quiz in addition to its music appreciation programmes for students and young people. Radio 4 also launched its own bilingual programme guide FM Fine Music on 4.
Radio 5 is now a fully-fledged channel broadcasting from 7 am to 11 pm each day. The channel provides cultural and minority interest programmes like Chinese Opera, provincial music and features in Putonghua. Radio 5 specialises in producing programmes for the elderly and for children. The Outstanding Pupils Awards did much to encourage local children to adopt a positive attitude towards their studies and to become involved in community activities.
Radio 6 now relays the BBC World Service 24 hours a day, broadcasting world news and a wide range of programmes from drama and music to science, sport and current affairs.
Radio 7, the new bilingual traffic channel, provides the most up-to-date traffic in- formation available, weather reports and news about emergency situations which may affect daily life in Hong Kong. The channel broadcasts middle-of-the-road music between bulletins.
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