PART I
INTRODUCTION
In June 1928, a group of Hong Kong wireless enthusiasts put station ZBW on the air and on the 30th June, 1958, Radio Hong Kong celebrated its thirtieth birthday. It was the second Colonial broadcast- ing service to be established, being preceded by Kenya, and today has the largest audience of any Colonial station.
2. Several changes have taken place in the direction of the station since 1928. At first a committee of Hong Kong citizens directed its work, aided by a grant from the Hong Kong Government. The Com- mittee first met on Monday, 12th September, 1929, and its last meeting, as the Hong Kong Broadcasting Committee, was on the 21st December, 1938. On the 1st January, 1939, the Postmaster General took charge, aided by a Broadcasting Advisory Committee.
3. Three year later, the Japanese took over, ran the station during the war, preserved the station's operational systems and kept most of the pre-war records intact.
4. After liberation, the Postmaster General took charge once more, before handing over to the Public Relations Officer in 1951, and in 1954 an independent Broadcasting Department was set up under the Controller of Broadcasting.
5. The years have been continual development; from 1946 to March 1959 radio licences have increased from just over 4,000 to nearly 74,000. Ill-equipped studios have given place to well designed continuity, pro- duction and recording suites; broadcasting hours have been increased and the scope of both English and Chinese Services expanded to meet as far as possible the aim of providing balanced services of information, education and entertainment.
6. In 1959 another big step forward will be taken with the intro- duction of VHF/FM broadcasting and Hong Kong will become the first Colony to use this new high quality system as a principal method of transmission.
7. Much still remains to be done; there is an ever-growing awareness among the audience of the potentialities of radio and a continual
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