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Friday, June 16, 1972
However, it is recognised that television, as a means of public information, is of the utmost importance. Hong Kong is therefore unique in that while it does not have a non-commercial or Government television station it does lay down statutory requirements on the television stations to provide air time for public service
broadcasts.
At present TVB is required to provide Government with up to one hour of transmission time per day (seven hours per week) for public service programmes produced by Government's Programme Unit, Radio Hong Kong Television, and in addition it also is required to provide four hours for the broadcasting of schools television, The recommendations of the working party which have been accepted were that these requirements will apply to each licensee in the future except that public service programmes may be extended up to one and a half hours per day within these limits. This will allow Government a total of approximately 15 hours of television per day on three stations, somewhat more transmission time than one might normally expect from
a Government television station.
Technical Developments
The sixth channel has therefore been reserved to meet
possible future technical developments and Hong Kong's future needs, not necessarily in the field of television. In any event three stations with five channels between them is considered the maximum in the field of entertainment television at this stage and in the foreseeable future.
It could be argued that the third channel will have some commercial advantage over the other two in that it will not have to support the costs of an English service with an inevitably poor commercial, return. The apparent advantage, will, I think, to a very large extent be outweighed by the fact that the single service station will still be required to provide to Government the same amount of air time for educational and public service programmes (five hours per day on its only channel) which the other operators will, in many cases, be able to screen on their less productive English channels.
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I referred earlier to the close supervision and control of the Television Authority. It might be useful here to give you some idea of what this control entails. As Television Authority I am responsible for the administration of the Television Ordinance and for compliance by licensees with the terms of the Ordinance, the
/subsidiary