XN000022-1972-06-16 — Page 17

Friday, June 16, 1972

Ав

of living and more and more people are buying television sets. television continues to expand, manufacturers and promoters must of necessity increase their advertising budgets if they are not to lose customers to competitors who do use television as a medium for promoting their products or services. At present advertising time on wireless television is restricted to seven minutes per hour subject to an overall maximum of ten per cent of the total transmission time. Rediffusion's wired service, on the other hand, is not controlled so rigidly by the terms of its licence as is HK-TVB and the station may insert any amount of advertising material in any one hour provided it does not exceed the ten per cent overall maximam, In practice Rediffusion has often broadcast over ten minutes of advertising per hour and on occasions has had as much as 16 or 17 minutes in the hour, without complaint from the public. It has been accepted therefore that when there are two or more wireless television stations on the air the present restriction of seven minutes in the hour will be increased to ten minutes (without increasing the overall ten per cent standard). This will provide more advertising time at peak viewing hours and should help the effective distribution of advertising revenues between

the three stations.

Special Services

Additionally, Government has stated that the applicants for this third licence may if they wish offer special services such as subscription television (although the tender will not be conditional on this). These special services will be considered concurrently with

other tenders received.

A service which in part provides subscription television free of advertising would not be operating in full competition for total advertising with the two other licensees since the station would not be

It could wholly dependent on commercial advertising for its revenue. however provide a welcome medium for home studies, vocational training or other desirable programmes for minority audiences.

It is not considered from the financial point of view that any further television channels can be supported at the present time.

In 1965 Government's policy was that as television is primarily a medium of entertainment it was preferable to allow commercial interests to provide this entertainment under the close supervision and control of a Television Authority rather than to commit public funds in the order of $20 million per year (funds which could be used to greater advantage in other fields of social services and housing) for the establishment of a Government television station.

/However.....