XN000022-1972-06-16 — Page 20

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Friday, June 16, 1972

The advertising codes contain strict rules relating to medical

advertisements and to advertisements directed towards children or

in which children appear. Other rules cover advertisements for fire

arms, debentures, banks, and money lenders, etc. All advertisements

intended for television are also subject to censorship by the Panel of Film Censors. However, during the period November, 1968 to December, 1970 only 29 advertisements, out of a total of 1,805 viewed, were

not approved for television.

And now I come to my last point

what is it going to mean

for Hong Kong viewers. Firstly, with a marked increase in the choice

of programes freely available it is almost certain that the number

of viewers will increase. Television sets which in 1967 were a large

capital outlay for any household are getting cheaper every year and now one can purchase a compact portable set for under $400. Secondly, colour television which was a dream only a few years ago, is now a reality and one can buy a colour set now for about 31,600. These

prices will fall still further bringing colour television within

the reach of many more viewers. Lastly, with controlled competition

such as envisaged by this new policy I think we can only see an

improvement in the programmes offered as stations vie with each other to capture the maximum audience. So the Hong Kong viewer is going to

have not only more programmes but possibly even better ones to choose

from in the years ahead.

Thank you.

Release Time: 1 p.m.

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