XN000022-1978-07-02 — Page 5

SUNDAY, JULY 2, 1978

+RTHK 50 YEARS+ JUBILEE BOOK ON BROADCASTING

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THE STORY OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF BROADCASTING IN HONG KONG IS TOLD, WITH STRIKING ILLUSTRATIONS, IN A NEWLY PUBLISHED COLOUR BOOK, +RTHK 50 YEARS+.

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PRICED AT $9.50 AND TIMED TO COINCIDE WITH RTHK'S SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS, THE BOOK IS NOW ON SALE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE IN THE GENERAL POST OFFICE BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE.

THE BOOK RECALLS THE START OF WIRELESS BROADCASTING IN HONG KONG IN 1928, WHEN +STATION ZBW+ WAS INAUGURATED LARGELY THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF +EARNEST AMATEURS+, IT POINTS OUT THAT HONG KONG WAS IN FACT A PIONEER OF RADIO, AND ITS STATION IS ONLY SIX YEARS YOUNGER THAN THE BBC.

MAJOR ADVANCES AND DRAMATIC MOMENTS ARE RECORDED IN THIS ACCOUNT OF THE INSTITUTION WHICH IN TURN BECAME RADIO HONG KONG IN 1948 AND RADIO TELEVISION HONG KONG IN 1976.

ONE IMPORTANT YEAR WAS 1935, WHEN STATION ZBW MADE ITS FIRST INTERNATIONAL TRANSMISSIONS AND WHEN IT WAS DESCRIBED BY THE COLONIAL OFFICE AS THE BEST PIONEER BROADCASTING STATION IN THE WORLD.

AMONG THE HISTORIC EVENTS WAS THE SILENCING OF A PROGRAMME OF DANCE MUSIC BY JAPANESE DIVE BOMBERS AT 1 P.M. ON DECEMBER 6, 1941.

+RTHK - 50 YEARS+ INCLUDES SECTIONS ON CHINESE AND ENGLSIH RADIO, NEWS, EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION, ENGINEERING, AND THE LUNG CHEUNG OPERA TROUPE, AS WELL AS DETAILING THE VAST EXPANSION OF RADIO AND TELEVISION SERVICES IN THE LAST TWO DECADES.

IN AN INTRODUCTION THE DIRECTOR OF BROADCASTING, MR. DONALD KERR, SAYS THAT THOUGH TODAY'S BROADCASTERS CANNOT EXPERIENCE THE FULL SENSE OF WONDER FELT BY THEIR PREDECESSORS, THE RADIO PIONEERS, THE WORK OF BROADCASTING BECOMES EVERY YEAR MORE DEMANDING AS BOTH LISTENERS AND VIEWERS BECOME MORE DISCRIMINATING.

MEETING THE EVER HIGHER STANDARDS WHICH ARE SET WILL, HE SAYS, BE +THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEXT 50 YEARS+.

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