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two licensees. The PMG will shortly be holding talks with the Guangdong Authorities on the subject of VHF (sound radio) frequency coordination, and will use
and will use this opportunity to find out more about China's plans for development of the UHF band for television.
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The Administration considers that though there is little justification for a fifth service at present, it may be prudent to try to keep this option open should the need for a fifth service arise in future. After the forthcoming meeting with China the Administration will be in a better position to assess the feasibility of negotiating with China on the adoption of a revised frequency plan to permit a fifth service, and at that stage will seek the Executive Council's advice on whether to proceed with this option further.
Replacing an English language service with a public broadcaster
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This proposal
has apparent merits given the relatively small audience for the English language services compared with that for the Chinese services. The Administration recommends however that a reduction in the number of English language services would not be advisable at the present time, for several reasons :
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(a) such a change could create a misapprehension that the Government is not fully committed to preserving a cosmopolitan and bi-lingual society;
(b)
there has been no pressing demand for change from the public. The audience for the English services continues to grow;
(c) both of the TV stations would be very reluctant to lose one of their English services; and
(a)
if there were only one English service its standards may deteriorate in the absence of competition, while any arrangement to share this service between two licensees would prove very awkward in practice.
There is moreover the question of cost. The cost constraints that apply to establishing a public broadcaster as a fifth service apply equally to a public broadcaster using an existing service. Although start up costs may be marginally lower, recurrent costs would still be in the region of $200 m per year.
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