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imbalance and lack of true competition between the two licensees may not be in the public interest or in the interests of good quality programming. An open competition for licences to broadcast after 1988 will ensure that the best potential applicants are awarded
are awarded a licence. If ATV's and TVB's licences are simply renewed, the opportunity of finding a better qualified successor will have been lost, and the existing imbalance perpetuated.
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An open competition will meet with certain public expectation and will indicate that the Government is receptive to the BRB's proposals. In view of the likelihood that the Government may be unable to adopt several of the BRB's recommendations, it may be politic to endorse the proposal for
open tender which
which underpins much of the Board's basic thinking.
an
Disadvantages
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There are however some serious practical difficulties in holding a tender for licences to broadcast after 1988. The principal difficulty is related to land.
related to land. If an open tender is held, it is probable that any new applicant will be seeking to take over ATV's licence
licence (as this is
is the weaker of the two existing stations). It is equally probable that any such applicant would also wish to establish and equip new broadcasting studios rather than take over those of ATV which suffer from size constraints and outdated equipment and provide a poor base from which
from which to compete effectively against TVB. Land would have to be
to be found in a suitable location and the terms of the licensee's land lease decided upon. In addition a new licensee would require time to build and equip studios. It is estimated that it could take up to three years before a new station could be commissioned. Only if the existing licences were extended for at least two years could time be bought to enable a tendering exercise to proceed in which a new applicant can compete on an equal
an equal footing with the existing licensees.
of
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A further problem relating to the availability broadcasting sites is that if an open competition were held, the Government would have to take account of the possibility that not one, but two entirely new applicants could be awarded a licence. Although this outcome is very unlikely, the Government would have to be prepared to find two sites suitably large for broadcasting studios, which would prove very
difficult indeed.
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The most likely alternative to finding a new site would be for a fresh licensee to take over the facilities of ATV. In practice this is not a realistic option, for several
reasons:
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