HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
香港立法局
19 July 1989
一九八九年七月十九日
65
taken just a few months ago to grant a second licence for commercial radio broadcasting in 1990, new vistas opened up in the field of television and radio broadcasting. I applaud these moves and the positive attitude of the Administration. These steps should help to ensure that the Hong Kong public will benefit from the latest developments in broadcasting. With greater competition, the opportunities for more choice and better quality programmes for the public are enormous, but these opportunities can only be realized if the developments take place in an orderly fashion, with foresight and planning. I believe that the Broadcasting Authority, working closely with the Administration, has an important role to play in this process.
In the case of radio broadcasting, the Broadcasting Authority has not had any formal responsibility for the regulation of this important medium so far. Now with the impending grant of one new licence in August and another one in early 1990 it is time for the Broadcasting Authority to be given formal responsibilities with respect to commercial radio broadcasting. A licence grants the use of the air-waves, a valuable community property, and it is right that the licensee's use of this should be subject to proper regulation. The Hong Kong public, while it has not always been satisfied with the quality of broadcasting in Hong Kong, has sometimes been reluctant to make a fuss. In the case of television there is now a formal complaints procedure and the public are encouraged to contact the Broadcasting Authority to register any complaints they may have. It is right that for radio too the public should have an independent body to which complaints can be referred and which will examine those complaints and be in a position to take action on them if necessary. However, responding to complaints is only one part of the picture. As a member of the Broadcasting Authority, I look forward to good working relations with radio licensees in future so that we can encourage and, where appropriate, assist in achieving standards of broadcasting in Hong Kong that can match those any where in the world.
Returning to the Bills before us, the Legislative Council ad hoc group under the able convenership of my honourable colleague, Mr. Ronald ARCULLI, has scrutinized the Bills in detail and considered a number of proposals made by the existing commercial radio licensee, the Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited. After further discussion with the Administration and careful deliberation, we have found that some of the proposals made by the Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company are already covered because of provisions in other legislation or in different parts of the Bills themselves. In other cases we did not feel that the proposed legislation should be amended. Nevertheless,
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