TNAG-2277-FCO40-3276-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-1991 — Page 162

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FM HONG KONG

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 2435

OF 011128Z AUGUST 91

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YRTELNO 1383: BBC WORLD SERVICE TV (WS TV) AND HUTCHVISION

1. WE ARE VERY ENTHUSIASTIC OVER THE PROSPECT OF THE BCC WORLD SERVICE RADIO AND WSTV BROADCASTING IN HONG KONG AND ASIA AND IN PRINCIPAL WOULD WISH TO DO ALL WE CAN TO HELP.

2. HOWEVER, HUTCHVISION ARE NEWCOMERS TO THE BROADCASTING FIELD. THE BAN ON CANTONESE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING FOR HUTCHVISION WAS INTRODUCED SO THAT SATELLITE TELEVISION WOULD NOT AFFECT ADVERSELY LOCAL CANTONESE-LANGUAGE STATIONS I.E. TVB AND ATV WHO ACCEPTED THEIR LICENCES AGAINST A BACKGROUND WHICH DID NOT INCLUDE SATELLITE TV OR ANOTHER CANTONESE TV CHANNEL.

3. HUTCHVISION ACCEPTED THIS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. THEY HAVE BASED THEIR STRATEGY ON PROVIDING A PAN-ASIAN SATELLITE TELEVISION PROGRAMMING SERVICE RECEIVABLE IN OVER 30 COUNTRIES IN THE REGION AND FUNDING THEIR SERVICES THROUGH REGIONAL ADVERTISING REVENUE RATHER THAN SUBSCRIPTION. HONG KONG VIEWERS WERE NOT THEIR PRINCIPLE TARGET AUDIENCE. AGAINST THIS BACKGROUND, WE ARE ENCOURAGING HUTCHVISION TO START BY BROADCASTING WS TV IN ENGLISH AND MANDARIN. IN HONG KONG, THE LIKELY AUDIENCE FOR WS TV WILL BE ENGLISH SPEAKING AND THERE IS NO OTHER SIZEABLE CANTONESE AUDIENCE IN THE REGION WHICH DOES NOT UNDERSTAND MANDARIN.

4. FOLLOWING THE DEMISE OF HKCC, WE ARE REVIEWING OUR POLICY ON SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION. THE REVIEW WILL BE COMPLETED AROUND THE END OF THE YEAR, AND WE WILL THEN CALL FOR BIDS FOR SUBSCRIPTION TV WHICH CAN INCLUDE CANTONESE PROGRAMMING. ON 25 JULY 1991, HUTCHVISION APPLIED FOR A REVIEW OF THE RESTRICTIONS ON CANTONESE LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING AND SUBSCRIPTION. THIS WILL BE ASSESSED ALONG WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS FOR SUBSCRIPTION TV. WE HOPE TO LICENSE ONE OR MORE SUCH SERVICES BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT YEAR BUT THE IMPACT OF THESE ON OUR EXISTING TV STATIONS WILL HAVE TO BE

ASSESSED.

5. IN THE MEANTIME, WE ARE ASSISTING HUTCHVISION TO SEEK APPROVAL

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