relays had been completely suspended since 1954 due to a dispute. over relay conditions. Meanwhile Radio Hong Kong had been forced to find other programme material as a substitute. Studio-produced operas, concerts and long plays were introduced, and the opportunity was seized to experiment with a variety of new styles of programme. As a result of this long period without opera relays many listeners, especially among the younger generation, have begun to develop new tastes and listening habits. It is doubtful if there is now any demand for opera relays to be resumed on anything like the pre-1954 scale when three-hour relays three times a week were the general practice.
Music
24. Fewer Cantonese studio concerts were broadcast com- pared with the previous year, but Cantonese live and recorded music still accounts for nearly a quarter of the Chinese programme output.
Thursday evenings were usually allotted to amateur musical groups from the various trade guilds, while Sunday evenings were reserved for concerts by professional singers or stage performers; musical plays were sometimes offered as an alternative to straight concerts. Recitals accompanied by a blind artist were reintroduced in September 1955 in response to requests from many listeners representing the tastes of the older generation. A series of concerts by professional singers, with music directed by Lo Ka Chi, Hong Kong's foremost exponent of Cantonese music, were started in April, 1955.
Two programmes of Western dance music and a pro- gramme of Western screen favourites were broadcast to appeal mainly to the younger folk.
Commercial Chinese gramophone records were pro- duced in larger quantities during the year, so that a more varied range of Modern, Peking and Swatow recorded-music became available to programme builders. 33 r.p.m. microgroove recordings of opera also began to make an appearance on the market.
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