ENG-1950 — Page 109

6 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. Where, however, a Chinese theatre perform- ance was being relayed by ZEK, the station remained on the air until midnight. On Sundays the English station opened at 10 a.m. to relay a religious service, and on all public holidays both English and Chinese sections put on a continuous programme from 8 a.m. to midnight. The sponsoring of programmes for the Forces, which was introduced in the autumn of 1949 to bridge the four-hour period between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, was discontinued at the end of April 1950, but the transmission of programmes at these times has been continued at Governmenț

expense.

The Annual Report of 1949 expressed the hope that Radio Hong Kong would have moved to its new premises by March 1950. That hope was not realized. At the end of the year the new studios in Electra House had not been completed and a considerable amount of work still needed to be done before broadcasting could begin there. In May, the Programme Secretary, the Chinese Programme Secretary and his staff, and the News and Talks Editor, occupied their respective offices in Electra House, but throughout the year Radio Hong Kong's programme output had perforce to originate from the old and obsolete studios in Gloucester Building.

In the English service every endeavour was made to cater for all tastes, and much material of high quality was made available by the BBC Transcription Service. This was supplemented by transcribed programmes from the United Nations and the Voice of America. Special efforts were made at all times to introduce as many live broadcasts as possible. The Colony's leading musicians gave a number of broadcast recitals, and other programmes from the studios included plays, readings of poetry, book reviews, illustrated talks on music, and readings of short stories many of which were the work of local authors. One feature of special interest during the year was the starting of a British Council series of programmes consisting of live and recorded material illustrating British culture and way of life. The programmes also continued to include many items designed to interest listeners in the Forces.

Efforts were made to widen the scope of outside broadcasts on both the English and Chinese services. The departure of troops for Korea, an air display at Kai Tak, and the arrival of R.M.S. Chusan were among the features covered. Permanent broadcasting points have been arranged in various public grounds and football fields not only improving sports commentaries but making possible the reporting of ceremonies and other events taking place on the grounds in question. One of the most important of these was the Education Week, the activities of which were extensively broadcast by both stations.

One of the chief problems which continued to face the Chinese service was the extreme difficulty of obtaining Chinese gramophone records. As a result the programmes of ZEK contained a consider- ably higher proportion of live broadcasts than ZBW. These included plays, concerts, recitals, and talks by well-known story-tellers. Chinese opera relayed direct from the theatre continued to be a popular listening item.

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