ENG-1959 — Page 324

PRESS, PUBLISHING, BROADCASTING, FILMS AND TOURISM 273

The English service has a more complicated role to play than the Chinese service. Whilst it has to cater for the relatively small European and American population, it has also to bear in mind the very large number of Chinese listeners who use it not only for entertainment, but as a source of information and Western culture. The Chinese audience far outnumbers the non-Chinese, but within the limits of a single channel the English service endeavours to provide for both.

Serious music, talks, features and drama occupy a considerable amount of time, but great stress is also laid on reflecting all aspects of life in the Colony through outside broadcasts, news magazines and documentary programmes. -The service suffered an acute staff shortage during the second half of the year which delayed a planned increase of this type of programme. This staff shortage will be remedied at the beginning of 1960, and it is then hoped to provide daily instead of weekly news magazines and to provide a regular series of documentary programmes about Hong Kong.

The B.B.C. Transcription Service provides a wide range of high quality programmes of which considerable use is made and the transcription services of other broadcasting organizations, notably Radio Canada and Radio Australia, also provide valuable material.

Full use is made of the artistic talent available in Hong Kong, in plays, recitals and variety shows. A successful experiment in the latter field was the production of a series of six programmes entitled 'Radio Clubhouse' early in the year in which Hong Kong's leading bands and singers took part, before an audience of teenagers.

Subjects for documentary programmes written in Hong Kong were shipbreaking, the police and service units.

Towards the end of the year a weekly science magazine was produced which dealt with scientific topics ranging from space research to synthetic music.

Among outstanding talks were the Reith Lectures by the Director of Jodrell Bank, Professor A. C. B. Lovell, and a talk on his memoirs by Viscount Montgomery.

Children's programmes were completely reorganized during the year, and the new daily children's programme aroused consider- able interest amongst both children and parents.

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