ENG-1979 — Page 235

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THE MEDIA

RTHK's public affairs output was revamped during the year and two new public affairs magazines, one in Chinese and one in English, were launched in the autumn. The Chinese- language documentary series, The Common Sense, continued to draw large audiences. Government public affairs television programmes, which include public service informa- tion messages made by RTHK for the Information Services Department, are transmitted by the television companies under the terms of the Television Ordinance.

Sound Broadcasting

There are nine radio channels in Hong Kong. Five are operated by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) the government-financed station, three by Commercial Radio and one by the British Forces Broadcasting Service.

RTHK's year was one of consolidation with the emphasis on achieving more 'depth' to the almost 600 hours of weekly airtime. News and current affairs programming were extended and more general feature programmes of local interest were mounted. However, there was still a wide choice of popular music shows, drama, classical music, light enter- tainment and variety programmes.

RTHK's newsroom operates round-the-clock, providing an hourly news service when the station is on air. During the year, the morning news magazine programmes in both Chinese and English were extended to one hour. The programmes contained a balanced mixture of news, interviews, sport and finance. Increasing use was made of special overseas reports and staff were sent to cover the United Nations-sponsored conference on refugees in Geneva and the start of the direct Hong Kong to Guangzhou (Canton) hovercraft and train services.

Special events during the year included live broadcasts of sporting events and more 'community involvement' programming. Crowds of several thousand people demonstrated the popularity of the Chinese service's live outdoor performances of Cantonese opera and music shows. Local history was a popular subject and The Hidden Years, a sequel to the series which traced the fall of wartime Hong Kong, traced the years of occupation and life in the prisoner-of-war camps.

Classical music output made a number of advances with greater emphasis on broadcasts by visiting orchestras and artistes. Highlights of the year included broadcasts of per- formances during the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Festival of Asian Arts, with maximum use being made of RTHK's FM stereo capability.

After a run of almost 17 years, the Cantonese course Kwang Tung Wah was replaced by a new simpler series, Everyday Cantonese. As a prelude to it, Barefoot Cantonese, a successful series which introduced one phrase each day, was introduced.

The three services of Commercial Radio made considerable progress during the year, especially in outside broadcasts and public service broadcasting. Transmission hours were increased to 19 hours a day on each of the Chinese-language services bringing them in line with the English-language service. Commercial Radio also made good use of overseas reports and sent staff to Bangkok for live broadcast coverage of the Asian Games and to Guangzhou (Canton).

The station continued its policy of jointly presenting live shows in conjunction with local impresarios. Many outside broadcasts were conducted from shops and shopping arcades as well as from Ocean Park. A series of 'disco' cruises in the harbour proved extremely popular. The year saw further growth in both audiences and commercial revenues demonstrating the continued local interest in radio. Commercial Radio raised more than $500,000 for charity, the main beneficiary being the Community Chest.