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COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA

In keeping with radio stations around the world, Commercial Radio's Chinese and English services were active in fund-raising for famine relief in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, working in conjunction with the Oxfam and World Vision relief agencies. Fund-raising was begun on the English service's morning talk show and the public response was immediate. One of the Chinese services, CRII – and many of its listeners – took part in a '30 Hour Famine' and in the recording of a fund-raising song. The British Don't They Know It's Christmas and the American We Are The World recordings, both specially made to raise funds for famine relief, were played extensively on the station's services. Besides all this, the station continued its active involvement in raising funds for local charitable

purposes.

During the year, CRII, known as the 'Youth Station', consolidated its format and averaged two outside broadcasts a week throughout 1985. In addition, Commercial Radio joined other stations in an inaugural pop song writing contest held under the auspices of the Asian Broadcasting Union.

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Commercial Radio maintained its lively coverage of sport, and highlights of the year included coverage by its own commentators of Hong Kong's matches in Peking and Kobe, Japan, as part of a qualifying round for football's 1986 World Cup.

The British Forces Broadcasting Service is part of the Radio Division of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation, a world-wide organisation providing entertainment, information and training films, video, television and radio services for the British Forces, under contract to the Ministry of Defence. BFBS provides two radio services to cater for the special needs of the Gurkha and British Forces serving in Hong Kong.

The Nepali service is broadcast for over 76 hours per week and caters specifically for the Brigade of Gurkhas, providing music and features reflecting daily life in Nepal, Nepalese and world news, news reviews, quiz shows and audience participation phone-in program- mes. The English-language service now broadcasts live a three-hour lunch-time show daily from the new BFBS studio at HMS Tamar. This is in addition to the 115 hours per week of English-language broadcasts from the main Sek Kong studio which provides news from the United Kingdom and a music format familiar to British Forces. About 30 hours of programming per week are provided by the BFBS London Production Centre which keeps listeners in touch with home events and provides specialist programmes by leading British broadcasting personalities. The British Broadcasting Corporation Transcription Services provides high quality drama, comedy and documentary material. Some live outside broadcasts are mounted covering major social and formal military events.

Broadcasting Review Board

Since the existing commercial television and radio licences were due to expire in 1988 and 1989 respectively, the Governor in February 1984 appointed a 16-member Broadcasting Review Board to conduct a review which would assist the government in establishing an overall broadcasting policy for the post 1988 and 1989 period.

The scope of the board's review was wide, covering broadcasting technology, the needs of the public, the economics of the local broadcasting industry, advertising control, the government's role, censorship standard, legislation and the drafting of tender documents.

In view of the popularity and influence of television and radio in the Hong Kong community, the board devoted significant time and resources to inviting representations from the licensees, organisations and persons with an interest in broadcasting. The entire review took 17 months; from March 1984 to August 1985. The board's report was published in September and public comments on its recommendations were invited.