ENG-1993 — Page 380

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COMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA

News and current affairs programmes such as the Breakfast Show, Morning This Minute and Hong Kong This Minute are the main features on CR1.

CR2 continues to appeal to students and young people by promoting local pop music. The channel demonstrated its commitment to community service by launching the Man-Yan-Bong Volunteer Service campaign to serve different groups in need and to encourage youth participation in volunteer services.

Quote AM 864 broadcasts in a unique total-music format, uninterrupted by DJ

comment.

Joining forces with other organisations and the print media, Commercial Radio also devoted considerable efforts to raising funds for the needy in 1993, partly through the launching of the Action Jackson Charity Drive.

Metro Broadcast

Metro Broadcast went on the air in July 1991, ending a 32-year monopoly on commercial radio broadcasting in Hong Kong. Metro operates three channels of formatted radio two on FM and one on the AM band.

The two FM channels are both music services FM Select and Hit Radio. FM Select offers bilingual broadcasts in Cantonese and English to a more mature audience aged 25 and above, largely featuring evergreen songs from the Thirties onwards. Hit Radio is a contemporary hit radio station, playing the current Chinese and Western pop hits.

Metro Broadcast used to provide a 24-hour English news service (Metro News) on its AM frequency, but the format was revised in May and the channel was renamed Metro Plus. The channel now offers a bilingual service, blending five hours of English news programmes with Chinese and English songs. Ethnic programmes in Tagalog are also presented during weekend evenings.

The station has emerged as a major concert producer. During the year, it demonstrated its commitment to community affairs by staging the second 'Fathers Without Wives' charity concert at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and a Mother's Day concert. The station was also the official radio sponsor for a rapidly accelerating schedule of appearances by top international artists. In 1993, these included Chicago, Public Enemy, Bryan Adams, Foreigner, the Brecker Brothers, Elton John, Bobby Brown, the Bolshoi Ballet, Bon Jovi and Kenny G.

In China, Metro has become a major producer of programming for Chinese radio, having a national programme daily on China Radio International's countrywide network, and a daily programme for the Pearl River Delta over Radio Foshan. The programmes are known as JOY FM and HIT FM, respectively, and enjoy wide popularity.

British Forces Broadcasting Service

The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) is part of the Services Sound and Vision Corporation, a worldwide organisation providing entertainment, information and training films, video, and broadcast television and radio services for the British Forces, under contract to the Ministry of Defence.

BFBS provides two radio services in Hong Kong, designed for the particular needs of the English and Gurkha service audiences.

Nepali programmes, broadcast for 90 hours each week from Sek Kong in the New Territories, cater for the Brigade of Gurkhas, providing music and features reflecting daily