HONG KONG 2004 - Communications, the Media and Information Technology

The broadcasting policy objectives are to promote programme choice and diversity through competition, to facilitate introduction of new, innovative broadcasting services, and to enhance Hong Kong's position as a regional broadcasting hub.

Hong Kong's regulatory regime is technology-neutral. The provision of television services and carriage networks are separately regulated so that a television programme service provider may hire operators of any transmission networks to transmit its service instead of investing heavily in transmission infrastructure itself. This arrangement facilitates market entry.

Under the Broadcasting Ordinance, the four categories of television programme services — domestic free, domestic pay, non-domestic (mainly satellite television service for the region) and other licensable television programme services (mainly television service for hotel rooms) — are regulated in accordance with the nature and pervasiveness of the services rather than the transmission mode. The former two categories of licences are issued by the Chief Executive in Council, and the latter two by the Broadcasting Authority (BA).

The BA is the statutory regulator of the broadcasting sector. It comprises nine non-official members from various sectors of the community and three public officers. The BA's main function is to safeguard proper standards of television and sound broadcasting with regard to both programme and advertising content and technical performance. This is done through regular consultation with the public through a television and radio consultative scheme and focus group discussion to collect audience feedback. The BA publishes codes of practice on programme, advertising and technical performance which licensees have to observe. The BA is also responsible for enforcing the competition provisions under the Broadcasting Ordinance. The BA also makes recommendations to the Chief Executive in Council on applications for and renewals of sound broadcasting, domestic free television and domestic pay television licences.

The Codes of Practice Committee and Complaints Committee are the two sub-committees under the BA. The Codes of Practice Committee regularly updates the codes of practice to ensure that they reflect public expectations of broadcasting services while not restricting business flexibility. In 2004, the BA relaxed the restrictions on title sponsorship and financial advertising on television and radio.

In 2004, the Complaints Committee dealt with 45 cases involving 1 522 complaints about programmes and advertisements. Having considered the recommendations of the Committee, the BA issued licensees four warnings and one serious warning, and imposed four financial penalties on them. The BA concluded its investigation into four competition complaints relating to sports broadcasting rights.

In 2004, the BA submitted its recommendations to the Chief Executive in Council on the renewal of the domestic pay television programme service licence of Hong Kong Cable Television Limited.

With the advent of new technologies and convergence in the communications sector, the BA will examine its regulatory approach to ensure sufficient flexibility and competition for the broadcasting market to operate effectively and efficiently.

RTHK, a government department, is an editorially independent broadcaster whose mission is to provide quality programmes that inform, educate and entertain the people of Hong Kong. RTHK's television programmes are broadcast on free-to-air and pay television channels. RTHK productions have won acclaim locally and internationally. Its television programmes constantly score the highest average rating in the Appreciation Index Survey, a public opinion survey jointly sponsored by Asia Television Limited (ATV), Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), Hong Kong Cable Television Limited and RTHK. RTHK programmes received 34 commendations at international and local television festivals in 2004. RTHK has been broadcasting online since 1994. The daily average hit rate of RTHK on the Internet is 18 million.

Broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology are converging. Due to the development of digital technology, communications companies can provide digitised broadcasting, telephony and Internet access services over the same telecommunications network. The Government has been reviewing the regulatory regime to ensure that it remains conducive to new technological and business developments. The Government also announced in October 2004 a proposal to merge the BA and the TA into a unified regulator responsible for overseeing the whole electronic communications sector. Such an institutional arrangement, which is the international trend, will enable the regulator to have the vision and jurisdiction to cope with challenges in the converging environment. The Government will consult the public on details of the proposal in 2005.

The Government encourages the deployment of digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting technology in Hong Kong to enhance spectrum efficiency and enable the provision of new services such as high-definition television broadcasting, which is not possible in the analogue mode. In July 2004, the Government promulgated a framework for implementing DTT broadcasting in Hong Kong. The two incumbent terrestrial broadcasters, ATV and TVB, are required to launch DTT by 2007, and achieve 75% of coverage of their digital services by 2008.