RTHK: Difference between revisions
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In July 2007, the head of RTHK and Director of Broadcasting was accidentally spotted by a group of journalists in Causeway Bay along with an unidentified female. The journalists were actually waiting for singer [[Kenny Bee]], who was in a nearby restaurant. On seeing the gathered journalists, Chu ducked behind his companion. Photos became the main page headlines in some of the major Hong Kong newspapers the following day. Chu, who was one year due to his official retirement from the government, subsequently decided to seek early retirement in the aftermath.<ref>Una So and Diana Lee, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=48691&sid=14404248&con_type=1&d_str=20070710&sear_year=2007 RTHK chief quits amid media frenzy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330222540/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=48691&sid=14404248&con_type=1&d_str=20070710&sear_year=2007 |date=30 March 2009 }}, ''The Standard'', 10 July 2007</ref> |
In July 2007, the head of RTHK and Director of Broadcasting was accidentally spotted by a group of journalists in Causeway Bay along with an unidentified female. The journalists were actually waiting for singer [[Kenny Bee]], who was in a nearby restaurant. On seeing the gathered journalists, Chu ducked behind his companion. Photos became the main page headlines in some of the major Hong Kong newspapers the following day. Chu, who was one year due to his official retirement from the government, subsequently decided to seek early retirement in the aftermath.<ref>Una So and Diana Lee, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=48691&sid=14404248&con_type=1&d_str=20070710&sear_year=2007 RTHK chief quits amid media frenzy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330222540/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=12&art_id=48691&sid=14404248&con_type=1&d_str=20070710&sear_year=2007 |date=30 March 2009 }}, ''The Standard'', 10 July 2007</ref> |
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===Bruce Aylward interview and claims of breach in charter=== |
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{{Further|Bruce Aylward#Taiwan interview controversy}} |
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On 28 March 2020, during the [[COVID-19 pandemic|2019-20 coronavirus pandemic]], RTHK journalist Yvonne Tong conducted an interview with WHO-China Joint Mission co-lead [[Bruce Aylward]]. In the interview, she asked Aylward whether the WHO was willing to reconsider [[World Health Organization#Taiwanese membership and participation|Taiwan's membership]], a question which he appeared to dodge. Following the interview, on 2 April, Hong Kong’s [[Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development]] [[Edward Yau]] criticized RTHK for what he called "[a breach of] the [[One-China policy|One-China Principle]] and the purposes and mission of RTHK as a public service broadcaster, as specified in the [RTHK] Charter.”<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Davidson|first=Helen|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/03/hong-kong-official-reprimands-tv-station-over-who-interview-that-mentioned-taiwan|title=Hong Kong official reprimands TV station over WHO interview that mentioned Taiwan|date=3 April 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=6 April 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The RTHK responded by reviewing the episode, in which the coverage was centred on various places around the world while zero reference made to Taiwan as a "country", but rather a "place" - thus no violation of its charter was found.<ref>{{Cite web|title=RTHK rejects govt complaint over Taiwan interview|url=https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1518484-20200402.htm?|last=|first=|date=2 April 2020|website=RTHK News|language=en-gb|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/hong-kong-criticises-broadcaster-rthk-for-asking-who-about-taiwan|title=Hong Kong criticises broadcaster RTHK for asking WHO about Taiwan|date=3 April 2020|website=The Straits Times|language=en|access-date=6 April 2020}}</ref> An RTHK advisory panel member labeled the accusations as “nonsense”, adding that she does not "understand why when a reporter is asking something relating to health, she or he has to remember there is ‘[[One country, two systems|One Country, Two Systems]]’ … in line with the government or China”.<ref name=":2" /> A WHO representative sent a e-mail statement to [[Hong Kong Free Press]] accusing The Pulse crew of misrepresentation and delibrate manipulation of footage; but RTHK’s Head of Corporate Communications and Standards Amen Ng however rebukes this stating that the broadcaster “strenuously reject any allegations of ‘distortion and misrepresentation.'”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hongkongfp.com/2020/04/16/hong-kong-broadcaster-rejects-who-claim-that-interview-with-top-doctor-was-distorted/|title= Hong Kong broadcaster rejects WHO claim that interview with top doctor was ‘distorted’|publisher=Hong Kong Free Press|first1=Rachel|last1= Wong|date=16 April 2020|access-date=4 May 2020}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 18:18, 22 May 2020
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2016) |
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| Type | Public service broadcasting, radio, television and online broadcasting |
|---|---|
| Country | Hong Kong SAR, China |
| Availability | Territorial International |
| Owner | Government of Hong Kong |
Key people | Leung Ka-wing (Director of Broadcasting) |
Launch date | 1928 (radio) 1954 (gained independence from Government Information Services) 1970 (television) 1994 (online)[1] 12 January 2014 (Digital Terrestrial Television Service) 2 April 2016 (Taking over two analogue channels of Asia Television after their licence expired) |
Former names | GOW (1928–1929) ZBW (1929–1948) Radio Hong Kong (1948–1976) |
Official website | rthk |
| RTHK | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 香港電台 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 香港电台 | ||||||||||||||
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Politics and government of Hong Kong |
Related topics  Hong Kong portal |
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Government, RTHK's educational, entertainment, and public affairs programmes are broadcast on its seven radio channels and three television channels, as well as commercial television channels.
Unlike other public broadcasters like the BBC and NHK, which are statutory corporations primarily funded by licence fees, RTHK is government agency directly supported by annual government funding.
History
The Hong Kong Government launched its first radio broadcasting station, known as "GOW", on 30 June 1928,[2] with a starting staff of only six people.[3][4] Several name changes occurred over the next few years, and it eventually became known as "Radio Hong Kong" (RHK) (香港廣播電台) in 1948.[3]
In 1949, broadcasting operations were taken over by the Government Information Services (GIS), but by 1954, RHK had managed to establish itself as an independent department. Up until 1966, the radio station was only on-air for three periods during the day; at morning, lunchtime, and evening. This was partly due to many of the presenters being part-time freelancers who had to fit their radio appearances in with their normal daily working schedule.
In 1969, the station's medium wave AM transmitting station was moved from a waterfront site in Hung Hom to the summit of Golden Hill in the New Territories. Although the new transmitters were much more powerful, the mountain-top site proved unsuitable for medium wave transmissions and reception in some areas has remained problematic ever since. In March 1969, RHK moved its headquarters to new purpose-built studios located at Broadcasting House (廣播大廈) in Kowloon Tong.
A Public Affairs Television Unit was established in 1970 to produce TV programmes for required broadcast by independent channels. At that time, RTHK did not have its own television broadcast transmitters.
In 1973, RTHK set up its own radio newsroom. Prior to this, all news had been prepared by Government Information Services staff. Until 1969, headlines were sent to the studios every half-hour by teleprinter from the GIS headquarters in Central District, while the three daily full bulletins were hand-delivered by a messenger. This arrangement became impractical following the move to the new studios in 1969, so initially a GIS newsroom was set up in Broadcasting House. This arrangement also proved unsatisfactory and RTHK's own journalists, who until then had been confined to producing magazine programmes, took over the entire news operation.
In 1976, the station's name was changed to "Radio Television Hong Kong" (RTHK) to reflect its new involvement in television programme production. In the same year, it began to produce educational television programmes for schools after absorbing the previously independent Educational Television Unit.[5][6]
In 1986, RTHK headquarters moved across the road to the former Commercial Television studios, which were renamed Television House. The station's first News and Financial News channel, Radio 7, was established in November 1989.
In December 1994, RTHK launched its website and made its television productions, as well as content from its seven radio channels, available online. The website provided live broadcasts as well as a twelve-month archive (with the exception of HKCEE and HKALE broadcasts in RTHK2 due to copyright issues with the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority). The website, presented in English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese, initially offered free news via email three times per day, as well as online content.
In 2013, RTHK trialled and launched a new television channel. To support this new television operation, the government administration increased the station's funding by between HK$300 million and HK$400 million a year.[7]
In April 2016, RTHK took over the analogue channel frequencies of Asia Television (ATV) after the latter's free television licence expired.[8][9]
In March 2017, as the Hong Kong government decided to terminate DAB services in Hong Kong, RTHK said that it would integrate the existing DAB programmes into existing AM and FM radio channels. As the government claimed that RTHK should stop DAB service within six months, that means DAB service will be terminated no later than 30 September 2017.[10]
With the termination of DAB+ in Hong Kong, RTHK has announced in August 2017 that the broadcaster's relay of BBC World Service on Radio 6 would reduce to 8 hours a day and move to an overnight slot on Radio 4; Radio 6 would instead relay China National Radio's programme 14 which targets Hong Kong. CNR's programme 14 was previously heard on RTHK DAB 2 until DAB services in Hong Kong were shut down.[11][12]
Radio
Channels
RTHK operates seven radio channels:[13]
| Channel name | Modulation | Frequency | Primary language(s) | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTHK Radio 1 | FM | (MHz) 92.6 (Mt. Gough), 94.4 (Kowloon Peak), 93.2 (Cloudy Hill), 93.4 (Castle Peak), 93.6 (Lamma Island), 92.9 (Golden Hill), 93.5 (Beacon Hill) | Cantonese | News and current affairs, information, phone-in programmes, and general programmes |
| RTHK Radio 2 | FM | (MHz) 94.8 (Mt. Gough), 96.9 (Kowloon Peak), 95.3 (Cloudy Hill), 96.4 (Castle Peak), 96.0 (Lamma Island), 95.6 (Golden Hill), 96.3 (Beacon Hill) | Cantonese (primary) / Indonesian (additional programme) | Arts and culture, entertainment, family and community programmes |
| RTHK Radio 3 | AM FM |
(kHz) 567 (Golden Hill), 1584 (Chung Hum Kok) (MHz) 97.9 (Happy Valley, Jardine's Lookout, Park View Corner), 106.8 (HK South), 107.8 (Tseung Kwan O), 107.8 (Tin Shui Wai) |
English (primary) / Nepali and Urdu (additional programmes) | News, popular music, information, economic, sports and education programmes. |
| RTHK Radio 4 | FM | (MHz) 97.6 (Mt. Gough), 98.9 (Kowloon Peak), 97.8 (Cloudy Hill), 98.7 (Castle Peak), 98.2 (Lamma Island), 98.4 (Golden Hill), 98.1 (Beacon Hill) | English (primary) / Cantonese (secondary) | Classical music and fine arts and relay of BBC World Service |
| RTHK Radio 5 | AM FM |
(kHz) 783 (Golden Hill) (MHz) 92.3 (Tin Shui Wai),95.2 (Happy Valley, Causeway Bay), 99.4 (Tseung Kwan O), 106.8 (Tuen Mun, Yuen Long) |
Cantonese | Chinese opera, elderly, cultural, education and children programmes |
| RTHK Radio 6 | AM | (kHz) 675 (Peng Chau) | Cantonese and Mandarin | 24-hour relay of China National Radio Hong Kong Edition (formerly a relay of BBC World Service) |
| RTHK Mandarin Channel | AM FM |
(kHz) 621 (Golden Hill) (MHz) 100.9 (Happy Valley, Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Tuen Mun North), 103.3 Tseung Kwan O, Tin Shui Wai) |
Mandarin (primary) / other languages (secondary) | News and finance, Community Involvement Broadcasting Service (CIBS) |
Radio programmes
Television
Channels
RTHK operates three television channels:
| Channel (Digital) | Channel name | Contents | Date founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | RTHK TV31 (31A for analog viewers) | A general channel offering diversified programmes on current affairs, education, information, arts and culture, and minority interests. | 13 January 2014 (launched) 2 April 2016 (added-in analog channel) |
| 32 | RTHK TV32 | A live-event channel covering Legislative Council meetings and other important press conferences, news sports highlights and events of public interests | 13 January 2014 (Digital terrestrial Television launched) |
| 33 | RTHK TV33 (33A for analog viewers) | At launch, it was a simulcast channel of what is now CGTN Documentary. On 29 May 2017, it began relaying the programmes of CCTV-1 | 13 January 2014 (Digital Terrestrial Television launched) 2 April 2016 (added-in analog channel) |
Television programmes
Public affairs
RTHK primarily produces public affairs programmes such as Hong Kong Connection (鏗鏘集), Headliner (頭條新聞), A Week in Politics (議事論事), Media Watch (傳媒春秋), Pentaprism (五稜鏡), Access (奉告), The Pulse and Police Report (警訊). These are also broadcast by Hong Kong's three commercial television channels, TVB, ViuTV and HKIBC, in addition to RTHK's own television network. The government has lifted the requirement since March 2020, therefore TVB no longer broadcasts them.
Dramas
It has also produced TV dramas, including the classic Below the Lion Rock (獅子山下).
ETV
RTHK and the Hong Kong Education Bureau jointly produce Educational Television (ETV, 教育電視), a series of educational programmes for primary and secondary students – airing during non-peak hours on RTHK stations. ETV was first broadcast in 1971 for Primary 3 students and was extended to Primary 6 students in 1974. In 1978, it was extended to cover junior secondary (Form 1-Form 3) students. RTHK formerly broadcast these programmes on their stations during non-peak daytime hours.[citation needed]
While school programmes covering the topics of English, Chinese, Mathematics and Mandarin Chinese are provided to both primary and secondary students, Science and Humanities programmes are provided for secondary school students only and General Studies programmes are designed for primary students only.[citation needed]
There has been confusion between ETV and the ETV division of RTHK. Besides school ETV programmes, the ETV division of RTHK produces public educational television programmes for general viewers, such as Road Back (鐵窗邊緣), Anti-Drug Special (毒海浮生), Sex Education (性本善), and Doctor and You (醫生與你).[citation needed]
The high production cost of school ETV programmes was criticised by the Audit Commission. In 2017–18, the production cost of school ETV programmes was a staggering HK$1.58 million per hour.[14]
Controversies
Misconduct
In 2002, a former Chief Programme Officer was convicted of misconduct in public office. The charges related to approving salary increases for one RTHK employee without complying with procedures.[citation needed]
On 8 June 2006, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) of Hong Kong arrested four people on corruption-related charges, including a deputy head of RTHK 2 and a disc jockey, who were arrested for committing scams totalling about HK$70,000 from 1995 to 2001. They were alleged to have conspired and sold scripts for various programmes that they did not write. Another former disc jockey and her mother were alleged to have aided the conspiracy by using their bank accounts by receiving payments from the radio station. All four were arrested and were released on bail.[15]
RTHK was also criticised by the Audit Commission of the Hong Kong Government for its problems on complying with regulations on staff management. The report especially highlighted the misuse of public funds by the RTHK staff on entertainment expenses, overtime claims and the outsourcing of services.[16]
In July 2007, the head of RTHK and Director of Broadcasting was accidentally spotted by a group of journalists in Causeway Bay along with an unidentified female. The journalists were actually waiting for singer Kenny Bee, who was in a nearby restaurant. On seeing the gathered journalists, Chu ducked behind his companion. Photos became the main page headlines in some of the major Hong Kong newspapers the following day. Chu, who was one year due to his official retirement from the government, subsequently decided to seek early retirement in the aftermath.[17]
See also
- Media in Hong Kong
- List of Hong Kong companies
- Government departments and agencies in Hong Kong
- Cho Man Kit v Broadcasting Authority
Notes
- ^ History of RTHK
- ^ Man 1998, p. 12.
- ^ a b "經典重溫頻道 CLASSICS CHANNEL --- 細說歷史 History". RTHK. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ Ng, Kang-chung (6 November 2018). "Exhibition on Hong Kong public service broadcasting at Heritage Museum in Sha Tin tells story of RTHK". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ 經典重溫頻道 CLASSICS CHANNEL – 細說歷史 History
- ^ The British Official Film in South-East Asia: Malaya/Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong
- ^ Siu Sai Wo (26 July 2013). "RTHK focuses on new channel". The Standard. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
- ^ "Hong Kong Government Strips ATV of Broadcast License". Variety. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
- ^ "RTHK invited to provide analog TV service". China Daily. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
- ^ Statement of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) on the termination of Digital Audio Broadcasting services, RTHK, 28 March 2017
- ^ National Radio to replace RTHK's BBC relay, RTHK, 11 August 2017
- ^ Radio silence: 24-hour broadcast of BBC World Service dropped in Hong Kong, The Guardian, 13 August 2017
- ^ "RTHK corporate brochure 2018" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Radio Television Hong Kong: Provision of programmes (Executive Summary of Director of Audit's Report no. 71 Chapter no. 5, Oct 2018)
- ^ Albert Wong and Mimi Lau, Four held on RTHK script con Archived 28 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 8 June 2006
- ^ Leslie Kwoh, Lawmakers chide RTHK managers 20060713&sear_year=2006 Archived 31 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 13 July 2006
- ^ Una So and Diana Lee, RTHK chief quits amid media frenzy Archived 30 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 10 July 2007
References
- Man, Oi Kuen, Ivy (1998). Cantonese popular song in Hong Kong in the 1970s: an examination of musical content and social context in selected case studies (PDF) (M. Phil. thesis). Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong. doi:10.5353/th_b3122147.
{{cite thesis}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links
- Official website
(in English and Chinese)
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| International | |
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- RTHK
- Hong Kong government departments and agencies
- Radio stations in Hong Kong
- Publicly funded broadcasters
- Multilingual broadcasters
- Cantonese-language radio stations
- Chinese-language radio stations
- Mass media companies established in 1928
- Radio stations established in 1928
- Television channels and stations established in 1976
- 1928 establishments in Hong Kong