Hong Kong’s broadcast watchdog has been requested to require TV stations to provide extra native programmes on their English channels to “inform good Hong Kong tales” to expats and guests.
Stations are permitted to have as much as 45 per cent of their English-channel content material be in different languages, a threshold some lawmakers mentioned on Monday was too excessive and at odds with Hong Kong’s position as a global metropolis.
Some legislators additionally urged the federal government to sponsor TV stations to provide dramas selling nationwide safety and schooling, whereas others known as for loosening restrictions on TV commercials or product placements to assist broadcasters survive within the new media period.
The views have been raised at a gathering of the Legislative Council’s panel on data expertise and broadcasting, at which officers briefed lawmakers on the approaching renewal of the three home free-to-air TV service licences.
Non-affiliated lawmaker Chan Siu-hung mentioned: “Hong Kong is a global metropolis, however there will not be sufficient English programmes. Most of them are about monetary markets or present affairs. We should always permit expats right here extra selections.”
Sharing an identical view, Eunice Yung Hoi-yan of the New Folks’s Celebration mentioned: “Many of the English programmes are purchased from abroad. Travellers switching to an area English TV channel might find yourself watching programmes they’ve already watched of their residence locations.”