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The following is issued on behalf of the Broadcasting Authority:
The Broadcasting Authority noted from a press report today that Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (HKCTV) claimed that free TV broadcasters in Hong Kong were not interested in bidding for the rights to live broadcast certain core matches of World Cup 2010, as had been done in the past World Cups. It was reported that in order to fulfil the terms of its contractual agreement with Fˆmdˆmration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on coverage of such matches which reportedly stipulated that certain core matches should be carried by free-to-air broadcasters, HKCTV planned to transmit the live broadcast of the relevant matches on HKCTV's Cable No 1 Channel. The Broadcasting Authority noted there was public concern over access to these core matches on the free-to-air television platform.
Under section 5(1) of the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562), a person shall not provide a broadcasting service except under and in accordance with a licence. The provision of a domestic free TV service by a person without a domestic free television programme service licence is in contravention of that provision in the ordinance.
HKCTV is a domestic pay television programme service licensee under the ordinance and in October 2007, the Broadcasting Authority, having regard to, among others, the submission of HKCTV, determined that Cable No 1 channel was considered as a domestic pay television programme service. The Broadcasting Authority has issued a letter to HKCTV today drawing its attention to section 5(1) of the ordinance. We will closely monitor the situation to ensure that the relevant licensee will comply with all the relevant regulatory requirements under the ordinance. We hope that HKCTV will take into account the interests of viewers in arriving at a decision.
Ends/Friday, February 26, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:01
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