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Following is a question by the Hon Ip Wai-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau, in the Legislative Council today (June 9):
Question:
It has been reported that through the Government's mediation, three television broadcasters, namely Hong Kong Cable Television Limited, Television Broadcasts Limited and Asia Television Limited, have earlier reached an agreement on the television coverage of the 2010 World Cup, under which the World Cup's four core matches, highlights of matches and special programmes are arranged to be broadcast on digital terrestrial television (DTT) channels of the two free television broadcasters. The agreement has made it difficult for the grassroots who do not have television sets with built-in DTT decoders or DTT set-top boxes to watch this once-every-four-year football event free of charge. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) during the discussions with the aforesaid three broadcasters, whether the authorities had clearly requested that, under the premise of public interest, the broadcasters should broadcast the matches concerned on their free television channels with the widest coverage, in order to allow all people of Hong Kong to watch the matches; if they had, of their co-ordination efforts made, and whether they have considered broadcasting the World Cup's core matches and highlights of matches during the television and radio airtime of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) and on RTHK's Internet platform;
(b) whether the authorities will consider opening the Government's indoor complexes and community centres for broadcasting the matches so that the grassroots who do not have digital television services may watch the matches free of charge; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and
(c) given that there have been comments that an increasing number of exclusive broadcasting rights of large-scale international sports matches and sports games are successfully bid by pay television broadcasters, making it difficult for the grassroots to watch the matches and for the related sports to be promoted and become popular, whether the authorities will consider taking measures to ensure that all Hong Kong people can watch such large-scale international sports matches, so as to avoid recurrence of disputes similar to that arising from the broadcasting of the World Cup?
Reply:
President,
The broadcasting arrangements for the 2010 World Cup matches have been made by the Federation Internationale de Football Association having regard to its need in organising the matches and market demand. Broadcasters around the world would decide whether to take part in or purchase the rights of broadcasting the matches and work out their broadcasting strategies with reference to their own commercial and operational considerations. Generally speaking, governments would not intervene in the process and Hong Kong is no exception.
As regards the three parts of the question, our reply is as follows:
(a) and (b) The Government has all along been paying attention to the negotiations on broadcasting arrangements among the three television broadcasters, namely, Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (Cable TV), Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and Asia Television Limited (ATV). We have been monitoring the development closely. We have also expressed to these broadcasters our wish for them to negotiate an agreement which is in the best interest of the viewing public so as to allow members of the public to watch the matches through a free platform.
With the Government's facilitation and encouragement for the broadcasters to negotiate amongst themselves, Cable TV, TVB and ATV reached a commercial agreement in April this year on the broadcasting arrangements of the World Cup matches. Under the agreement, TVB and ATV will broadcast some of the matches on their digital channels. Currently, Cable TV has about one million subscribers, and about 1.2 million households in the territory have television sets, set-top boxes or computers capable of receiving digital television signals.
Moreover, we understand that many restaurants, bars and large shopping malls across the territory will show the World Cup matches live, thus providing more viewing opportunities for football fans. As regards Government venues, the Housing Department will arrange the live broadcast of four key matches, including the final, at five shopping centres of public housing estates, namely, Tin Yan Shopping Centre (Tin Shui Wai), Kwai Chung Shopping Centre (Kwai Chung), Mei Tin Shopping Centre (Sha Tin), On Kay Court Commercial Centre (Ngau Tau Kok) and Hoi Lai Shopping Centre (Sham Shui Po).
(c) Major sports events are held around the world each year. Broadcasting arrangements are mainly made by the organisers based on the nature of the events and their operational needs. It is therefore difficult to tell which company would acquire the broadcasting rights of the relevant events, whether the rights are exclusive and whether a fee is charged for watching the events. Since the broadcasting rights of events involve commercial decisions, it would be most desirable for the broadcasting arrangements to be decided through commercial negotiations. If there is obvious demand from the community, market forces will drive commercial organisations to explore business opportunities to show the events in restaurants and shopping malls through different channels to cater for the need of the public.
Ends/Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:00
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