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Broadcasting Authority's deliberations in September
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The following is issued on behalf of the Broadcasting Authority:

     This press release summarises the outcomes of the Broadcasting Authority (BA)'s deliberations in September 2011:

Breach of provision regarding disqualified person
requirement
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     The BA gave a warning to Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) for contravention of section 3(2)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562) and Condition 12 of its domestic free television programme service licence by allowing a director to exercise control of the company as a disqualified person without the requisite approval of the Chief Executive in Council for a period of three days in June 2011.  The director in question had been a disqualified person by virtue of his being a director of another company exercising control of a domestic pay television programme service licensee before he resigned from the directorship in that company. The BA reminded TVB to enhance vigilance on the statutory requirements so as to avoid recurrence of similar lapses in future.

Complaint cases
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     The BA also considered four complaint cases in respect of licensees' compliance with the relevant codes of practice on programme and advertising standards:

(a) Complaints against the television programme "Greater China Live" broadcast on the SZTV Channel of Asia Television Limited (ATV) on December 20 and 21, 2010, February 17, 2011, and March 8, 2011. The BA decided that ATV should be strongly advised to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards (TV Programme Code) and the Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards (TV Advertising Code);

(b) Complaints against the television programmes "Noon News", "News at 6:30" and "News Roundup" broadcast on the Jade Channel of TVB on March 29, 2011, and the programme "News at 6:30" broadcast on March 30, 2011. The BA decided that TVB should be warned to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the TV Programme Code;

(c) A complaint against the television programme "Turistas" broadcast on the Pearl Channel of TVB on May 7, 2011. The BA decided that TVB should be advised to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the TV Programme Code; and

(d) A complaint against the radio programme "Free as the Wind" broadcast on the Radio 2 Channel of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) on May 1, 2011. The BA decided that RTHK should be advised to observe more closely the relevant provision in the Radio Code of Practice on Programme Standards.

     Further details of the above cases are available in the Appendix.

     The BA noted that in August 2011, the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing (CTEL) dealt with 199 cases (280 complaints) under its delegated authority, of which 15 cases (16 complaints) were classified as minor breaches and 114 cases (176 complaints) were unsubstantiated. The remaining 70 cases (88 complaints) were held to be outside the ambit of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance. The monthly figures for complaints dealt with by the CTEL from August 2010 to August 2011 are shown in Figure 1. A chart showing the respective nature of the unsubstantiated complaints classified by the CTEL in August 2011 is in Figure 2. A chart showing the respective nature of complaints which were classified as minor breaches is in Figure 3.

Ends/Monday, October 3, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:34

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