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The following is issued on behalf of the Broadcasting Authority:
This press release summarises the outcome of Broadcasting Authority (BA)'s deliberations in October 2011:
The BA considered four complaint cases in respect of licensees' compliance with the television programme service licence condition and the relevant codes of practices on programme and advertising standards -
(a) complaints against the television programmes "A Chinese Torture Chamber Story", "Lover of the Last Empress" and "Sex and the Emperor" broadcast on the TVB Movies Channel of TVB Pay Vision Limited (TVBPV) on June 5, 19 and 26, 2011 respectively. The BA decided that a financial penalty of $200,000 should be imposed on TVBPV for breaching the relevant provisions in the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards (TV Programme Code);
(b) a complaint against the television programme "News Report" broadcast on the I News Channels of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) on June 12, 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 "Cable Finance 2000" broadcast on the Cable No. 1 Channel of Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (HKCTV) on February 8, 2011. The BA decided that HKCTV should be strongly advised to observe Condition 19.5 of its domestic pay television programme service licence for its failure to provide the requested recording and advised to observe more closely the relevant provision in the Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards; and
(d) a complaint against the news on the Corruption Case of Mr Stephen Chan and Mr Wilson Chan broadcast on the Home and World Channels of Asia Television Limited (ATV) on July 18, 2011 in various programmes. The BA decided that ATV should be advised to observe more closely the relevant provisions in the TV Programme Code.
Further details of the above cases are available in the Appendix.
The BA noted that in September 2011, the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing (CTEL) dealt with 222 cases (313 complaints) under its delegated authority, of which 6 cases (6 complaints) were classified as minor breaches and 151 cases (225 complaints) were unsubstantiated. The remaining 65 cases (82 complaints) were held to be outside the ambit of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance. The monthly complaint figures dealt with by CTEL from September 2010 to September 2011 are shown in Figure 1. A chart showing the respective nature of the unsubstantiated complaints classified by CTEL in September 2011 is at Figure 2. A chart showing the respective nature of complaints which were classified as minor breaches is at Figure 3.
Ends/Monday, November 14, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:50
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