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Following is a question by the Hon Claudia Mo and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, in the Legislative Council today (December 18):
Question:
I have received complaints from quite a number of members of the public about the audio-visual programmes shown on the buses of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) by the RoadShow Holdings Limited (RoadShow). The subjects of the complaints include that the current affairs programmes have a biased stance and the advertising time is excessively long. They consider that since as many as 2.6 million KMB passengers receive the information of these audio-visual programmes without choice every day, it is necessary for the authorities to tighten up the regulation of the quality of such programmes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of the contract signed by the Transport Department (TD) and KMB concerning the showing of audio-visual programmes on buses, including the requirements on programme contents; how TD monitors the audio-visual programmes shown by RoadShow in compliance with the contractual requirements;
(b) given that under the aforesaid contract, advertising time must not exceed 20% per hour of programme service, but the Annual Report published this year by the Office of The Ombudsman has pointed out that in June 2011, TD started conducting quarterly random inspections on the airtime of the advertisements shown by RoadShow, and the findings in 2011 indicated that a significant majority of cases then had exceeded that percentage, and it was not until April 2012 that the requirement on percentage of advertising time was complied with, whether TD has again conducted random inspections and whether it has received complaints about the excessively long advertising time since the middle of last year; if it has, of the details; if it has not conducted random inspections again, the reasons for that; and
(c) apart from the Film Censorship Ordinance (Cap. 392), the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (Cap. 390) and the aforesaid contract, whether the contents of the audio-visual programmes shown on franchised buses are subject to regulation by any other legislation, guidelines or codes; if so, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider making reference to the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards issued by the Communications Authority under the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562) on television programmes and introducing a code of practice applicable to the audio-visual programmes shown on buses, so as to ensure that the contents of current affairs and information programmes shown on buses comply with the principles of accuracy, impartiality and fairness; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
There has all along been a mechanism for the Government to monitor the audio-visual broadcasting systems (AV systems) installed inside the compartment of franchised buses. My reply to the various parts of the Hon Claudia Mo's question is as follows:
(a) & (c) Installation of AV systems on board franchised buses has to meet a number of conditions set by the Transport Department (TD). They concern design and installation of the hardware of the AV systems, volume setting, advertising airtime, submission of periodic reports and passenger surveys, etc.. Major conditions are as follows:
(i) Design and installation of the hardware of the AV systems: Franchised bus companies have to comply with section 37 of the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374A) regarding the visual display units. Furthermore, design and installation of system equipment must not impede the safety of bus operation and the locations at which the equipment is installed must not undermine the safety of passengers;
(ii) Volume setting of the AV systems: Franchised bus companies have to designate a quiet zone at the back of the lower deck and adjust the broadcasting volume elsewhere inside the compartment to a level close to the ambient one, with a difference of no more than two decibels. Moreover, a compressor has to be used to narrow the pitch variation of the programmes of the AV systems. The AV systems should also not interfere with the operation of the bus stop announcement system on board;
(iii) Airtime of advertisements: Advertising time should not exceed 20% of the airtime for every hour of programme; and
(iv) Submission of periodic reports and passenger surveys: Franchised bus companies have to check regularly whether the volume level of the AV systems meets the requirements and submit reports to TD. Further, they have to collect passengers' views about such systems on a regular basis and make improvements as necessary.
As regards day-to-day supervision, TD oversees the overall operation of the AV systems by reviewing the reports submitted regularly by franchised bus companies as required and by taking into account views of the public collected via various channels. TD also conducts on-site inspections on, amongst other things, the percentage of advertising time from time to time. If non-compliance in system operation is identified, the company concerned has to make improvements as directed.
On programme content, programmes intended to be aired on the AV systems on board buses have to be submitted to the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration for screening as per the Film Censorship Ordinance (Cap. 392). The programmes will only be aired after passage of such screening. Furthermore, the content of the programmes and advertisements aired on the AV systems is regulated by the relevant ordinances. Examples of such ordinances include the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) and Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231).
Although RoadShow Holdings Limited is not required to obtain a licence under the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562), it has made reference to the Generic Code of Practice on Television Programme Standards in producing its programmes. As such, there is no need to draw up a separate code of practice.
(b) In response to the observation by the Office of The Ombudsman that the advertising airtime of the AV systems on KMB buses had exceeded the 20% level per every hour of programme, TD had urged the company to make improvements. From July 2012 to October 2013, TD carried out a total of 10 inspections covering 481 selected buses. Whilst some buses selected in two of the inspections in 2012 were found not complying with TD's condition concerning advertising airtime, all other buses inspected were found in compliance with the relevant condition. This shows that the bus companies have been making improvements. During the same period, TD received 21 complaints on airing too many advertisements.
TD will continue to keep in view the situation closely. It will regularly inspect the operation of the AV systems and follow up on the findings as appropriate.
Ends/Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:02
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