SMALL earthquake in Broadcast Drive: not many hurt. On the 21st birthday of the government-run English-language service the new head of RTHK Radio Three, Martin Clarke, introduced some minor changes to its output - particularly at the weekend - and expressed his hope that it would 'blossom into a more modern and dynamic radio station to reflect its coming of age'.
Most notable of the changes scheduled to come in on April 3 to Radio Three die-hards will be the demise of the microphone grise Ralph Pixton and his Open Line on Saturday mornings. This cardiograph of old Hong Kong belongers will be replaced by Lorna Workman's weekend edition of Hong Kong Today dovetailed with her own phone-in show, putting local decision-makers on the spot.
The end of Open Line might feel akin to the monkeys leaving the Rock of Gibraltar but Clarke has outmanoeuvred 'Outraged of Mid-Levels' by giving him (or her) Uncle Ralph on Sunday mornings in - novel title this - Open Line Plus. By this act of inspired prestidigitation, Pixton gains more airtime to get those roadworks running on time, and, according to Clarke, more room to inject his own personality and humour on the show.
Lorna Workman will bring a welcome cutting edge to the station's current affairs programming. The stately progress of the flagship Hong Kong Today remains unimpeded during the week and Clarke - with shades of the proverbial football manager perhaps - has expressed every confidence in it.
From time to time Hong Kong Today shines - witness the recent way eco-legislator Christine Loh was forced to admit she couldn't do her job without using a car but was still prepared to insist that fellow Hong Kongers forsake theirs. However, the flagship's inability or unwillingness in the past few years to use a female presenter (Workman's recent outing excepted) lends credence to that safari suit image it might like to see joining the mothballs in the wardrobe.
One woman who would ably fill that early morning slot is Liz Case, whose career has progressed by leaps and bounds: so much so that her 45-minute Lunchtime Show is extended by an hour.
Vilma Gardiner, whose Sunday night Mabuhay for Filipino listeners ensures she receives the station's weightiest postbag, is rewarded with three hours in English between nine o'clock to midnight on Saturdays. And again responding to public demand, stalwart Ray Cordeiro goes all the way to the wee small hours an hour earlier on week nights, as well as tucking another show - My Kind of Music on Sunday nights - under his cap.