How can ATV justify showing racing?
My letter is addressed to the Broadcasting Authority, the government and, in particular, ATV World.
I would like to know how ATV can justify broadcasting nine hours of horse racing from Macau during primetime evening viewing.
As I understand it, gambling on horse racing in Macau from Hong Kong is now illegal. Why then does ATV continue to show the betting odds in the course of these broadcasts? The station may argue that it is showing racing for those viewers with a genuine interest in the sport. This argument raises a few questions.
How many people have a love of this sport for sport's sake? Is it fair to followers of other sports that horse racing enthusiasts are treated so well? As the percentage of horse riders in the SAR is extremely low let's cater to other minority sports such as skiing, paragliding, go-carting and curling, to name but a few. Why not show horse racing from Europe or elsewhere if gambling is not the objective? Why not show horse jumping or other horse related sports for all the horse lovers out there?
Of course the answer to all of these questions is irrelevant as we all know full well that ATV is catering to the gambling industry.
I don't expect an answer from ATV, but I do think the SAR government has a duty to explain why this is allowed to continue and if it is powerless to do anything at the present time, will it consider not granting ATV a licence when it is up for renewal?
CHRIS MERCER
Prince Edward
