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RTHK poised to pull the plug on racing coverage

Last night's show from Happy Valley may have been the station's farewell

RTHK is set to end live radio coverage of horse racing in Hong Kong and last night's programme may have been the station's last.

The government-funded broadcaster said yesterday it would make a decision within the next two weeks whether to scrap live coverage from Happy Valley and Sha Tin. Yesterday's meeting at Happy Valley was the last of the season.

Speculation over RTHK's racing coverage arose following criticism of it from Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.

During his election campaign, Mr Tsang said: 'I don't like their live broadcasts of horse racing meetings. As a public broadcaster, it should not go into [the] entertainment business.'

RTHK pays the Jockey Club $750,000 a year for the right to broadcast racing live. Commercial Radio also broadcasts during the same timeslot, but refused to disclose yesterday how much it pays.

Forever Sze Wing-yuen, head of RTHK's corporate communications unit, said the station was considering a number of options, including continuing the current format, broadcasting only from the racecourse, revamping coverage to feature results and highlights, or scrapping the programme.

If the show ends, it leaves the careers of five broadcasters and a producer in doubt.

Racing commentator Ma Yun-chi, who has been with the show for 14 years, said he and his colleagues had been told to expect a decision on their one-year contracts from RTHK executives next week.

Mr Sze said the station had first considered scrapping or amending the format for its racing coverage as part of cost-cutting exercises that began in 2002. He denied that Mr Tsang's comments would influence the decision.

'As long as RTHK has editorial independence, we will make the decision based on our common practices,' he said.

'We don't feel pressure from any direction.'

But Ma said while there had been discussions on cutting racing coverage in 2002, the subject had not arisen again until after Mr Tsang had made his comments. 'I'm quite suspicious,' he said.

'A few years ago they discussed the possibility of cancelling the programme. They decided that it was a programme listeners would like to continue to have, so how come they're now talking about cancelling it next season? Is it a matter of money or of political pressure - that is what everyone is thinking.

'If they are bowing to political pressure, it is bad for RTHK; they will lose some of their legitimacy.'

Janet Mak Lai-ching, chairwoman of the RTHK Programme Staff Union, said she understood that the station had been considering changing its scheduling for some time, but it had now become a political issue after Mr Tsang's comments. She said the union's stance was that RTHK should remain free from any intervention.

The show's producer, Tam Wing-fai, said the mood among RTHK's racing team 'was not so sad - they are all professionals'.

Democratic Party legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip said yesterday he did not believe RTHK should be broadcasting racing because Commercial Radio also broadcast it live.

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