RTHK chief insists broadcaster won’t replace ATV news slots before April
Head of government-funded broadcaster says expansion of digital channel has already put station staff under pressure
The head of RTHK and the city’s commerce minister both said it was impossible for the government-funded broadcaster to replace ATV before April, as the management of cash-strapped Asia Television insisted on Monday it still wanted to resume airing news before its licence expires.
“It is unrealistic to expand our service not according to our schedule because my colleagues are under great pressure ... because we have to expand our on-air time,” said RTHK chief Leung Ka-wing, after a spring gathering for Hong Kong media executives at Kowloon Tong.
Leung explained that while digital TV channel RTHK 31 presently broadcasts from 2pm until 1.30am, the broadcaster planned to extend on-air time from 6.30am until 1.30am the following morning from April.
“That’s [quite an] increase within a few months ...[It’s] unrealistic if you want to push them up for two to three weeks.”
Commerce minister Greg So Kam-leung, who also attended the gathering, said: “RTHK has already followed established procedure in procuring that service by way of tender.
“In the unfortunate event that ATV cannot deliver the service until April 1, I am afraid there might be a gap involved because you simply cannot bypass the terms of the tender exercise.”
As to how ATV’s news archives should be handled after its licence expires on April 1, Leung, who is also the director of broadcasting and a former ATV employee, said: “They should be dealt with by those who can take care of all the archives, who have experience in library science, such as Central Library. I think they should do it.”