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The Government announced today (August 21) that the Chief Executive in Council has accepted the recommendation submitted by the former Broadcasting Authority (BA) and approved the application for renewal of the domestic pay television programme service licence of TVB Pay Vision Limited (TVBPV) for a validity period of 12 years from February 23, 2013, to February 22, 2025.
"Taking into account TVBPV's investment plan for 2013-19 and various new commitments, we believe the renewal will enable the audience at large to benefit from wider choices of programmes and continue to encourage competition in the pay television market. The renewal is also consistent with the Government's established pro-competition broadcasting policy," a spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said.
TVBPV has made the following major commitments for the validity period of the renewed licence:
* to comply with a six-year investment plan of $2,003 million in 2013-19, including a capital investment of $82 million;
* to broadcast 21 hours of high-definition television (HDTV) programmes per week starting from 2015 and gradually increase the amount of such programmes to 56 hours per week by 2020;
* to provide no fewer than 40 television programme service channels per day;
* to provide not less than 270 hours per week of subtitled programmes and provide on a reasonable effort basis summary captions of news reports in live newscasts on its 24-hour news channels; and
* to step up efforts in enhancing and improving its direct sales and telesales services.
The licence conditions in the renewed licence are similar to those of the licences held by existing domestic pay television programme service licensees, with specific provisions relevant to TVBPV.
The Chief Executive in Council considered the application of TVBPV for renewal of its licence and the recommendation of the former BA in accordance with the Broadcasting Ordinance and the established procedures. In processing the application, the former BA carried out a comprehensive assessment on TVBPV's performance during the validity period of the existing licence. The former BA considered that TVBPV generally complied with the regulatory requirements and its investment commitment. The former BA also conducted a public consultation exercise between August and September 2011 to collect public opinions on TVBPV's service.
The Chief Executive in Council granted the existing domestic pay television programme service licence of TVBPV (formerly Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited) in December 2000, with a validity period of 12 years from February 23, 2001, to February 22, 2013.
Ends/Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:30
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