記協年報：關於DBC部份 Authority Fines DBC Over Closure The Communications Authority took action over a five-day shutdown by DBC in mid-October. This was before the station resumed services for one week on a voluntary basis, before once again dropping regular programming in favour of playing music in a bid to stave off government action. The authority fined DBC HK$80,000 over its five-day shutdown, saying that DBC had breached the conditions of its sound-broadcasting licence by interrupting its service between October 10th and 15th. The authority said DBC was required to transmit seven 24-hour sound broadcasting service channels of specified genres every day. It said the interruption of service was a “serious breach” of licensing terms. The authority took further action in December. It announced a more stringent sanction—a 30-day licence suspension due to disruptions and the cessation of its service from October 21st. It criticised the corporation for failing to fulfil its obligation as it broadcast only music and repeats. It said it would consider an alternative sanction if DBC could resume a proper service within the suspension period. In December, a breakthrough was finally achieved in the months-long dispute, with Mr Cheng announcing that he would sell his stake to the Beijing loyalist Bill Wong. Mr Cheng told Cable TV that a contract to be signed by the end of December would not set any conditions that would curtail its radio hosts’ freedom of speech. The Communications Authority confirmed that it had received an application from DBC to resume broadcasting, which took place in late January 2013. The station’s new head, Francis Mak, said the station was not banned from criticising the government and the only instruction from Bill Wong was to maintain freedom of expression. Mr Mak said: “Whether to be moderate or radical is the choice of individual hosts… Basically, our station’s stance is neutral.” The authority gave approval for DBC’s shareholding changes, but at the same time imposed a HK$200,000 fine for further service disruptions from October 21st to January 11th. The authority dropped its plan to suspend the broadcaster’s licence, saying that such a move would be against the listening public’s interests after DBC guaranteed to resume full service from January 28th. Mr Cheng remained an adviser to DBC, even though he launched an online radio station called D100 in late 2012, taking many former DBC staff with him. However, the developments raised questions about the viability of digital radio broadcasting. Two other stations—traditional broadcaster Metro and newcomer Phoenix U Radio—were granted licences. The government broadcaster RTHK is also offering digital services. Another traditional broadcaster, Commercial Radio, withdrew an application to run a digital service in 2010, opting instead to offer interactive services.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 01:26:12 +0000
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