LC Paper No. CB(4)985/14-15(01) Free TV licence of TVB renewed 1 / 2 Free TV licence of TVB renewed ****************************** The Government today (May 12) announced that the Chief Executive in Council has approved the application for renewal of the domestic free television programme service (free TV) licence of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) for a period of 12 years from December 1, 2015, to November 30, 2027. TVB has committed to a six-year investment plan of $6,336 million for 2016 to 2021, comprising $144 million of capital investment and $6,192 million of programming investment. It has also undertaken that each year at least 12,000 hours of the programmes on its service (representing about 27.4 per cent of its total programmes) will be local productions. "The licence conditions in the renewed licence of TVB are largely based on its existing licence, with additional requirements imposed to address public calls for improvements in its programming variety and quality," a spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said. TVB is required to provide an additional four hours per week of positive programmes in total on its digital channels, which are currently exempted from such a programming requirement. These include current affairs programmes, documentaries, arts and culture programmes and programmes for young persons. All must be first-run programmes with 60 minutes per week for each genre. "Furthermore, to respond to public aspirations and to facilitate the Government's policy of nurturing local talents, TVB has been required to provide on its licensed service independent local productions on an incremental basis from 20 hours per year in 2016 to 60 hours per year by 2020," the spokesman said. Other requirements including provision of first-run positive programmes and the licensee's commitment to enhance provision of subtitling to its digital services have also been incorporated in the renewed licence. The free TV licence of TVB will be subject to a mid-term review in 2021. In processing the application for licence renewal by TVB, the Communications Authority (CA) carried out a comprehensive assessment on its performance and conducted a public consultation exercise from February 4 to April 3, 2014, to gauge public views on TVB's service. The CA submitted its recommendation to the Chief Executive in Council in November last year. "The regulator considers that TVB has generally complied with the statutory requirements, the licence conditions and the codes of practice in respect of television programming, advertising and technical standards. "The CA accepted TVB's proposed investment plan and is satisfied with its financial capability to deliver the commitment," the spokesman said. TVB's free TV licence was last renewed in November 2002, with a validity period of 12 years from December 1, 2003, to November 30, 2015. Ends/Tuesday, May 12, 2015 Issued at HKT 17:16 NNNN http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201505/12/P201505120712.htm 13/5/2015 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BRIEF Broadcasting Ordinance (Chapter 562) Renewal of Domestic Free Television Programme Service Licence Of Television Broadcasts Limited INTRODUCTION At the meeting of the Executive Council on 12 May 2015, the Council ADVISED and the Chief Executive (“CE”) ORDERED that - (a) having regard to the recommendations of the Communications Authority (CA) submitted under section 11(3) of the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562) (BO), Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB)’s domestic free television programme (free TV) service licence be renewed under section 11(5) of the BO for another 12 years from 1 December 2015 to 30 November 2027 (both dates inclusive); (b) the draft renewed licence at Annex A be approved; and (c) the draft gazette notice at Annex B specifying the validity period of the renewed licence be approved. JUSTIFICATIONS The Statutory Framework 2. Section 11 of the BO sets out the regime for extension or renewal of licences granted under the BO. In respect of a free TV service licence, the CA shall as soon as is practicable after the receipt of an application and, in any case, not later than 12 months before the expiry of the period of validity of the licence, submit recommendations to the Chief Executive in Council in relation to the extension or non-extension or renewal or non-renewal of the licence, and where appropriate, the conditions subject to which the licence may be extended or renewed. The Chief Executive in Council shall consider the recommendations and as soon as is practicable extend or renew the licence to which they relate subject to such conditions as he thinks fit specified in the extended or renewed licence, or decide not 1 to extend or renew the licence. TVB’s Renewal Application 3. The Chief Executive in Council renewed TVB’s free TV service licence in November 2002, with a validity period of 12 years from 1 December 2003 to 30 November 2015 (both dates inclusive) (the licence so renewed is referred to as “Licence”). Following the order made by the Chief Executive in Council pursuant to sections 4(1)(b) and 4(2)(b)(ii) of Schedule 4 to the BO and condition 3.2 of the Licence, the former Broadcasting Authority (BA, the predecessor of the CA) in 2010 completed a mid-term review of the Licence (Mid-term Review), covering TVB’s performance for the period from 2003 to 2009. Pursuant to section 11(2) of the BO, TVB submitted a Renewal Application to the CA on 19 November 2013, proposing to continue with the existing channel line-up1 if its Licence is to be renewed. The CA processed the Renewal Application in accordance with the BO and the established procedures, and submitted its recommendations to the Chief Executive in Council on 4 November 2014. CA’s Assessment against Criteria for Renewal 4. In accordance with the established procedures and practice, the CA has carried out a comprehensive assessment on the performance of TVB. The CA has considered the following factors in its assessment – (a) TVB’s compliance with the statutory requirements, the licence conditions and the codes of practice (CoP) promulgated by the CA in respect of the following – (i) programming requirements and standards; 1 A full list of TVB’s channels is set out below (high definition television as “HDTV”) – Name of Channel Format Channel Description Jade Analogue A Cantonese dialect channel offering a variety of local and overseas productions Pearl Analogue An English language channel offering a variety of local and overseas productions Jade HDTV Digital simulcast of TVB Jade channel J2 HDTV A variety of programmes targeting young viewers and adultescent iNews HDTV Programmes on news, finance and information Pearl HDTV Digital simulcast of TVB Pearl channel HD Jade HDTV A variety of HDTV programmes with local and overseas productions 2 (ii) requirements and standards on advertising and non-programme materials; (iii) technical requirements and standards; (iv) the investment plans for 2004 to 2015 on capital and programming expenditure; (v) regulatory requirements on corporate and administrative matters; and (vi) competition provisions; (b) the financial commitment of TVB for 2016 to 2021 and its financial capability to deliver the commitment; and (c) public views on TVB’s performance in the provision of its free TV service. In addition to the above assessment, the CA has also taken into account the relevant policy and technical considerations of government bureaux/departments on the regulatory approach when making recommendations to the Chief Executive in Council. The CA’s assessment against the above criteria is summarised below. (A) TVB’s Compliance with Regulatory Requirements 5. The CA has examined the records of TVB’s compliance with various regulatory requirements in the period from 1 December 2003 to 30 September 2014 (period under review). The CA considers that, during the period under review, TVB’s compliance with the following requirements is satisfactory – (a) Programming requirements and standards: key requirements include positive programme requirements2, subtitling requirement, requirement to provide HDTV programmes3; various standards relating to family viewing hours, protection of children, accuracy and impartiality and indirect advertising, etc. as stipulated in the CoP on television programme standards; (b) Regulatory requirements and standards on advertising and non-programme materials: key requirements include the advertising time limit under the BO, the requirement to broadcast announcements in the 2 The positive programme requirements comprise the minimum amount of programmes in respect of specified genres to be broadcast on a free TV service licensee’s service, including news, documentary, current affairs programmes and programmes for children, young persons, senior citizens and art and cultures. 3 Following the Mid-term Review, TVB has committed to increasing the amount of HDTV programmes from 20 hours per week in 2010 to 120 hours per week in 2015. 3 public interest (APIs) and publicity material for the CA as laid down in the Licence, and the various television advertising standards stipulated under the CoP promulgated by the CA; (c) Technical requirements and standards: key requirements include service coverage requirement under the BO, as well as requirements on technical quality standards, service reliability and the digital television system stipulated under the CoP on television technical standards promulgated by the CA; (d) Investment plans for 2004 to 2015 on capital and programming expenditure: taking into account TVB’s