Hong Kong’s broadcast industry would be able to completely move over from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting by 2012, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said on Wednesday.
“The government is working closely with the two local terrestrial broadcasters, [Asia Television] and [Television Broadcasts (SEHK: 0511)], as well as TV equipment manufacturing and trading industry as well as the community to ensure a smooth transition,” Mr Tsang told the opening ceremony of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) Convention.
“We announced plans to switch to DTT back in 2004 and the local broadcasters have been ironing out ever since details and upgrading equipment to deal with the switch-over,” he explained.
Mr Tsang said the success of the project depended on co-operation from all stakeholders – consumers, broadcasters and electronics industry and the government.
But the financial secretary said the emergence of new media also brought new challenges for the industry. He suggested introducing tighter regulations.
“Apart from making sustained efforts in law enforcement and public education, we seek to keep our copyright law under regular review to ensure that it is completely up to date.
“The next item on our agenda is how best to enhance copyright protection in the digital environment,” Mr Tsang said.
He added that combating piracy required a public-private partnership and commended the collaborative efforts of CASBAA and local pay television operators in taking civil action against commercial and domestic pirated viewing under the Broadcasting Ordinance and Copyright Ordinance.
He said: “Several recent high profile cases have served good public education purposes. The pirates need to know that we are on their tails and we are serious about beating them hard.”
Mr Tsang also highlighted plans to set up a committee to formulate new strategies to ensure the progress of the territory’s creative industries.
“One of our initiatives, something we call ‘Hong Kong on location’, is intended to promote the city as a setting for films,” he said.
In the last budget, the government earmarked HK$300 million for a new fund aimed to help finance film production – attracting more talents from the mainland and overseas to film in Hong Kong.
2 comments:
i think sometimes the government rely too much on the talents who are from mainland and overseas.
the govnernment should give more chances to local people. in hong kong, there is many talents around us .but who cares ? it's because the government thinks talents from others is better .
Whenever the government encounters a labour shortage problem, it is always an easier solution to get talents from other countries. It is better for the government to consider any long term effects after the introduction. For instance, the government came up with the idea of creating associate degree courses for F.7 school leavers. This way has become a "dead end" for many associate degree graduates.
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