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Complaints relating to Content Matters

Handling of Complaints

During the period September 2005 to August 2006, the Authority processed a total of 1,277 cases24 (5,885 complaints24) about the services of broadcasters, which represented a decrease of approximately 32.6% in the number of complaint cases and an increase of 40.3% in the number of complaints as compared with the same period in 2004-05 (1,895 cases, 4,196 complaints). Of these, the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing handled 1,202 cases (5,305 complaints) under delegated power. These complaints were related to breaches of a minor nature, or allegations which do not constitute any breach or were outside section 11(1) of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, i.e. the substance of complaint did not involve a contravention of the legislation, the licence conditions or codes of practice. Distributions of the complaint cases by broadcasting services and broadcasters in 2005-06 are in Figures 32 & 33 respectively.

24  

This figure includes 41 cases (41 complaints) which were referred to OFTA for investigation.

Figure 32:   Distribution of All Complaint Cases by Broadcasting Service
(September 2005 - August 2006)

Picture


Figure 33 :   Distribution of Complaint Cases by Broadcasters
(September 2005 – August 2006)


Broadcasters
No. of Complaint Cases
No. of Complaints
TVB
448
2022
ATV
189
2616
CR
173
506
HKCTV
147
163
RTHK (Radio)
119
161
TVB Pay Vision
30
30
RTHK (TV)
26
34
Metro
23
25
PCCW Media
22
22
Starvision
1
1
CETV
1
1
Multiple Broadcasters
57
263
Total
1236
5844

The number of complaint cases referred to the Authority, 34 cases (539 complaints), showed a decrease of approximately 46.9% as compared with 64 cases (721 complaints) in the previous reporting period. 41.2% of all cases referred to the Authority were about domestic free television programme services, 20.6% were about domestic pay television programme services, 11.8% were about sound broadcasting services 2.9% were about RTHK's radio service, and the rest 23.5% were complaints directed at more than one broadcasting services. (including one non-licensee's service). Details of the distribution of the complaint cases processed by the Authority among the different broadcasting services are at Figure 34.

Figure 34:   Breakdown of Complaint Cases about Different Types of Broadcasting Services dealt with by the Broadcasting Authority (September 2005 - August 2006)

Picture

Details of the complaints processed by the Authority and the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing in 2005-06 are in Figure 35.

Figure 35:   Complaints Processed by the Authority & Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing (CTEL)(September 2005 - August 2006)

Within Section 11(1) of BAO
Outside
Section 11(1)
of BAO
Total
Substantiated
Unsubstantiated
BA
CTEL
BA
CTEL
CTEL
Number of Cases
29
73
5
818
311
1236
Number of Complaints
498
83
41
3179
2043
5844


Total: BA 34 Cases / 539 Complaints
CTEL 1202 Cases / 5305 Complaints

Nature of Complaints

In relation to the 29 substantiated cases dealt with by the Authority in the year under review, 16 cases (55.2%) were about programmes or programme promos, 6 cases (20.7%) were about advertisements, 6 cases (20.7%) were about licence conditions and 1 case (3.4%) was about the Broadcasting Ordinance. Most of the substantiated complaint cases were about the broadcast of material unsuitable for children, sex and adult nature material, indecency, inaccuracy and misleading factual content, denigration and untruthful claims in advertisements. The breakdown of the nature of substantiated complaint cases dealt with by the Authority is at Figure 36.

Figure 36:   Nature of Substantiated Complaint Cases dealt with by the Broadcasting Authority (September 2005 - August 2006)

Picture

In response, the Authority issued 23 advices, 6 strong advices, 4 warnings, one serious warning, 3 financial penalties and one direction to demand a licensee to include an apology in its service. A breakdown of the decisions of the Authority on complaints dealt with in 2005-06 and the accumulative figures for the period from March 1990 to August 2006 are at Figures 37 and 38.

Figure 37:   Decision of the Broadcasting Authority on Complaint Cases
(September 2005 - August 2006)

Decision of the Broadcasting Authority
ATV
TVB
HKCTV
now Broadband TV
TVB Pay Vision
Starvision
Starbucks
CR
Metro
RTHK
HKBN!
Total
No Further Action
0
4
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
Attention be drawn to the relevant provisions
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Advice
3
11
5
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
23
Strong Advice
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
6
Warning
0
2
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
Serious Warning
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
Financial Penalty
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
3
Apology
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
Total
6
17
10
3
3
0
0
4
1
1
0
45

! HKBN (Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited) is not a licensee regulated by the Broadcasting Authority.

Figure 38 :   Decision of the Broadcasting Authority on Complaint Cases
(March 1990 - August 2006)

Decision of the Broadcasting Authority
ATV
TVB
HKCTV*
now Broadband TV@
TVB Pay Vision+
Starvision
Starbucks
CR
Metro
RTHK#
HKBN!
Total
No Further Action
73
76
15
0
2
1
0
3
2
3
1
176
Attention be drawn to the relevant provisions
14
10
3
0
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
30
Advice
124
140
28
6
7
6
1
30
16
25
0
383
Strong Advice
97
85
36
3
0
2
0
34
27
2
0
286
Warning
51
36
23
0
1
2
0
16
18
2
0
149
Serious Warning
28
26
10
0
1
1
0
4
21
1
0
92
Financial Penalty
13
13
5
0
2
0
0
2
4
0
0
39
Apology
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
Total
400
386
120
9
13
12
1
92
89
33
1
1156


*

 

HKCTV (formerly Wharf Cable) commenced its services in October 1993 and the figures are for the period October 1993 - August 2006.

@

 

now Broadband TV (formerly PCCW VOD) commenced its services in March 1998 and the figures are for the period March 1998 - August 2006.

+

 

TVB Pay Vision (formerly Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited) commenced its service in December 2003 and the figures are for the period December 2003 - August 2006.

#

 

The Authority started to handle complaints against RTHK programmes in November 1995 and the figures are for the period November 1995 - August 2006.

!

 

HKBN (Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited) is not a licensee regulated by the Authority.

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