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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) |
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) |
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) |
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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