Broadcasting Authority Annual Report 2007-2008

Complaints relating to Broadcasting Services

Handling of Complaints

During the period September 2007 to August 2008, the Authority processed a total of 1 471 cases³² (6 265 complaints) about the services of broadcasters, which represented an increase of approximately 29.7% in the number of complaint cases and 144% in the number of complaints as compared with the same period in 2006-07 (1 134 cases, 2 568 complaints). Of these, CTEL handled 1 371 cases (5 731 complaints) under delegated power. These complaints were related to breaches of a minor nature, or allegations which did not constitute any breach or were outside section 11(1) of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, i.e. the substance of the complaint did not involve a contravention of the legislation, the licence conditions or codes of practice. Distribution of the complaint cases by broadcasting services and broadcasters in 2007-08 are in Figures 32 and 33 respectively.

Figure 32:

Distribution of All Complaint Cases by Broadcasting Service
(September 2007 - August 2008)

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Figure 33:

Figure 33: Distribution of Complaint Cases by Broadcaster
(September 2007 – August 2008)

Broadcasters	No. of Complaint Cases	No. of Complaints
ATV	231	313
TVB	609	4682
HKCTV	103	188
PCCW Media	57	68
TVB Pay Vision	16	17
CETV	7	7
Phoenix Satellite TV	1	1
CR	116	144
Metro	36	40
RTHK (TV)	42	62
RTHK (Radio)	119	141
Multiple Broadcasters	53	521
Total	1390	6184

The number of complaint cases referred to the Authority, i.e. 19 cases (453 complaints), showed a decrease of approximately 32.1% as compared with 28 cases (130 complaints) in the previous reporting period. 8 cases (42.1%) referred to the Authority were about domestic pay television programme services, 6 cases (31.6%) were about domestic free television programme services, 2 cases (10.5%) were about sound broadcasting services, 2 cases (10.5%) were about RTHK's radio service, and the remaining one case (5.3%) was directed at more than one broadcasting services. Details of the distribution of the complaint cases dealt with 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 Authority (September 2007 - August 2008)

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Details of the complaints dealt with by the Authority and CTEL in 2007-08 are in Figure 35.

Figure 35:

Complaints dealt with by the Authority & CTEL
(September 2007 – August 2008)

	Within Section 11(1) of BAO				Outside Section 11(1) of BAO	Total
	Substantiated		Unsubstantiated		Outside Section 11(1) of BAO
	The Authority	CTEL	The Authority	CTEL	CTEL
Number of Cases	8	53	11	990	328	1 390
Number of Complaints	157	63	296	2 308	3 360	6 184

Total:	The Authority	19 Cases / 453 Complaints
	CTEL	1 371 Cases / 5 731 Complaints

Nature of Complaints

In relation to the 8 substantiated cases dealt with by the Authority in the year under review, 7 cases (87.5%) were about programmes or programme promos and the remaining one case (12.5%) was about an advertisement. Most of the substantiated complaint cases were about the broadcast of material unsuitable for children and language. 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 Authority
(September 2007 - August 2008)

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In response, the Authority issued seven pieces of advice and two pieces of strong advice. A breakdown of the decisions of the Authority on complaints dealt with in 2007-08 and the accumulative figures for the period from March 1990 to August 2008 are at Figures 37 and 38.

Figure 37:

Decision of the Authority on Complaint Cases
(September 2007 - August 2008)

Decision of the Authority	ATV	TVB	HKCTV	PCCW Media	CR	RTHK	Metro	Total
No Further Action	1	4	7	0	0	1	0	13
Attention be drawn to the relevant provisions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Minor Breach	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Advice	0	1	2	1	1	1	1	7
Strong Advice	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
Warning	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Serious Warning	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Financial Penalty	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Apology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	2	6	9	1	1	2	1	22

Figure 38:

Decision of the Authority on Complaint Cases
(March 1990 - August 2008)

Decision of the Authority	ATV	TVB	HKCTV*	PCCW Media@	TVB Pay Vision+	Starvision	Starbucks	CR	Metro	RTHK#	HKBN!	Total
No Further Action	74	81	22	0	2	1	0	3	2	4	1	190
Attention be drawn to the relevant provisions	14	10	3	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	30
Minor Breach	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3
Advice	126	146	34	7	8	6	1	31	17	27	0	403
Strong Advice	98	86	39	3	0	2	0	34	27	3	0	292
Warning	51	36	23	0	1	2	0	16	18	2	0	149
Serious Warning	28	26	11	0	1	1	0	4	21	1	0	93
Financial Penalty	13	14	5	0	3	0	0	2	4	0	0	41
Apology	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Total	405	400	137	10	15	12	1	94	90	37	1	1202

^*	HKCTV (formerly Wharf Cable Limited) commenced its services in October 1993 and the figures are for the period October 1993 - August 2008.
^@	PCCW Media (formerly PCCW VOD) commenced its services in March 1998 and the figures are for the period March 1998 - August 2008.
⁺	TVB Pay Vision (formerly Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting Limited) commenced its service in December 2003 and the figures are for the period December 2003 - August 2008.
^#	The Authority started to handle complaints against RTHK's programmes in November 1995 and the figures are for the period November 1995 - August 2008.
^!	HKBN (Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited) is not a licensee regulated by the Authority.

³²	This figure includes 81 cases (81 complaints) on reception problems which were referred to the Telecommunications Authority for investigation. The remaining 1 390 cases were handled by the Authority and CTEL under delegated power.

No. of Complaint Cases