The Hong Kong government has said that it will review public broadcaster RTHK’s operations following lawmakers’ criticism over its budget.
At a Legislative Council (LegCo) meeting on Friday, legislator Junius Ho urged RTHK to “reform” its operations because it only reached a small number of viewers despite having a big budget.
RTHK has been allocated HK$1.55 billion for the fiscal year 2025-26. In contrast, its budget in 2020-21 was around HK$1 billion.
Ho questioned why RTHK’s budget had increased by 50 per cent within five years, adding that it should not keep asking the government for more money.
Algernon Yau, secretary for commerce and economic development, told the legislature that the government would conduct a review.
“The bureau and the department will re-examine the entire operations, production, and staffing allocation of RTHK,” Yau said in Cantonese. “I think we will need some time.”
During the same meeting, lawmaker Regina Ip said that RTHK should reduce its headcount because it currently broadcasts many programmes from CCTV, China’s state-run TV network, and CGTN, a CCTV subsidiary targeting foreign audiences.
“RTHK has five television channels,” Ip said in Cantonese.
“Three of these channels broadcast CCTV and CGTN programmes. RTHK also purchases programmes from other producers. Is it possible to further reduce the number of programme directors?”
In response, Director of Broadcasting Angelina Kwan said that RTHK had cut four staff posts in the current fiscal year, but the government would consider reducing the number of programme directors.
According to the government’s budget, RTHK is expected to reduce non-directorate posts from 754 to 750 by the end of March 2026. The number of directorate posts is set at eight.
The two lawmakers took aim at RTHK at a LegCo meeting last month.
Ho proposed a merger between RTHK and the Information Services Department, the government’s public relations department, as the city recorded large fiscal deficits for three consecutive years.
Ip said that both entities lacked “fundamental reform” and claimed that RTHK was full of “redundant staff.”
The public broadcaster was caught in the crosshairs of pro-Beijing supporters, who accused it of being sympathetic to the city’s pro-democracy protesters during the protests and unrest in 2019.
Since then, RTHK has undergone a major restructuring that included scrapping its long-standing satirical show Headliner and adopting new editorial guidelines.
