It's almost time for Santa Claus to come to town. He's made his list and he's checked it twice. So, right across December he'll be popping In... The Common Room, via 'Santallite' from the grotto in Lapland, to update you on all his Christmas preparations.

Don't miss Santa's Festive Updates at 5.20pm each December weekday... until the big day ... In The Common Room!

Operation Santa Claus 2023 is ON!

This beloved annual charity fundraising drive, jointly organized by RTHK and the South China Morning Post, is, for the 36th time, helping those in Hong Kong who need it the most. Operation Santa Claus has raised more than 369 million Hong Kong dollars for over 338 wonderful charity projects over the years.

If you would like to help by donating any amount at all, by arranging your own fundraising event, or by taking part in ours, just visit the website for all the details.

You can also follow Operation Santa Claus on Facebook and Instagram

No one has ever become poor from giving...

On Thursday’s Backchat, we’re talking about the changing landscape of Hong Kong’s media industry.

TVB has just announced more than 300 layoffs as part of a restructuring plan that'll merge two free-to-air channels into one more focused on a younger audience.

Hong Kong’s dominant broadcaster said while it would continue investing in prime-time production, it’ll cut budgets for fringe-hour content and axe non-performing programmes.

It added that it expects to save a further HK$100 million in content costs by 2024, having already announced HK$260 million in annual cost savings earlier this year.

So what does this streamlining say about the state of the media industry in Hong Kong? How far is this simply a reflection of similar trends around the world? And what can traditional broadcasters do to survive?

After 9:45, we’ll find out more about a new study on the mental health of children and adolescents.

Let us know what you think. You can leave a message on our Facebook page, email us at backchat@rthk.hk, or call us on 23388266.

There’s never been an easier way to listen back to any of our programmes on your phone or mobile device. Whichever platform you use, the RTHK RADIO app (formerly MINE) is exactly what you need. It’s so easy to use, it’s beautifully laid out, and in an instant you’ll be listening back to the RTHK radio programme of your choice.

You can also listen live. Try it out.

Get the RTHK RADIO app for iOS and Android

Welcome to Wednesday on The Brew. We're off to Japan after the news at 12.30 to catch up with our friend, and RTL France's man in Japan, Philippe Dova. Today's news and music is all about... Bordeaux. Then, at 1.25, our musical exploration of composers' fascination with the elements, continues. Paul Archibald will be with us live from Bangkok for this week's dip into the world of 'classical' music. This week is Loy Krathong in Thailand, which is all about water, as will all of our 'classical' music be today.

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Welcome to Wednesday's Brunch with Noreen. After 10, Cruz Macalligan is with us for our mid-week audio column. This week she'll talk about sunglasses. After 11 we're chatting to Maria Teresa Brusco and Rui Wong from the Italian Women's Association about their upcoming charity fair, the proceeds from which will go to this year's Operation Santa Claus. 

Selected Radio 3 programmes and programme segments are now available on Spotify. Join us there to listen easily, whenever you like, to our new and already growing collection of podcasts.

Discover Radio 3's ever growing collection of podcasts here.
Updated daily, it includes all of our popular weekly programme segments, our news output, and several of our completely home made audio books, specially adapted for us by their authors.