In RTHK’s accessible TV archive, search by programme name with an optional broadcast date, or by television channel and date. Use YYYY-MM-DD. If you know the programme but are unsure of its date, leaving that date blank displays its matching editions and gives you a useful way to narrow the result.
Start with what you actually remember
Write the strongest clue first: an exact programme title, or a channel and a day. A guest, event or subject can help validate a result, but it does not replace the fields the archive asks for. Preserve the original programme spelling when available, especially if an English description could refer to several different series.
The accessible archive documents two search routes rather than requiring every field at once. Choose one route, inspect its result, and change only the uncertain field. That discipline helps you distinguish a title mismatch from a date mismatch.
Case one: you know the programme, but the day is uncertain
Enter the programme name and leave the date blank. Inspect the listed editions for the guest, subject or approximate period you remember. Once you identify a likely result, retain its broadcast date and title before starting playback.
For example, suppose you remember watching a discussion last week but only have the date on which a friend forwarded its link. That forwarding date is a search clue, not established evidence of the broadcast day. The programme-only result lets you compare actual editions without forcing the message date into the archive’s broadcast-date field.
Case two: you know the channel and broadcast day
Select the television channel and enter the date in the required year-month-day format. Then choose the programme from that day’s results. A hypothetical date such as 2026-10-20 illustrates the field format; it is not a claim that a particular programme was broadcast that day.
If no expected item appears, first check whether the remembered day is the broadcast day or a later viewing day. Next check the channel. Keep the title or topic available for result validation. Do not change date, channel and title together: a successful result would then leave you unsure which correction mattered.
Play and navigate the selected edition
RTHK documents Enter or the Play control to start the selected programme from the beginning. Its keyboard controls include five-second moves with the left and right arrows, pause or play with the spacebar, volume changes with the vertical arrows and percentage-position seeking with number keys.
Use the short backward and forward moves when locating a nearby passage. A percentage jump is a coarse navigation action, so check the scene or discussion after using it rather than treating it as an exact timestamp. These are the accessible player’s documented controls, not a claim about every embedded video elsewhere on the site.
Save enough information to return
Keep the programme title, broadcast date, channel and selected edition link where one is available. Add a short subject note if it helped distinguish the result. When sharing the finding, include that edition information rather than only “RTHK archive”.
If a search remains empty, record the fields used and the fact that no matching result appeared. Keep that outcome separate from a programme whose entry exists but will not play. The first leaves a catalogue question; the second needs the specific programme link and actual playback message. The same general programme title does not settle both.
Sources and review
- RTHK TV Programme Archive (Accessible Version) — Radio Television Hong Kong