James Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-based STAR TV, yesterday delivered a scathing attack on Taiwan's cable TV operators, which he said threaten the industry as a whole.
Speaking at the 22nd Asian Advertising Congress (AdAsia 2001 Taipei), Murdoch described Taiwan's cable TV distributors as "thugs and thieves -- bandits on the super highway."
"Theft and resale of ad [space] coupled with the cartel-driven distribution model threatens the viability of broadcasters," he said. He also said that the potential for Asia's TV industry was threatened by short-sightedness and profiteering from within the industry, which includes ad-theft and under-reporting of subscriber numbers.
"Distributors must get their act together and start to operate legitimate businesses for the whole industry to be successful," he said.
The speech outlined the obstacles standing in the way of the Asian TV industry over the next few years and focused heavily on the Indian and Taiwanese markets.
South and Southeast Asia is in its infancy he said, "But you need only look at MSOs [multiple system operators] in the Philippines and India to see how pear-shaped it can all get.
Murdoch pointed the finger at overly-cautious bureaucracies and research-centric marketers for hampering the growth of the industry in Asia. But Murdoch saved most of his criticism for Taiwan's MSOs, which receive and package programming for distribution to the end user.
The Taiwan TV industry is controlled by two rival conglomerates, the Koos Group and the Rebar Group, which have carved up more than two-thirds of the market into separate spheres with no overlap.
Speaking at a luncheon at the AdAsia Congress on Monday, STAR president and COO Bruce Churchill called on the industry to stamp out ad-theft which plagues the industry. The theft takes place via ad-masking, the practice where local operators insert their own, locally-sold ads over the network ads. "The practice is short-sighted ... nowhere in the world is this more rampant than in Taiwan. We are now in the ludicrous position of having to buy back our own ad time," he said.
While STAR is criticizing the Taiwan cable industry, it is at the same time also lending Koos Group MSOs a total of US$200 million.
Despite the fact that local industry bites the hand that feeds it, Murdoch said the loans had no preconditions attached requiring Koos operators to stop stealing ad space from STAR. The deal, which was brokered by Koos-owned broadband ISP GigaMedia, was signed in October last year and is part of STAR's overall strategy to move into the Greater China market, and includes the rollout of interactive TV in Taiwan.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique