Echoing Su's view, both Chu and Ho said that PTS deserved the government's financial support to strive for excellence in programming instead of market share.
"It took the US' PBS 20 years to reduce the financial resources it received from the government by half. We should not be too strict with our own PTS," Chu said.
"As long as the PTS makes good use of its every penny to serve the interests of minority groups and the greater public, the budget's size -- whether NT$600 or NT$900 million, is not really the issue," Ho said.
However, Ho added that the station had allocated too much of its budget to certain items such as personnel costs and production. She said that the levels of the managing team's salaries, for example, were set years ago in accordance with the salary structure of Taiwan's three other terrestrial television networks. After cable television channels mushroomed in Taiwan, however, increasing competitiveness has been pressuring the three networks to gradually lay off unnecessary staff and cut back on generous staff salaries. But PTS's personnel structure remains unchanged as it is relatively protected from the worst effects of competition, she said.
A report prepared by the supervisory committee in mid-March suggested that the station should produce more locally-made programs rather than purchase foreign-made programs. It should also minimize the bureaucracy involved in the running of the station, and increase programs targeted at women, the elderly and other minority groups, the report concluded.
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