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KMT sells television shares to China Times Group

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday confirmed that the China Television Co (CTV, 中視), the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) and the Central Motion Pictures Corp (CMPC, 中影) have been bought by the China Times Group.

KMT Deputy Secretary-General Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) yesterday held a press conference at KMT headquarters and confirmed the transaction.

He said that the KMT sold its shares in the three companies to the China Times Group for NT$4 billion (US$121 million).

The China Times Group also took over NT$5.3 billion of debt held by the three companies.

Adding this amount in, the China Times Group paid a total of NT$9.3 billion to the KMT for the firms.

"The deal was completed on Dec. 24. It is also a sign that the KMT is supporting the government's policy that politics and the military should be withdrawn from local media," Chang said.

However, while Chang was making the announcement, a group of CMPC employees broke into the conference room to protest, saying that the KMT had failed to take care of them by paying their severance before selling the company to a new owner.

The minor protest interrupted Chang's press conference and he decided to move to another room to continue it.

Chang said the KMT had owned 33.94 percent of CTV's shares, 97 percent of BCC's and 50 percent of CMPC's. These shares now belong to the China Times Group, he said.

In the meantime, Chang said that the KMT was also planning to sell its shares in the Central Daily News and the China Daily News, two Chinese-language newspapers, but the China Times Group was not interested in purchasing them.

Meanwhile, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (姚文智) yesterday evening said that the GIO today will send official letters to the BCC, CTV and Chunghwa Telecom's MOD services asking them to file explanations on changes in their share structures and the name of the person in charge, to see if the companies have expelled political, government and military figures from the media organizations as demanded by the GIO.

"If the shareholder structure of CTV involves any foreign shareholders, the GIO will not authorize it to begin cable broadcasting," Yao said.

"We also think that the KMT should explain [the share structure] of its own accord to gain the public's trust," he added.

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