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TV broadcast quality not good enough, survey says

A recent survey by the National Communications Commission (NCC) found that the quality of television broadcasts in the nation's remote areas is extremely low.

The survey showed that the nation's broadcast translators have a malfunction rate of 42.9 percent.

A broadcast translator is used to increase the area a TV or radio broadcast can reach and to improve TV broadcasts in areas that receive a poor signal because of their geography.

NCC spokesperson Howard Shyr (石世豪) said yesterday that the survey covered problem areas in Taiwan, Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu.

"The findings show that the government's policy of improving the TV service in remote areas is not being enforced," he said. "The use of the assigned frequencies is very inefficient."

Shyr said that the problem in these areas would hamper progress in providing a nationwide digital TV service, since many areas still had problems receiving analog signals.

Only Public Television Service (公視), Formosa Television (民視), Taiwan Television (台視), the China Television Co (中視) and the Chinese Television System (華視) have digital channels.

The survey showed that Public Television Service and Formosa Television could be viewed by only 67 percent and 68 percent of the population respectively.

Shyr said the survey also exposed poor coordination among the three administrative organizations in charge -- the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP), the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Information Office (GIO).

The CIP and GIO provide subsidies to Aboriginal Townships, while the ministry provides subsidies for digital set-top boxes to low-income families.

The survey was conducted between August and December.

Commissioners Hsieh Chin-nan (謝進男) and Lin Tung-tai (林東泰) conducted field trips and met with local residents to talk about the issue. The commission said it would schedule a meeting with officials from three agencies involved and local government officials to attempt to resolve the matter.
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