In response to a rising number of complaints about the deteriorating quality of television programs, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairwoman Bonnie Peng (彭芸) said yesterday that the commission would establish different standards for reviewing different types of programs.
“We cannot use the same standards to inspect all programs because they are so different from one another,” Peng said. “We are in discussions with channel operators on setting new rules for different types of programs, such as those offering stock market forecasts or news coverage on natural disasters or epidemic diseases.”
Peng made the comments at a meeting where the NCC had invited operators of radio and television channels and cable services, as well as representatives from parent associations, to discuss how to improve content.
Jason Ho (何吉森), director of the NCC’s communication content department, said the commission had received 1,043 complaints between January and June this year. Among them, 854 were targeted at the content shown in television programs and commercials.
Participants were active in voicing their thoughts on the issues.
Some questioned the television program rating system, saying violence or other offensive content was being aired during general rating hours. One said the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants had been assigned an R rating in the US, and asked why Taiwan had given it a G rating instead.
Another asked when cable service operators would begin introducing different channel packages for viewers as he did want not pay for the whole package and would prefer to be able to drop some of the unwanted channels.
Ho said the NCC has found that some of the content in prime time series should have been restricted to adults-only viewing times. This should not be happening, he said, as content aired in prime time should be suitable for the whole family.
The commission would look into the content of SpongeBob SquarePants to determine what its rating should be, he added.
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