Eastern Home Shopping Network has reappeared on 28 cable broadcasting systems after the National Communications Commission (NCC) instructed them to correct changes they made in their TV home shopping broadcasts without approval.
The NCC on Monday fined the 28 cable TV service operators a total of NT$19.6 million (US$612,500), or NT$700,000 each, for replacing Eastern Home Shopping (EHS) channels earlier this month with similar TV home shopping channels provided by “U Life” without first filing applications to change their operating plans.
The NCC also said that before applications for changes in broadcast lineups are approved, the cable service operators are not allowed to replace EHS channels.
Cable Communication division chief Tseng Li-ping (曾麗萍) said yesterday that before the Wednesday deadline, all 28 operators had reinstated EHS channels.
Meanwhile, the NCC is scheduled to convene on Tuesday to review the lineup change applications submitted by the 28 fined operators and another five that submitted their applications in proper fashion. Representatives from EHS and U-life will be invited to answer questions from committee members.
EHS published newspaper advertisements yesterday urging U-life founder Gary Wang (王令麟) not to run it out of business.
Currently, the nation has 60 cable TV service operators. U-life channels may be on the air again if the committee grants approval to the 33 operators that wish to change their lineups.
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