Thirteen satellite television channels were yesterday fined NT$200,000 each for failing to reach the percentages required for Taiwan-produced programming and for reruns during prime-time hours, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said.
The amendment to the Regulations on Satellite Broadcasting Program Supplier Broadcasting Domestically Produced Program (衛星頻道節目供應事業播送本國節目管理辦法), which was passed at the end of last year, took effect in January.
The amendment targets TV series and variety shows aired between 8pm and 10pm, movies broadcast between 9pm and 11pm and children’s programming broadcast between 5pm and 7pm.
During these time slots, locally produced programs must account for no less than a quarter of the content. Reruns may only account for 60 percent of programming, while movie channels’ content can only run old programs 80 percent of the time.
The commission between January and June evaluated programs aired on 134 cable and multimedia-on-demand satellite channels, NCC spokesperson Weng Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said, adding that it found that Eastern Super TV (東森超視) and 12 other channels had failed to meet the criteria.
San Da Cable TV Channel (三大一台) and documentary film station CNEX Channel (視納華仁) were given warnings.
The commission has tried to be lenient in issuing penalties to channels that fail to meet the regulations, as they only took effect this year, Weng said.
“We have considered the severity of each case and if the channel has taken actions to address the situation. We have also considered that it could take a year to plan the production of new series,” he said, adding that the commission would conduct a comprehensive evaluation after the regulations have been enforced for one year.
In related news, Weng said that the commission has launched an investigation into whether Sanlih TV News produced a fake story when it reported that former Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) frequented a private club in Taipei.
The station allegedly interviewed one of its own reporters as a source and reprimanded a news anchor for refusing to report the story.
The station admitted violating the journalistic code of ethics in an interview with the NCC on Tuesday, Weng said, adding that the commission has requested that the station’s own ethic committee first deliberate the case.
“The station must send a report to the NCC on the committee’s conclusion, which will then be reviewed by the commissioners,” he said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS