The Want Want China Times Group can officially branch out into the nation’s cable television service market after the National Communications Commission (NCC) conditionally approved the ownership change to cable television services previously owned by China Network Systems (CNS) late last night.
The bid to purchase CNS’ cable television services was launched by Want Want China Broadband, which is affiliated with Want Want China Times Group.
The deal drew substantial attention as it involves the merger of one of the nation’s most influential media groups and the second-largest multiple cable service owner. Want Want China-Times Group owns Chinese-language daily China Times and Want Daily as well as CTiTV, China Television and China Times Weekly magazine. The 11 cable television services under review this time were estimated to have about 1.1 million subscribers.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The transaction is valued at NT$76 billion (US$2.52 billion), which the Financial Times has characterized as the largest media purchase in recent years.
NCC Chairperson Su Herng (蘇蘅) said the commission has outlined three conditions which included that Want Want China Times Group Chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明) and his family must not have anything to do with the management of CTiTV’s news channel and that China Television’s news channel must change its operational plan to become a non-news channel. Tsai was scheduled to visit the commission for an interview with four of the NCC’s commissioners, including Su and commissioners Liu Chorng-jian (劉崇堅), Chang Shi-chung (張時中) and Wei Shyue-win (魏學文).
Tsai caused a stir at the Transportation and Communication Building when he arrived around 2pm yesterday.
The bid to purchase CNS’ cable television services was launched by Want Want China Broadband, which is affiliated with Want Want China Times Group.
Prior to the review meeting yesterday, the commission held a public hearing and an administrative hearing on the deal. Before the review meeting started yesterday morning, about a dozen college professors and media experts submitted a petition to the NCC, which called on the nation’s media overseer to reject the application for a change to ownership on the grounds of safeguarding democratic values and protecting press freedoms. They were also joined by 200 college students opposing the formation of a “media beast.”
Three other commissioners — NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉), Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) and Chung Chi-hui (鍾起惠) — withdrew from the review after Want Want China Times Group posted their pictures in its Chinese-language China Times and accused them of giving the group a hard time when the commission reviewed a deal in which Want Want Holdings purchased the China Times in 2008.
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
The zero emissions ship Porrima P111 was launched yesterday in Kaohsiung, showcasing the nation’s advancement in green technology, city Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said. The nation last year acquired the Swiss-owned vessel, formerly known as Turanor PlanetSolar, in a bid to boost Taiwan’s technology sector, as well as ecotourism in Palau, Chen said at the ship’s launch ceremony at Singda Harbor. Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) also attended the event. The original vessel was the first solar-powered ship to circumnavigate the globe in a voyage from 2010 to 2012. Taiwan-based Porrima Inc (保利馬) installed upgrades with
ENHANCE DETERRENCE: Taiwan has to display ‘fierce resolve’ to defend itself for China to understand that the costs of war outweigh potential gains, Koo said Taiwan’s armed forces must reach a high level of combat readiness by 2027 to effectively deter a potential Chinese invasion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) published yesterday. His comments came three days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the US Senate that deterring a Chinese attack on Taiwan requires making a conflict “cost more than what it’s worth.” Rubio made the remarks in response to a question about US policy on Taiwan’s defense from Republican Senator John Cornyn, who said that Chinese
RSS