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.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS