The Taiwan agents of the popular cable TV channel HBO announced a plan yesterday to avoid further uproar among TV viewers, while uneasy negotiations continued between cable TV operators and channel agents for license renewals.
Representatives from TV Time Entertainment Networks, Inc (
HBO's current license expires on Jan. 8.
Tu Teh-yen (
The company may also consider running commercials on the HBO channel to cut prices and make negotiations easier, said Wu Chih-ching (
Meanwhile, Chao made an appeal to the public to give him some more time to work out solutions.
Chao, a former CEO of two local cable TV stations, has come under criticism for his perceived inability to effectively handle the dispute, seen as due largely to his long-term involvement in the electronic media business before his appointment as GIO chief a month ago.
A report in the chinese-language press said yesterday that Chao, former CEO of Global TV (
Meanwhile, local governments yesterday continued to talk tough to cable TV operators that shifted or stopped broadcasting certain channels.
Kaohsiung City Government's Department of Information issued an ultimatum yesterday to local cable TV firm Tahsin (大信) to resume broadcasting or face a NT$500,000 fine. In Taipei County, the county government slapped NT$100,000 fines on two cable TV operators in Hsintien and Sanchung cities.
Meanwhile, officials from the Fair Trade Commission said they had arrived at an initial conclusion that joint sales operations by some cable TV firms in central and southern Taiwan violate the Fair Trade Law.
About 80 percent of Taiwan's cable TV market is controlled by two conglomerates, Eastern Multimedia and United Communications. The annual price wars between the two groups and independent channel agents, and the resulting channel shifts and suspensions, have now become a yearly ritual across Taiwan.
Since the early 1990s, the number of cable companies nationwide has shrunk from 600 to the current level of about 70.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
A bipartisan group of US representatives have introduced a draft US-Taiwan Defense Innovation Partnership bill, aimed at accelerating defense technology collaboration between Taiwan and the US in response to ongoing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The bill was introduced by US representatives Zach Nunn and Jill Tokuda, with US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and US Representative Ashley Hinson joining as original cosponsors, a news release issued by Tokuda’s office on Thursday said. The draft bill “directs the US Department of Defense to work directly with Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense through their respective
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA