Sat, Mar 10, 2007 page4

• Analysis: BCC takeover highlights NCC's role

  MEDIA PICKLE Fears of an unregulated market when the commission members resign next January has left the Executive Yuan with a problem that needs solving

  • By Shelley Shan / STAFF REPORTER
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  If anything positive has come out of Jaw Shaw-kong's (趙少康) buyout of Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC), it is probably that it has highlighted the existence and the necessity of the National Communications Commission (NCC), an organization that was created out of an equally controversial legislative process and has since been the target of criticism.

  On the day before the Lunar New Year holidays, the commission ruled that the nation's largest radio station must fulfill several requirements before its application for a change in ownership could be approved.

  The ruling dictated that the company must first return the frequencies that were previously used to broadcast political propaganda to China to the government.

  

  Broadcasting Corporation of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong stands at the entrance of the National Communications Commission headquarters in Taipei on Feb. 9.

  PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

  BCC must also strive to raise the percentage of self-produced programs. And to prevent a potential monopoly in the media market, the commission asked Liang Lei (梁蕾), one of the UFO Network's board directors and Jaw's wife, to reduce her shareholding in UFO Network to below 10 percent.

  Also, BCC and UFO must operate as two separate organizations.

  The results were surprising to many, since the commission found no serious breaches of the regulations when Jaw was interviewed by the commission in January.

  But the controversies surrounding the BCC case went beyond the unexpected verdict. Because it involved the purchase of an asset previously owned by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the case had the potential to generate more shouting matches between the Government Information Office (GIO) and NCC than any other case the latter has handled, with the GIO demanding that BCC return the previously mentioned radio frequencies immediately.

  Meanwhile, the four companies that possess the majority of BCC's shares are said to be affiliated with Jaw, and have been alleged to be fake operations established to enable him to buy BCC without violating regulations in the Broadcasting and Television Law (廣電法).

  To media observers, the BCC case exposed the commission's passivity when it handled such a controversial case.

  "Jaw was no fool when he purchased BCC, knowing that he couldn't be touched as long as he fulfilled the minimum requirements of the [Broadcasting and Television] law," said Wei Ti (魏玓), assistant professor in the mass communication department at Tamkang University.

  "The commission should have proactively investigated this dubious transaction in the first place. Unfortunately, it only began to question Jaw after the commission had been criticized by the public for doing almost nothing," he said.

  Wei pointed to a bigger issue that lies at the center of all broadcasting disputes.

  "We have not seen any fundamental changes in communications policies, particularly with regard to the reappropriation and readjustment of the nation's television broadcasters, and telecommunications resources," he added.

  workload

  The size of the commission's workload and the time a review process consumes perhaps explain the lack of a proactive stance in the BCC case.

  Since last year, the commission has had its hands full reviewing cases previously handled by the GIO and the Directorate-General of Telecommunications.

  The nine commission members have discussed the application for a Multimedia-On-Demand (MOD) service from Chunghwa Telecom; ETTV-S and Long Shong Movie Station's applications to renew their broadcasting licenses; applications to launch TV stations for mobile phones; reshuffles of channels on the cable television service; and constructing a new formula to determine the base charge for local telephone calls. In every single one of the cases -- whether large or small -- the commission is required to deliver a ruling resulting from a consensus among its members.

  In the case of the MOD service, it took the commission nine months to reach a settlement. The case revolved around whether an online television service run by a government-affiliated company would violate the regulation forbidding the government, political parties and the military operating media organizations.

  While the NCC's operational model guarantees a thorough consideration of each case, it compromises the efficiency required to mediate over disputes in the rapidly-changing media and telecommunications markets. The urgency and time spent on these cases left hardly any time for the commission to consider overhauling outdated policies and regulations.

  NCC chairman Su Yeong-ching (蘇永欽) said in an press conference before the Lunar New Year that the commission's main task this year was to amend three important communications laws -- the Satellite and Broadcasting Law (衛星廣播電視法), Cable Radio and Television Law (有線廣播電視法) and Broadcasting and Television Law (廣播電視法).

  The task, he said, "would take a lot of their time."

  Wei, however, said that the commission's capacity to handle such a big project was questionable.

  "I am not too optimistic about it [the amendments], given that the Grand Council of Justices ruled that the NCC's formation was unconstitutional and its members have expressed their wish to resign by January next year," Wei said. "It seems unlikely that they would begin any long-term policy reviews. They would probably just keep their fingers crossed that they won't make any mistakes or cause any trouble."

  muscle

  Criticism notwithstanding, many have noted that the commission has begun to flex its under-utilized administrative muscle during some of the recent issues. When the Executive Yuan accused the NCC of making an out-of-court settlement with BCC regarding the unreturned frequencies and threatened to annul its ruling, the NCC fought back with legal documents and said bluntly that the Executive Yuan had no right to interfere in the ruling.

  Another incident was the MBK Partners' purchase of China Network Systems (CNS), the nation's second largest cable TV operator.

  NCC spokesperson Howard Shyr (石世豪) said in an interview with the Chinese-language Economic Daily News that MBK had to clearly state the source of its funding and demonstrate to the commission plans to create a digital TV system in the next few years, or the commission would rule "that it [the deal] was not in CNS' interests."

  Despite the more hardline attitude, the specter of an unregulated media market when the commission members resign in January next year has left the Executive Yuan with a problem.

  In a statement last month Su urged the Executive Yuan to quickly start amending the organic law of the National Communications Commission (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法).

  Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥), assistant professor of the public administration and policy department at the National Taipei University, said the amendment must allow the Premier to nominate candidates for the commission.

  Chen said the NCC, even as an independent organization, must still be under the supervision of the Executive Yuan.

  "The `independence' here simply means it functions independently, but it is still considered as an entity within the group of government administrative organizations," Media Watch president Kuan Chung-hsiang (管中祥) said.

  Kuan added that since it has proven politically unviable to choose commission members based on the representation of political parties in the legislature, the Executive Yuan should consider the model used by the Public Television Service Foundation, where directors are first nominated by the Executive Yuan and then reviewed by a special panel authorized by the Legislative Yuan.

  He also stressed the importance of including a "revolving-door" article in the amendment, which would prevent former commission members from accepting key positions in the private sector immediately after their resignation.

  Kuan suggested that in addition to legal experts and media academics, the commission should include ordinary citizens in the decision-making process.

  The amendment should also cut the number of members who serve on the commission and delegate some of the less important tasks to second-tier officials.

  "Having nine is way too many. The Federal Communications Commission in the US only has five," he said. "They [commission members] all seem to be busy, but when you look closely at some of the cases, a lot of them are minute."
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