The National Communications Commission yesterday said it had fined Global News TV Channel 2 NT$400,000 (US$13,600) for making unauthorized changes to its operational plan.
The channel has been given two months to remedy the problem.
Huang Chin-yi (黃金益), deputy director of the commission’s operational management division, said when Global News applied for a license, it said in its operational plan that at least 85 percent of its content would be international news, and the remainder would be self-produced programs.
“We have established that 60.7 percent of the channel’s programming in the past 15 months consisted of local news,” Huang said. “This is substantially different from the percentage it promised.”
The commission’s acting spokesperson, Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), said the channel was punished for violating Article 13 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), which requires a satellite broadcaster to obtain approval of the regulatory agency for any change in its operational plan.
Records show the channel had failed to apply for such approval, Wong said.
Commissioners deliberated the case on three occasions during their weekly meetings.
The commission also gave Global News’s management a chance to explain the reason for the changes.
Kao Fu-yao (高福堯), director of the commission’s legal affairs department, said Global News’ management had defended their editorial decisions and said there was nothing wrong with broadcasting local news because Taiwan is part of the international community.
That explanation did not sway the commission, Kao said.
Meanwhile, the commission gave conditional approval to a license renewal application for TOP TV’s variety channel, adding that the license would automatically be invalidated if any violation to Article 19 of the Act were reported within a year after it obtained the license renewal. The article states that programs must maintain their completeness and be distinguishable from advertisement.
The channel has been fined a total of NT$17.5 million for infringing regulations over the past six years. More than 75 percent of the recorded violations were related to Article 19, the commission said.
The channel made several commitments, including stopping broadcasts of infomercials and airing a half-hour of programs for youth and children a day, starting on July 1.
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