One of the nation’s profitable cable television channels yesterday confirmed that it is laying off 67 employees as part of a restructuring plan amid rumors of plans for a larger downsizing.
Sanlih E-Television (SET), known for producing popular TV series such as My Queen (拜犬女王), The Fierce Wife (犀利人妻) and You’re My Destiny (命中注定我愛你), yesterday issued a statement dismissing rumors that it was going to lay off 200 people as a result of the financial losses from its new media platform Vidol.
It said it was undertaking corporate restructuring, including personnel changes, to stay competitive and ensure the sustainability of its operation.
“The personnel arrangements were made after taking into account the “status quo” of the media industry, the company’s competitive edge and its corporate responsibility. There is no such thing as a second wave of mass layoffs,” SET said.
The company said it is complying with the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and other government regulations as it carries out the restructuring.
SET said it has about 1,500 employees, and that its new media department, which includes Vidol, SET News and TV shopping network SETDDG, would be hiring more personnel.
It also promised to uphold its corporate culture, which it said embraces originality and stresses self-generated content.
While many were surprised by SET’s announcement, an industry expert told the Taipei Times that similar changes have been made at other TV networks since the end of last year, adding that several networks have offered compensation packages for people volunteering to leave or choosing to retire early.
The expert, who asked to remain anonymous, said that SET was quite profitable last year, reporting a profit of NT$6.2 billion (US$195.77 million at current exchange rates).
However, there has been an across-the-board recession in the media industry this year, with TV networks seeing an average drop in advertising revenue of 20 to 30 percent, she said.
While the nation’s economic woes have contributed to the network’s problems, it has also been hurt by copyright infringement by over-the-top (OTT) content providers in other countries.
SET’s popular series can be seen online via OTT operators, who are not authorized to broadcast the copyrighted content, she said.
This has led to low ratings and a decline in advertising revenue, and the situation will only worsen if the government ignores it, she said.
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