Taiwan Optical Platform Co’s (TOP) bid to purchase Eastern Television (ETTV) was rejected yesterday by the National Communications Commission (NCC) after considering the effect that the deal would have on the nation’s cable industry.
The commission said its rejection was not simply on the basis that TOP would be violating regulations banning political parties and politicians from investing in media outlets.
The five cable service companies owned by TOP were each fined NT$200,000 for accepting funding from Chinese New Hongmen Party, a registered political party, and Pintung County Councilor Song Li-hua (宋麗華) through share purchases on the stock market.
TOP has been asked to address the issue within one year of receiving the official ruling, the commission said.
Song is the wife of former Non-Partisan Solidarity Union lawmaker Tsai Hao (蔡豪), who is a close friend of ETTV founder Gary Wang (王令麟).
Wang owns the Eastern Media International, which is the second largest shareholder of ETTV.
He opposed the ETTV-TOP deal, which was made through ETTV’s largest shareholder, Carlyle Group.
Prior to the commission’s ruling, Eastern Media International had published advertisements in Chinese-language newspapers accusing it of planning to rule in favor of TOP.
TOP also criticized Eastern Media International for spreading what it said were unsubstantiated accusations.
Media reports said Wang had asked the Chinese New Hongmen Party and Song to purchase the TOP shares, making it impossible for the commission to approve TOP’s application.
Commission spokesperson Weng Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that TOP is a publicly listed firm, which theoretically can accept funding from any interested investor.
However, the company does not have a mechanism in place to ensure that political parties and politicians cannot purchase its shares, he said.
Weng reiterated the possibility that TOP’s purchase of ETTV could contravene the regulations banning investment in media outlets by political parties, the government and the military was not the only reason the commissioners ruled against the deal.
TOP had secured a huge amount of loans for the proposed deal and its previous acquisition of two cable service companies, which had already been approved by commission.
“We question TOP’s ability to pay back the loans and fulfill the promises that it made to the commissioners when we deliberated on the case,” he said.
“Considering the financial burden that it would carry for acquiring these media outlets, it would be difficult for TOP to invest further in its facilities and content production,” he said.
TOP accounts for 10 percent of cable service market and is one of the leading service providers in central Taiwan, as well as serving as agent for five cable TV channels, Weng said.
It would become the second-largest cable TV network if it were given permission to acquire the eight channels under the ETTV network, he said.
The proposed acquisition would allow TOP to own two news channels, and the concentration of media ownership could compromise the diversity of public opinions, he said.
“We do not appreciate that both TOP and Eastern Media International were trying to undermine each other’s credibility by running newspaper advertisements. This is unacceptable,” Weng said, adding that the two firms need to focus on enlarging the market in the age of digital convergence.
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