The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday made public the principles that cable system operators must follow when making channel lineup adjustments.
The principles were drawn to minimize disputes between cable system operators and channel operators due to channel lineup adjustments, including whether to remove or add a channel to the list, or move a certain channel to the head or back of the lineup, commission spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
However, the commission reiterated that it would not intervene in any business negotiations regarding content authorization fees or profit distribution, Wong said.
The commission identified the need to publish the principles because cable operators make their own rules when making channel adjustments, Wong said, adding that each operator uses different standards.
Some of the rules are even too abstract for channel operators to follow, resulting in disputes, he said.
In November last year, Formosa TV (FTV) wanted to include its news channel — FTV News — in the lineup of Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand (MOD) system.
Kbro, the MOD system’s major competitor, then removed two channels from its cable system channel lineup in a seemingly retaliatory move.
Another highly publicized case is a dispute over content authorization fee between Taiwan Broadcast Communications (TBC) and FTV, which resulted in TBC subscribers being unable to access FTV News.
Based on the principles stipulated by the NCC, cable system operators must fully disclose the rules that they use to change channel lineups. They should use fair and reasonable standards to review applications from channel operators requesting to be included in the channel lineup, and should not deny requests from channel operators without any legitimate reason.
Possible indicators that can be used to determine if a channel should be included in a lineup include objective and credible ratings reports; whether it produces programs for ethnic minorities, children and young people; whether it has won prestigious awards; and whether it produces a lot of its own programs.
Likewise, the rules used to adjust a channel lineup must also include conditions under which cable operators can remove a channel, including bad credit ratings and records of penalties from the commission in the past three years.
Cable operators could consult opinions from consumer rights groups or other civic groups when adjusting channel lineups.
Should cable system operators and channel operators fail to settle a dispute, both sides can seek to resolve them through legal action.
In other news, the commission said that it does not rule out reinvestigating the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) sale of Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) to the former (KMT) legislator Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) in 2007, following evidence released by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office that the party might have control over the personnel serving on the BCC’s board.
This would mean that BCC has contravened regulations banning political parties, the government and the military from investing in or managing media outlets.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and