CTiTV News has so far lost six of the 13 lawsuits that it had filed to contest the penalties it received for contravening media regulations, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
NCC commissioners on Wednesday last week unanimously rejected the news channel’s license renewal application on the grounds that its frequent contravention of media regulations showed that it has a malfunctioning internal control mechanism that cannot be rectified.
The legal team representing CTiTV News has been trying to invalidate the ruling, saying that it is still contesting six of the 25 contraventions through the judicial system.
The news channel on Tuesday sought an injunction from the Taipei High Administrative Court so that it can continue broadcasting programs on channel 52 after its license expires on Dec. 11.
The court is scheduled to hold a preliminary hearing on Monday at 2:30pm.
Asked if the channel could continue to operate if it is granted an injunction, NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that an administrative ruling remains effective so long as it is not dismissed by an administrative court or the administrative agency that issued the ruling.
“CTiTV News is now seeking a remedy through the judicial system. We are also prepared to convince the judge by presenting our professional opinions as to why the court should not grant the channel an injunction. We do not want to speculate on how the court would rule,” he said.
NCC Department of Broadcasting and Content Affairs Director Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said that the commission cannot determine at this point if the channel would be able to continue to operate after Dec. 11, adding that it depends on the Higher Administrative Court’s ruling.
The news channel has filed 13 lawsuits at the court to contest the fines handed down by the NCC, but so far the higher court has ruled in favor of the NCC in six of the cases, the commission said.
Only one ruling was in favor of the channel, the commission said, adding that it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Administrative Court.
Meanwhile, the commission denied an allegation that it met with cable system operators to persuade them to let a specific channel operator take channel 52, adding that some cable system operators have applied to the NCC for permission to adjust the channel lineups after the commission denied CTiTV News’ license renewal application.
However, the commission has yet to deliberate on these applications, the NCC said.
Commission Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) told a media briefing on Wednesday last week that the commission would strongly encourage cable operators to replace CTiTV News with news channels in the Taiwan Broadcasting System, the nation’s public broadcasting group.
Chen made the recommendation following a thorough discussion with other NCC commissioners, the commission said, adding that it would respect the results of business negotiations between channel operators and cable system operators.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has told reporters that the NCC is an independent agency and the standards it has used to evaluate CTiTV News’ license renewal application apply to all television channels.
The Presidential Office would not interfere in the NCC’s decisionmaking process, she said.
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