The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday rejected Golden TV’s (靖洋傳媒) application to establish a military news channel, saying that its news department would be significantly understaffed.
It was the first time that the commission received an application to establish a news channel dedicated to the coverage of military news.
The network said in its business plan that it plans to hire only four full-time employees for the channel, which NCC commissioners said would be inadequate to carry out its business plan, NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Pot-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
Photo: Lo Chi, Taipei Times
The commission said in a statement that the planned channel would cover global military developments and military issues, adding that it planned to produce and broadcast military news programs.
“The channel would not have sufficient capability to produce comprehensive military news and commentaries as stated in its business plan, as its news department would be significantly understaffed. As such, we reached a unanimous decision to reject its application,” the NCC said.
In other news, the commission confirmed that it received applications from Taipeinet (北都數位) and DCTV (全國數位) — two cable operators based in Taipei and New Taipei City respectively — to move Taiwan Television’s (台視) news channel — TTV News — to Channel 52, adding that it would consult local government officials over the proposal.
The largest shareholder of the two cable networks is media mogul Lien Tai-sheng (練台生), who owns five cable television channels and three cable systems in Hualien and Taitung. He also represents more than a dozen channels in negotiations with other cable system operators, including TTV News.
Some have said that Lien is testing whether the commission would approve such a proposal before submitting applications for other cable systems that he owns.
The commission on Feb. 8 also received an application from Homeplus Digital to broadcast the Chinese Television System News and Info channel on Channel 52 in all of the 12 cable systems it owns.
Subscribers to Homeplus’ cable services could watch CTS News and Info on Channel 52, whereas subscribers to Taipeinet and DCTV could see TTV News instead, if the commission approves their applications, Wong said.
According to NCC policy, “channels in the [49 to 58] block should be news channels, but we do not have a policy requiring all cable operators to assign a channel to a specific spot,” Wong said. “That should be determined through negotiations between cable operators and channels.”
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