The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it would soon offer “administrative guidance” to Eastern Broadcasting Co (EBC, 東森電視), after records showed that the network might not fulfill its pledge to invest an additional NT$900 million (US$28.2 million) in content production apart from the fixed budget it set sannually.
Mao Te International Investment Co chairman Chang Kao-hsiung (張高祥) made the pledge to secure approval from the broadcast regulator for his acquisition of EBC — one of the nation’s leading cable TV networks — in January 2018.
EBC should spend an additional NT$900 million over a six-year period producing TV drama series, variety shows, youth and children’s programs, and international news coverage, on top of its annual budget of NT$470 million, the NCC said.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
The commission has since 2018 been monitoring whether EBC has fulfilled its pledge by viewing the network’s annual audited financial statements, as well as a list of new programs that were aired on the network’s channels or produced by the network itself. All these materials must be received by the NCC by March 31 each year following the conclusion of the previous fiscal year.
As of last year, the firm only raised additional funding of NT$259 million, still NT$641 million short of its pledge, the commission said.
Although EBC alleged that its program production schedule was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, NCC data showed that it had already failed to meet its annual target of NT$150 million in the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.
NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that it is to provide “administrative guidance” to the network before it would default on its promise to the commission.
EBC last year requested an extension of one to two years to fulfill the pledge, but the commission rejected the request as the network failed to offer sufficient reasons why it should do so, Wong said.
After its request was rejected by the NCC, the network sought a judicial remedy at the Taipei High Administrative Court, in which it cited Article 128 of the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法) and petitioned the court to ask the NCC to change the conditional clauses that it agreed to secure the approval for the acquisition, he said.
The article states that a person is entitled to apply to the government authority for withdrawal, revocation of or amendment to an administrative disposition if the facts on which an administrative disposition were based “have subsequently changed to the advantage of the person subject to the disposition,” or “new facts or fresh evidence have been discovered.”
“Even though we rejected EBC’s request for an extension the first time, it does not mean that submitting such a request is not permissible,” Wong said. “Rather than citing the article to ask the NCC to change its ruling, which does not apply in EBC’s case, the network can simply apply to change its business plan by extending the time it needs to fulfill the pledge. It would have to file the application itself.”
Should EBC fail to fulfill its pledge, the network could be asked to pay a default surcharge or the ruling issued by NCC could be abolished, Wong said, adding that the network would probably be asked to pay the surcharge to ensure the stability of the broadcasting licensing system.
“EBC generates more than NT$150 million in profit per year and it should not be difficult for it to fulfill the pledge. As a large TV network, EBC should show the public that it is committed to doing so,” Wong said.
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