The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it has asked Mirror TV to submit a written report explaining why its news channel is airing a political talk show during prime-time hours, even though it had stated multiple times in its business plan that it would not do so.
It was one of the significant pledges that Mirror TV made to secure a broadcasting license in January last year.
“The TV station has repeatedly indicated in its business plan, along with other supplementary information it provided, that it has no plan to produce political talk shows similar to those of other cable news stations in Taiwan. We have asked it to explain the matter,” said NCC Chen Chin-shuan (陳金霜), a senior specialist at the Department of Broadcasting and Content.
Photo: CNA
NCC Vice Chairman and spokesperson Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that the commission would watch video clips of Mirror News’ program and has asked it to offer explanations, both in writing and in person.
If the news channel is deemed to have failed to adhere to the obligations and conditions that the NCC had set when it granted the license, the commission would revoke its previous ruling in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (行政程序法), Wong said.
However, if the channel is deemed to have failed to follow its business plan, it would be given a warning or be fined NT$100,000 to NT$1 million (US$3,114 to US$31,145) for contravening Article 61 of Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) and ordered to rectify the situation, he said.
Separately, the NCC said that it would monitor the quality and quantity of channels that cable systems are planning to provide after Disney General Entertainment Content terminates the operations of its cable channels in Taiwan on Jan. 1 next year.
The US-based entertainment group has applied to end the operations of the 11 channels it owns in Taiwan, including Star Chinese Channel, Star Chinese Movies, Star Movies Gold, Star World, Star Entertainment Channel, Star Chinese Movies HD, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild HD (國家地理高畫質野生頻道) and Baby TV.
Five of the 11 Disney-owned channels are basic channels (channels 1 to 100), with National Geographic on Channel 18, Star Chinese on Channel 31, Star Chinese Movies on Channel 61, Star Movies Gold on Channel 69 and Star World on Channel 79. Cable service subscribers across the nation are waiting to see which channels would take over once Disney exits the market and whether it would affect their subscription fees.
NCC Commissioners yesterday began reviewing cable subscription fees proposed by cable system operators in Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, who have proposed replacing the five basic Disney channels with BBC Earth, PTS Channel 3, TaiwanPlus, Rock Action movie channel, CatchPlay, BBC Life or three other Taiwanese channels.
“We have not approved proposed cable service fees yet, but the commissioners have been engaged in extensive discussions over the types of channels that cable operators have proposed to fill the vacancies, including whether the quality and quantity of the channels are equivalent to the ones they are replacing, or whether there should be fee adjustments for revised channel lineups,” Wong said. “Cable operators said they would try as much as possible to find high-quality channels to fill the vacancies so that subscribers would not feel a difference in content.”
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS