Thirty-seven television and radio stations across the nation, including International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT), TaiwanPlus and the nation’s three oldest terrestrial television stations, might be taken off the air, as the National Communications Commission (NCC) does not have enough commissioners to convene meetings to review their license renewal applications.
The seven-member commission has only three commissioners. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) requires a quorum of four to hold a meeting.
The Executive Yuan had nominated four names to replace four outgoing ones, but the legislature’s Transportation Committee did not review the nominations.
Photo: Taipei Times
The Executive Yuan later asked then-NCC vice chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗), who was nominated to be NCC chairman, to temporarily assume the post of NCC chairman.
However, the legislature passed an amendment to the NCC Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法), which bans any NCC member from serving more than two terms. Wong, who had served two terms, left after the amendment took effect.
There are 37 television and radio stations whose broadcasting licenses are scheduled to expire in the first half of this year, NCC secretary-general Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said.
The list includes four terrestrial television stations — Taiwan Television, China Television, Chinese Television System and Taiwan Public Television Service (PTS) — whose licenses will expire on June 30.
The government-funded English-language channel TaiwanPlus would also be affected, as it operates using PTS’ license, the commission said.
Furthermore, 25 radio stations are slated for license renewal, Huang said.
The broadcasting licenses of ICRT, Fu-Hsin Broadcasting Station International, National Education Radio, Police Broadcasting Service, Taipei Broadcasting Station and Kaohsiung Broadcasting Station are to expire on June 30, while the licenses for the rest of the group would expire between June 18 and June 30, he said.
ICRT is Taiwan’s only English-language radio station and serves the expatriate community here.
Fu-Hsin Broadcasting Station is a military broadcasting service funded by the Ministry of National Defense, while the National Education Radio is supported by the Ministry of Education to produce educational programs.
The Police Broadcasting Service, which is backed by the National Police Agency, is considered a reliable source of traffic reports.
The Taipei and Kaohsiung broadcasting stations are supported by the Taipei and Kaohsiung city governments respectively.
Meanwhile, the broadcasting licenses of eight satellite television broadcasters would expire between next month and June. MTV Live and Nick Jr of Taipei Postproduction (台北影業公司) might see an immediate impact, as their licenses will expire on March 7, Huang said.
The commission has no legal grounds to allow these stations to continue to operate by granting them a temporary license, he said.
Article 12-1 of the Radio and Television Act (廣播電視法) stipulates that the NCC may grant a three-month operating license to broadcasters should the agency find items they need to address when reviewing their license renewal applications. It does not apply in the current situation, Huang said.
As failure to renew the licenses of these broadcast media would significantly hurt the public interest, the commission has invited external experts to propose solutions at a meeting on Feb. 20, he said.
Broadcasters are entitled to seek judicial remedies, such as court injunctions to keep them on the air, the commission said.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
RSS