Disney Group set to close five cable channels in Taiwan
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Disney Group is set to cancel five cable channels in Taiwan as part of its plans to close 18 TV channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong, Fox Network Group’s branch in Taiwan said yesterday.
The news follows the group’s termination on Jan. 1 of its broadcast of Fox Sports 1, 2 and 3 channels in Taiwan.
A story published on Tuesday by US entertainment news site Variety said that the 18 channels include Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life and FX; movie channels Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Movies and Star Movies China; sports channels Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2; kids’ channels Disney Channel and Disney Junior; and factual services Nat Geo and SCM Legend.
CTiTV asks to broadcast news on Variety channel
BUSINESS PLAN: The NCC asked the network how the variety channel would be different from a news channel if news programs were part of its broadcast
By Yang Mien-chieh / Staff reporter
CTiTV has submitted a new business plan to broadcast news programs on its CTi Variety channel, National Communications Commission (NCC) officials have said.
The network’s application came after the operating license for its CTi News channel expired in December last year following a unanimous decision by NCC commissioners on Nov. 18 not to renew the license.
NCC officials said they received the business plan for CTi Variety before the Lunar New Year holiday in February, to add morning, midday and evening news hours to the channel’s programming.
Complaints lodged over derailment news coverage
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it has received six to seven complaints since Friday last week from the public about media coverage of the derailment of Taroko Express No. 408, and an independent panel is examining footage to see if broadcasting regulations have been breached.
Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), a worker at a construction site, has been linked to a crane truck that slid down a slope onto the railway tracks, leading to the fatal crash.
Some complaints said that TV news shows accused him of lying about going to the construction site alone by showing a photograph of him standing next to other people, without verifying whether those people were workers or passengers from the crashed train, the commission said.
Sports-betting ads need regulation: DPP lawmaker
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
The government is giving people running online sports-betting commercials “a break from the law” rather than regulating them, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said yesterday, calling on the National Communications Commission (NCC) to push for passage of a draft digital communications act to hold online platform operators accountable for the content they air.
Lin made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, as he asked NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) about the commission’s progress in drafting the act.
Although gambling is forbidden in Taiwan, online platforms such as YouTube are allowed to air commercials that encourage people to bet on sports games, Lin said.
FEATURE: CTS seeks Channel 52 approval, despite flak
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
On Nov. 18 last year, when National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) urged cable operators to consider “giving Taiwan Broadcasting System [TBS] a chance” to take over Channel 52, it was widely perceived as an unprecedented and inappropriate move.
Critics said that the cable channel lineup is based on negotiations between cable system operators and channel operators, not the NCC.
The commission, they said, has no right to intervene in negotiations and should not compromise its neutrality by publicly endorsing a network or channel such as suggesting that TBS, the nation’s public broadcasting group, follow CTi News in controlling Channel 52.