CTS News to begin broadcasting on channel 52 next week
04/13/2021 08:58 PM
CTS headquarters in Taipei. CNA file photo
Taipei, April 13 (CNA) Customers of several cable television providers will be able to watch Chinese Television System (CTS) News and Info on channel 52 from April 19, several months after the spot was left vacant following a controversial decision by the National Communications Commission (NCC).
Twelve subsidiaries of cable TV giant Homeplus Digital Co. and three independent operators had applied to the NCC to move CTS News and Info from its current spot on channel 130 into the vacant channel slot.
The NCC approved the applications on March 31, although formal notification was only sent to the 15 operators on Tuesday.
Homeplus defends its bid for Channel 52
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Homeplus Digital Co yesterday told the National Communications Commission (NCC) that its CTS News and Info channel is qualified to be broadcast on Channel 52, as it has a well-rounded fact-verification mechanism and does not produce news based on online videos or surveillance footage as frequently done by other cable news channels.
The commission on Nov. 18 last year unanimously rejected CTi News’ license renewal application, which previously broadcast its programs on Channel 52. Cable operators nationwide have left the channel vacant since Dec. 12, when CTi News’ broadcast license expired.
The commission on Feb. 8 received an application from Homeplus to fill the vacant spot with CTS News and Info channel, which is not included in the channel lineup in any of the 12 cable systems it owns.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it would not begin deliberating over Homeplus Digital Co’s application to fill the vacant Channel 52 with Chinese Television System’s (CTS) news channel until it has consulted with local government officials.
Homeplus, the nation’s largest multiple system operator, had previously proposed moving Global News from Channel 85 to Channel 52, but it retracted the application without providing an explanation.
On Monday last week, Homeplus submitted a new application, proposing that the CTS News and Info channel fill the vacancy.
On the same day, the commission rejected four cable operators’ applications to occupy Channel
Homeplus backs CTS bid to secure Channel 52 slot
INCLUSIVE SCHEDULE: CTS’ general manager said that the channel would include content from PTS’ Hoklo and Hakka news channels
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
Chinese Television System (CTS) and Homeplus Digital Co have partnered to file an application for CTS News and Info channel to move to Channel 52, which has not been in use for the past two months.
The channel was originally licensed to CTi News, but has been vacant since the National Communications Commission on Nov. 18 last year announced that it would not renew the channel’s broadcast license, which expired on Dec. 13.
No new Channel 52 application from Homeplus
MANEUVERING: Homeplus withdrew its application after CTS gained approval to make a deal with the company so that CTS News and Info could move to the vacant channel
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Homeplus Digital Co has yet to file a new application for another news channel to take over Channel 52 after retracting its previous application on Friday last week, the National Communications Commission said yesterday, adding that it would evaluate any proposed replacement based on four main aspects stipulated in the Cable Radio and Television Act’s (有線廣播電視法) enforcement rules.
The commission on Nov. 18 last year refused to renew the broadcasting license for CTi News, which had occupied the channel.