Under scrutiny over Channel 52, CTS predicts financial losses of NT$260m
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Chinese Television System (CTS) is expecting financial losses of NT$260 million (US$9.14 million) this year, general manager Leon Chuang (莊豐嘉) told the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday.
CTS aims to generate profits three years after it starts broadcasting its news channel on cable television, Chuang added.
The Ministry of Culture was scheduled to brief the committee on progress in drafting a public media act.
Chinese Television System general manager Leon Chuang speaks at a news conference in Taipei on Friday last week.
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.
There is a fine line between supervising and controlling the media, and with the National Communications Commission (NCC) losing credibility, the government needs to be careful about where it stands.
Even as the government welcomed news that BBC correspondent John Sudworth had relocated from China to Taiwan and hailed Taiwan’s freedom of the press, the commission sparked criticism after it approved a move to channel 52 for Chinese Television System’s (CTS) News and Info channel.
NCC Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) has been accused of bias after a hearing last year at which he urged operators to give Taiwan Broadcasting System the
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.
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Taiwan’s Chung Tien Television (CTiTV) went off air on midnight Friday after its broadcast license was not renewed in a move critics claim is politically motivated.
The National Communications Commission (NCC) denied CTiTV its license last month, citing “repeated violations of regulations and the failure of its internal discipline and control mechanisms.”
CTi News is known for its China-friendly viewpoints and its opposition to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). It is owned by the Want Want China Times group, which is helmed by Tsai Eng-meng, a Taiwanese businessman openly sympathetic to the Chinese government.
Numerous media reports last year alleged properties owned by Want Want received funding and editorial direction from authorities in China. Want Want has denied these claims.