National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairwoman Bonnie Peng (彭芸) came under criticism at the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday over the commission’s controversial ruling on management changes at China Television Co (CTV) and CTi TV.
Peng was summoned to brief the committee on how the NCC handled complaints from subscribers to Chunghwa Telecom’s (中華電信) Multimedia-On-Demand (MOD) system who said they could not view certain programs on certain channels. But, most lawmakers questioned Peng instead on the NCC’s ruling on the ownership change at CTV and CTi TV.
The commission approved the stations’ management reshuffle last week on condition that they ban management personnel from concurrently holding positions in both stations, establish independent board directors and follow regulations on foreign investment from both the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣電法) and the Satellite Broadcasting and Television Act (衛星廣播電視法).
The NCC backpedaled on Wednesday, however, saying that both stations needed to take note of the regulations on foreign investment and suggested they add independent directors to their boards.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers serving on the committee criticized the NCC’s change of mind, saying the commission was incapable of defending its own policies.
DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said the NCC needed to inform the public of the consequences if the acquisition of China Times Group by Want Want Group (旺旺集團) helped create a “media monster.”
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, including Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), Yang Li-hung (楊麗環), Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) and Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), accused the NCC of abusing its authority.
They said that the conditional clauses the NCC established had no legal basis, asking Peng if she had problems with people who sell rice crackers, a reference to her comment that Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), the new owner of China Times Group, and his food business in China had caused concern among the commissioners.
In response, Peng said she respected Tsai for his business accomplishments.
Peng said that many stations have started to reconsider issues related to media ownership, and the NCC welcomed any form of rational discussion on the issues.
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