Next Media’s (壹傳媒) plan to venture into the TV industry in Taiwan yesterday suffered a major setback after the National Communications Commission (NCC) again rejected its applications to establish news, information and entertainment channels.
NCC Spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the commission continued to have doubts on Next TV’s plans to present animated news as well as how it would protect the interests of youth in its news content.
“The commission listed four main reasons why it turned down [Next TV’s] applications last year,” Chen said. “While it has made some improvements, its efforts failed to convince members of the independent committee who reviewed the applications that it would do anything different from what they can see in the [Chinese-language] Apple Daily and Next Magazine.”
Chen said the committee opposed the applications because the network had failed to address two of the four main issues.
For one, the network’s animated news presented events in a “docudrama” format, which does not meet professional standards of journalism and truthful reporting.
Also, its guidelines for animated news production contravened Article 13 of the Regulations Governing the Classification of Television Programs (電視節目分級處理辦法), which states that “images in news broadcasting programs shall be subject to classified G [General rating] regulations, without classification labeling.”
Aside from the two main issues, Chen said the programs the network intended to present on its three channels were more or less the same, which spawned questions about the necessity of having three channels.
Chen said the committee’s decision was submitted to the commissioners’ meeting yesterday where it won unanimous support from commissioners, who deliberated the case for about an hour before making a final decision.
Chu Wen-bin (朱文彬), chief of the commission’s satellite communication division, said members of the committee reviewed sample tapes and operational plans for the three channels submitted by Next Media. As Next Television launched its TV service online in July, commission officials recorded content and handed it to committee members for reference.
Chu said Next’s news production guidelines showed that the network “completely misunderstood” the Regulations Governing the Classification of Television Programs.
“It [Next TV] said it would not explicitly present the sexual organs of people appearing in Next programs,” Chu said. “However, not showing sexual organs does not mean the news has a General rating.”
“[Next] also said it would be careful when handling live news broadcasts involving violence, sexual assault and suicides. However, these types of news should not be aired live in the first place,” Chu said.
Next TV chairman Chu Wai-hui (朱華煦) said the company protested against the commission for “undermining freedom of expression and stifling creativity.”
“Why does the NCC keep rejecting our applications?” Chu asked in a statement. “The NCC owes us an explanation.”
Meanwhile, the commission also rejected applications by China Television Co (CTV) for four new channels, saying they violated the Television and Broadcasting Act (廣電法), which bars investment from political parties, the government and the military.
The investigation showed that the Taipei City Government indirectly owns 0.2175 percent of the shares in the CTV’s Cultural Enterprise Co, which owns four channels.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS