The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it has launched a formal investigation into Kbro Co’s plan to remove two Formosa TV (FTV) channels from the lineups of 19 cable systems, adding that it would not allow unspoken rules between cable operators to disrupt fair competition.
The two channels, FTV Taiwan and Follow Me TV, are digital channels that can be watched by cable TV subscribers for free, the commission said.
Kbro, an affiliate of the Fubon Group, which owns Taiwan Mobile, earlier this month announced that it would remove the two channels from its channel lineup.
FTV News at the beginning of this month began broadcasting on Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand (MOD) service, commission data showed.
Industry experts have interpreted Kbro’s move as retaliation against FTV for airing its programming on the platforms of Kbro and Chunghwa Telecom, despite being fully aware that the two are in the middle of fierce competition with each other.
NCC spokesman Weng Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that by law, cable system operators are required to notify the commission if they need to make adjustments to digital channels offered to cable TV subscribers for free, adding that the agency keeps such notifications for its records.
“However, Kbro announcing a plan to remove two FTV channels soon after FTV launched its news channel on the MOD system is an almost perfect coincidence,” Weng said.
The commission found that records of negotiations between Kbro and FTV over the two channels were incomplete, as they lacked a signature from FTV providing its agreement to the terms of the talks, he said, adding that the agency launched the investigation to determine whether either party had engaged in acts that would impede fair competition and disrupt the market.
“We will not tolerate the practice of unspoken rules among market players that would hurt the interests of consumers,” Weng said, adding that the commission would handle the case based on the media laws it is charged with enforcing.
He reiterated that the nation early this year began to enforce amendments to three media laws, which list MOD and cable systems as broadcasting platforms, saying that their operators must ensure that all channels have equal access to their platforms and that they are forbidden from boycotting a channel for broadcasting content on competing platforms.
“Following the investigation, we will also examine the conditional clauses attached to a ruling on Dafu Media’s acquisition of Kbro, in which Dafu Media vowed to strictly adhere to the principle of equal access for all channels,” Weng said.
Dafu Media is the firm created by Fubon Group to acquire Kbro.
The commission said that Kbro has not taken the two channels off the air, adding that Kbro and FTV have been asked to submit written statements about the dispute.
Weng also commented on Kbro’s announcement last week that it would cease operating as an agent of different channels, considering that being an agent allows it to negotiate on content authorization fees with other cable system owners on behalf of the TV channels.
“We will monitor whether multiple system operators such as Kbro have forced channels to accept unreasonable content authorization fees and unfair distribution of profits,” he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS