All 11 Walt Disney Co Ltd-operated channels in Taiwan are to cease services by the end of this year, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said after confirming that it received documentation covering cessation of broadcasting services yesterday.
National Geographic International, National Geographic Wild and Baby TV are to stop broadcasting by the end of September, while National Geographic Local, Star Channel Chinese, Star Channel Movies, Star Movies Gold, Star World, Star Movies Entertainment, Star Movies HD, Star Chinese Movies HD and Star Movies Gold are to stop broadcasting by the end of the year, the NCC said.
The 11 channels are owned by two companies — National Geographic Taiwan and Disney Pacific Group Ltd Taiwan branch — both of which are subsidiaries of Walt Disney Co.
Photo: AFP
A source in the industry, commenting on condition of anonymity, said that control of the paid channels would be turned over to the NCC.
It would not be easy to find replacements for the channels, the source said.
Article 21 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法) stipulates that “when a domestic or foreign satellite broadcasting business plans to suspend or terminate the operations of one or all the channels, the said business or its branch office or agent shall submit a written report to the regulatory agency three months in advance and notify its subscribers one month in advance.”
Separately, Disney’s public relations department in a statement confirmed that it was terminating the 11 channels.
Its over-the-top media services, cinema services and content sale contracts would continue to operate as usual, the department said.
The company told the Central News Agency that it could not comment on the number of people who would lose their jobs over the decision.
The Taipei Department of Labor said it had not received any complaints or reports that the company was paying employees severance.
The Taipei City Government would issue a notice to the company at least 60 days before the end of the year reminding it that companies must give it notice if they intend to terminate employment contracts en masse.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
‘VERY SHALLOW’: The center of Saturday’s quake in Tainan’s Dongshan District hit at a depth of 7.7km, while yesterday’s in Nansai was at a depth of 8.1km, the CWA said Two magnitude 5.7 earthquakes that struck on Saturday night and yesterday morning were aftershocks triggered by a magnitude 6.4 quake on Tuesday last week, a seismologist said, adding that the epicenters of the aftershocks are moving westward. Saturday and yesterday’s earthquakes occurred as people were preparing for the Lunar New Year holiday this week. As of 10am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded 110 aftershocks from last week’s main earthquake, including six magnitude 5 to 6 quakes and 32 magnitude 4 to 5 tremors. Seventy-one of the earthquakes were smaller than magnitude 4. Thirty-one of the aftershocks were felt nationwide, while 79
RSS