Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) is entering the digital era today by being the first terrestrial television station to broadcast programs through digital signals.
"The onset of digital broadcasting is another revolution in the television broadcasting industry. From the arrival of black-and-white to color television to the advent of digital broadcasting, every stage is a revolution in itself," said David Cheng (鄭優), TTV general manager.
With the availability of digital technology, one television channel can be compressed into three. As such, TTV will be offering three channels: a general channel, a family channel that targets a female audience and a finance channel.
Digital channels offer viewers different options.
"There are four different modes of digital technology: through satellite, multimedia on demand (MOD), ADSL, cable and terrestrial. What the television broadcasting industry is working toward is to compete to generalize digital television," said Julian Chen, (陳洲任), deputy manager for event promotion.
TTV offers a FreeView setup box and a pen-sized antenna to enable viewers to receive all channels available in digital quality.
"With eight digital broadcasting towers installed around the country, about 80 percent of all areas of Taiwan are able to get reception. We are currently looking to include all the missing corners around the country," said Cheng.
Once a terrestrial setup box is installed, a viewer is able to receive terrestrial channels via digital signals for free.
"The good news is that these extra channels are free of charge as long as a viewer pays the initial cost to install a setup box," said Chen.
Digitalization also requires synergy among the four terrestrial television stations: Taiwan Television Enterprise Ltd (TTV), China Television Co (CTC), Chinese Television System (CTS) and Formosa Television (FTV).
Together, the four stations are to broadcast the Athens Olympics in August and may also establish a common television station in the future.
"The Government Information Office (GIO) has proposed that the four stations come together to form a common station and split up the different channels; we are still waiting for further response on that. Right now, what is for sure is that we will form strategic alliances for reach, development and other different areas" said Cheng.
In order to transfer its old analogue system to the new digital system, TTV has spent NT$1 billion on research and development.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the