Fox Sports Taiwan will terminate its services in the local market, the broadcaster said on Friday, without indicating why or when its coverage would end.
“We are planning to terminate the operations of Fox Sports in Taiwan,” the company said in a brief statement, adding that viewers would be notified of further developments.
Operated by Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Co (Southeast Asia), the firm operates three local channels: Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 3. Fox Sports 3 is only available via Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand service.
Some Fox Sports employees on Friday said that they were not aware that the company planned to leave Taiwan.
Fox Sports, formerly called ESPN Star Sports, has over the past few years enthusiastically promoted sporting events of local students, most notably the High School Basketball League and the University Basketball Association.
It broadcasts many international sports, such as Major League Baseball and Japanese professional baseball, Grand Slam tennis, Formula One racing, and professional golf.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
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TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
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