The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday questioned Mirror TV’s ability to sustain itself when it initially launches, saying the news channel’s financial assessment for the next five years was too optimistic.
Mirror TV chairman Chen Chien-ping (陳建平) and management from its news department visited the NCC yesterday morning to answer questions from NCC commissioners about their plan to establish a cable news channel, NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) told the commission’s weekly news briefing.
Commissioners asked about the news channel’s business plan over the next five years, Wong said, adding they were mainly interested in learning how the channel planned to secure funding and if it aimed to recruit more news department employees.
The commission ruled that the channel must submit additional information requested by the commissioners before the review is resumed, he said.
The channel’s business plan showed that its funding would come initially come from three main sources: advertising revenue, content authorization fees from cable system operators and the execution of government-sponsored projects, Wong said.
Mirror TV management also told the NCC that they plan to pick a slot after Channel 80 to broadcast from, Wong said, adding that they aim to air from the “cable news block” — channels 49 to 58 — in three to five years.
However, commissioners told the channel’s management that their financial plan for the next five years might be too optimistic, Wong said.
“We asked them when and how they plan to break even, given that they need to pay cable system operators to be included in the channel lineup in the first few years of operation. They are not likely to receive substantial advertising revenue in the beginning if the channel is not going to be in the news block,” Wong said.
The channel’s business plan showed that it does not expect to generate any profit from next year to 2027, but it pledged to increase the number of news department employees from 220 at present to 440 within three months of securing the license, he said.
Commissioners want Mirror TV’s management to provide more detail on how the news channel would operate with shareholders, zero-shareholding board directors, an independent ombudsman and a journalism ethics committee, Wong said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS