State-funded English-language streaming service TaiwanPlus is to start broadcasting on terrestrial television and through Chunghwa Telecom’s multimedia-on-demand service on Oct. 10 after its broadcast application was yesterday approved by the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The NCC assigned TaiwanPlus to use the frequency block between 542 megahertz (MHz) and 548MHz — designated for use by the Public Television Service’s (PTS) Channel 26.
NCC Department of Broadcasting and Content Affairs Director Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said the PTS is negotiating with cable service operators about airing TaiwanPlus on cable.
The Ministry of Culture-funded streaming service was run by the Central News Agency before the PTS in June took over its management.
The application submitted to the NCC showed TaiwanPlus would operate based on the PTS’ management guidelines, the commission said.
“The English-language streaming service will feature news and documentaries, and aims to show the world that Taiwan, a country formed by immigrants, has a diverse, rich and unique culture,” the commission said.
The PTS hopes to expand Taiwan’s international news coverage, offer diverse programs and cultivate reporting talent.
The commission also approved the PTS’ proposed changes to the operations of Channel 26.
“The Public Television Service pledged to have a full-time executive director for the streaming service, recruit additional staff, offer training to employees and procure new equipment,” the NCC said.
The changes would not interfere with the broadcast of the PTS’ main channel and PTS Haklo.
Chen Chin-shuan (陳金霜), a senior specialist at the Department of Broadcasting and Content, said that the PTS plans to recruit 45 more staff for TaiwanPlus’ production team.
The network has pledged that at least 25 percent of TaiwanPlus programs would not have been aired before on another domestic terrestrial television channel, Chen said.
Content on TaiwanPlus would be created by the production team itself, Chen said, adding that the streaming service has an operational budget of NT$800 million (US$26.7 million) per year.
The operation of the streaming service came under scrutiny after lawmakers in March said that its app had only been downloaded 36,000 times after it was launched on Aug. 30 last year, reaching only 3 percent of its download target.
Monthly downloads have since March increased by about 2,000 per month, with 60 percent of new viewers being based in Taiwan.
More than half of TaiwanPlus Web site views were from Taiwan, the lawmakers said, adding that this limits the platform’s intended global reach.
The Ministry of Culture defended the streaming service.
Six months after its launch, TaiwanPlus reached 30 million people, drawing an average number of 136,000 visitors per day, it said.
The service is part of the ministry’s International Digital Communication project, which has a total funding of more than NT$5.8 billion over four years.
People from 129 countries watch TaiwanPlus, and its coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was quoted by Fox News.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS