The National Communications Commission held a public hearing May 7 on Want Want China Times media group’s bid to purchase a major Taiwan cable network, amid controversy over media ownership and reduced diversity of opinion on TV.
The acquisition proposal, if passed, would see the NT$76 billion (US$2.59 billion) bid by Want Want China Broadband—a subsidiary of the media group—give the company control over 10 major cable service providers now owned and operated by Taiwan-based China Network Systems, and a 23.1 percent share of cable TV subscribers.
“Approval of the purchase would see a serious concentration of the TV industry, likely dealing blow to freedom of speech in Taiwan and affecting the growth of democracy,” Taiwan Media Watch, a civic group, said in a statement.
Although WWCB claims that the nature of the bid concerns only the service providers and not media content, “a chilling effect has already occurred,” Huang Kuo-chang, Academia Sinica associate research fellow, said at the hearing.
He argued that since February all TV news channels under the group have defended the deal while attacking opponents, and other channels have been “uncannily quiet,” out of fear of what might happen to them should the acquisition be approved.
The Want Want group has extensive operations in mainland China, where it is among the largest food manufacturers, and also owns the China Times newspaper, CtiTV cable station and various digital media.
In Feburary, the NCC asked the group to offer additional information to prove its media outlets are operated without political influence.
The request came after Tsai Eng-ming, the group’s chairman, told the Washington Post that he really hopes to see Taiwan and mainland China unified. Tsai’s comment that reports on the Tiananmen Square massacre were not true also stirred apprehension in Taiwan over mainland Chinese involvement in the country’s media.
The China Times has also been accused of illegally laying off senior editors in recent months, provoking concerns that the media group is violating professional standards and its journalists’ right to work.
At the hearing, Tsai denied the charge of mainland Chinese involvement and demanded the NCC speed up its review process, which has lasted 16 months.
The Cable Broadband Institute in Taiwan, whose members represent 80 percent of cable TV providers, urged the NCC to create a quantitative index for assessing levels of media concentration.
NCC Minister Su Herng said a decision on the acquisition proposal will be made as soon as possible after consideration of opinions from all sides. (THN)