Some people wanted the station - some said TV is not suited to Chinese culture. Some others did not like the close cooperation with Japan.
And as BET 21 went on the air, it became obvious that all sorts of technical and economic problems would have to be solved.
The station is not the first in Taiwan. The National Educational Television Station began broadcasts in February. Although its facilities and programs leave much room for improvement, no one has argued about the justification for its existence.
Taiwan could have had TV a long time ago. The economy is well developed and the living standard the second highest in Asia. The number of radio sets has reached one million. For several years, Taiwan-made transistor and ordinary radios have been sold abroad.
One of the objections to television is that it violates requirements of wartime austerity. TV sets are considered luxuries, along with refrigerators and automobiles. Local plants are not ready to turn out cheap sets on a large scale, and imports for small numbers of people are assailed as economic discrimination.
Other critics say Western movies already have increased crime in Taiwan. They fear that with the showing of such films on TV, social control may be further weakened.
The commercial station is a Sino-Japanese enterprise. The contract provides that one of the Japanese investors be the sole agent for import of TV parts from Japan. This has been called a monopoly on imports and has brought complaints from local appliance dealers.
The contract also calls for a large dosage of Japanese programs, replete with commercials. This has been strongly opposed, lest it increase Japanese influence in Taiwan.
The Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) had no easy time getting started and many difficulties lie ahead. But the beginning has been made and the problems are being tackled as they arise.
The first day of broadcasting was a part of the celebrations marking the 51st Double Tenth anniversary of the Republic of China.
Madame Chiang Kai-shek cut a ribbon to open the handsome new TV building. Also there were Miss Janet Lin, the first Miss China in history, and Miss Roxsana Chiang, now in London for the Miss World contest.
The building is on Chung Cheng Road near the Taipei airport. When a remote control button was pushed, the transmitter atop Grass Mountain 10 miles away came to life on the picture tubes of receivers.
The transmitter has a power of five kilowatts. Range of its broadcasts is all of northern Taiwan but with concentration on the Taipei metropolitan area.
First commercial television station in Taiwan and its remote transmission truck. (File photo)
First day broadcasts lasted four and a half hours. Included were films of the TV inauguration ceremony, Double Tenth military parades of past years, this year's Double Tenth celebrations and popular music and songs.
Thousands of people turning out to celebrate the Chinese National Day also saw TV. In addition to the more than 2,000 TV sets in homes or business establishments TTV had installed 55 sets in public places.
14-Inch Screens
Receivers have 14-inch screens. Price is NT$4,660 or US$114 per set. They are produced locally with 80 per cent of the parts imported from Japan. Buyers are mostly department stores, restaurants and tea houses.
Many families with children in school say they dare not buy TV for fear homework might be disturbed. Broadcasting hours are concentrated in the evening from 7 to 11 when children must prepare their lessons.
The commercial station is broadcasting on channel 7. Its frequencies are between 174 and 184 MC. Within three years, a micro-wave relay system will be completed to carry signals the 150-mile length of the island.
There then will come into existence an Asian TV chain stretching from Japan to the Philippines.
Programs will be beamed from the southernmost Japanese main island of Kyushu to the Ryukyu chain of islands. The outlet there will be the U.S. armed forces transmitter at Naha, Okinawa. The signal then will be relayed to Taipei, on to the southern tip of Taiwan, and so the Philippines.
The Sino-Japanese TV project was first proposed in January, 1959. A contract was signed December 14, 1961, between the Taiwan Television Corporation and four Japanese firms: the Nippon Electric Company, the Tokyo Shibaura Electric Company, the Hitachi Company and the Fuji Telecasting Company.
Capitalization was US$750,000. The four Japanese firms put up 40 per cent, or US$300,000.
Equipment and facilities for the transmitter, studio and receiver assembly plant had to be purchased from the three Japanese manufacturing firms. Payment was provided by installments with 20 per cent upon delivery and the balance in five equal payments at interest of 6 per cent per annum.
15,000 Receivers
The Fuji Telecasting Company was appointed sole agency for import of TV parts from Japan. During the first 18 months, TTV is obliged to import parts for assembling 15,000 receivers. Payment is to be made six months after each shipment with annual interest rate of 5 per cent.
More than 2,000 appliance dealers jointly appealed to the government for cancellation of this clause. After lengthy discussion, the Foreign Exchange and Trade Control Commission announced that import of TV parts is not limited to the Taiwan Television Enterprise. Import of complete TV receivers has been placed under control.
The Fuji Telecasting Company also was authorized to purchase two hours of commercial programs per day from Japan. In return, Fuji was to pay a flat sum of 4,500,000 yen or US$12,500 to TTV per month.
Legislative Storm
This clause aroused strong opposition from members of the Legislative Yuan, the highest lawmaking body in free China, when they screened the joint investment project. They pointed out that Taiwan was under the Japanese rule for a 50-year period that ended only in 1945. Some attributes of Japanese culture remain strong among islanders. If two out of five hours of broadcasting were allocated to Japanese shows, the influence would be increased, legislators said.
Under the pressure of the Legislative Yuan, the Cabinet forced TTV to cancel this provision. It promised that the government would try to make up the financial loss.
However, Japanese films and cartoons have been shown on the station. To avoid unnecessary irritation, all Japanese dialogue is dubbed in Chinese Mandarin dialect.
Madame Chiang Kai-shek cuts ribbon held by Miss Janet Lin. (File photo)
The treatment given to films and cartoons from other countries may be different. For example, English dialogue can remain intact and be augmented by Chinese subtitles. Most foreign programs so far have a Chinese commentary instead of the original sound track.
The five hours of programming now includes news, entertainment and public service. Sale of commercial time is limited to a fifth of the total.
Most of the entertainment is live. The station has had folk and modern dancing, classical and modern music, acrobatics and magic, and Chinese opera.
Advertisers have sponsored a few educational programs. Children's choirs have been heard, films of scientific development shown, and the use of cosmetics and flower arrangement demonstrated live.
The station also has publicized government achievements. Forty-nine per cent of its capital is supplied by government-operated banks.
Reaction to commercial TV has not been wholly favorable. Some have criticized the picture as not always clear. Others say the 14-inch screens are too small.
There were rumors that the Japanese wanted to sell out modeled small-screen sets to Taiwan. TTV argued that the 14-inch receivers, although no longer popular elsewhere, are suited to small Chinese houses and the low purchasing power of the local community.
TTV faces a severe obstacle in finding enough advertising to pay its way. Chinese industrialists and merchants are unenthusiastic about advertising. Radio, newspapers and magazines have broken down the barrier to only a limited extent.
The idea that advertising may pay for itself in greater volume and profit has not penetrated many Chinese business minds. To the average businessman, it is a needless added cost, virtually a charity.
Educational Station
The National Educational Television Station is not worried about the commercial competition.
Liu Hsien-yun, chief of the educational station, said he welcomes the inauguration of commercial TV because it will bring more receivers to the community and enlarge the influence of the educational station.
TTV transmitter and cameras were bought from Japan. (File photo)
The educational channel has a 40-watt transmitter that reaches out for only six miles. It was constructed by students of the Electronics Institute of the National Chiao Tung University from parts picked here and there.
Broadcasts began on February 14, 1962, when the second National Educational Conference opened in Taipei. The station has a staff of only 20. Most of the engineers and program people are provided by colleges and universities.
The station has installed 50 receivers in schools and public places. Daily broadcasts are from 7 to 10 p.m.
Most successful program is a 20-minute Saturday evening show called "Public Health Station." It gives detailed demonstrations of hygiene and food preparation.
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings there is a 20-minute program in which children are taught singing, dancing and painting.
A plan is under study to make the station into a TV extension school. It will have courses for both young people and adults.
Courses for youth will be chiefly those which cannot be given easily in the classroom. It will follow the pattern of the Hagerstown TV station of Maryland, which uses audio-visual aids to replace textbooks.
As in all Asian countries, Taiwan's free and compulsory education stops at the sixth grade. Beyond that level, examinations and expense keep at least half the teen-age population out of school.
Radio Courses
Education authorities hope they can take up the slack with schooling via television. A plan also calls for courses for adults who have not finished school or college.
Educational programs also have been offered by radio stations. Out of 1,085 hours of programming on the 62 stations in free China, 22.5 per cent are of an educational nature.
Since October, 1956, the Ministry of Education has sponsored the Education on the Air program for college-level students in Taiwan and abroad. Lectures are given on Chinese literature, history, geography and English language.
At the high school level, the Educational Radio Station gives lessons on similar subjects. Students enrolled in the extension radio school are granted diplomas upon completion of their studies.
Radio has been growing rapidly in free China. Most of the stations are privately owned and operated. Regular listeners are not unusual even in remote rural areas.
The largest network in Taiwan is the Broadcasting Corporation of China, known to overseas listeners as the Voice of Free China. It broadcasts to Taiwan, Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matsu, the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia. It has 10 stations using 15 languages and dialects.
Programs are exchanged with other countries, including Radio Spain, the Great Eastern Radio Station of Manila, the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and the Broadcasting Foundation of America.
Exchange of programs also is under consideration by the new TV station. Films in preparation locally feature Chinese opera, folk dances, music and food preparation.
Electronics Industry
The Taiwan electronics industry is just getting started but has turned out quality products. A large pool of energetic, adaptable, economic labor has made it possible to make low-priced but serviceable radio and television sets.
Movie star Helen Mu sings on one of first day shows. (File photo)
The assembly plant of the commercial TV enterprise is producing 1,000 to 1,600 sets a month. There are 10 factories producing 60,000 conventional radios and 40,000 transistors annually.
The largest radio manufacturer is the Broadcasting Corporation of China, whose products are sold principally on the local market. Most of the transistor radios are exported.
Two Taiwan companies are cooperating with Japanese firms in making the transistors. National Communications Equipment Company works with the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company and the Chinese Electric Appliance Company with Mitsubishi Electrical Manufacturing Company.
A three-man team of the Stanford Research Institute of the United States came here earlier this year to survey investment prospects. They found that the development of an electronics industry was especially promising. At their recommendation, the Chinese Government has listed this industry for development priority under the third Four-Year Economic Development Plan.