After considering the matter for two years, on July 20 the National Communications Commission finally approved the application by Next TV for a satellite television broadcasting license. This means that Next TV now has the legal right to broadcast content on cable TV and Chunghwa Telecom’s media-on-demand service. It also means that the news media in Taiwan is about to become much more competitive. Once digital broadcasting replaces analogue, the competition will be even more intense. It is hoped that out of these developments, a force for good can emerge.
Digital television is certain to bring about enormous changes over the next few years. The five terrestrial TV stations now in operation will increase to more than 15. After cable TV switches to digital broadcasting, the number of channels will increase to more than 400. In addition, MOD, Internet TV and other platforms will proliferate, and consumers will be faced with a bewildering number of choices. A television channel license will no longer be a scarce commodity, nor will it offer the same kind of protection it now offers to those in possession of such a license. As choices increase, the only way to succeed is for content providers to offer quality programs. The era of “content is king” has arrived.
Cable operators have thus far been able to get by with inferior content, as there is no mechanism to root out channels that offer poor quality television fare. In the digital age, however, there will be a realignment of resources, and the current structure will dissolve.
The appearance of Next TV on the scene will only hasten this dissolution process. It will continue the style of Apple Daily and Next magazine—both of which are owned by Next Media Ltd., the owner of Next TV—and present news in a multimedia format, a situation that other news channels fear will cause them to lose competitiveness.
Special attention should be paid to Next TV’s management strategy. It has already achieved publicity, because of its association with Apple Daily and Next magazine. It has also offered to give out set-top boxes to consumers for free, and has said it will not charge a monthly fee for their use. Considering that other operators have always grumbled about the NCC requiring them to provide set-top boxes to subscribers, the ambition of Next TV is apparent. Finally, through the use of the Internet, Next Media will be able to provide content it is not allowed to show on TV—which underlines the fact that Internet TV is a vacuum over which the NCC has no jurisdiction. Considering Next TV’s ambition and strategy, it would not be surprising if the TV station obtains a terrestrial television license in the future.
The arrival of Next TV should lead to reflection on how content can be regulated. Both Apple Daily and Next magazine have been widely criticized for focusing excessively on sex and violence, and for offering animated re-enactments of the news. Next TV was able to receive NCC approval in part because it promised to regulate itself. But in fact sex and violence are not the prerogative of Next Media. The same problems can be found in many other channels.
After digital TV becomes a reality, the number of channels will multiply. It is high time to seriously consider how society, authorities and television operators could work together to implement a regulatory system over digital television and how the firms could enforce self-discipline.
In short, digital television and Next TV are about to lead the television industry into unknown territory. On the whole the benefits should outweigh the disadvantages; but many more complementary measures need to be put into place, to make society feel more at ease about this brave new world. (HZW)
(This commentary originally appeared in the Economic Daily News July 21.)
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