Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: KMT/Facebook
NEW LEGISLATION advanced by the KMT has been accused of seeking to restore CtiTV to coveted primetime spot Channel 52. CtiTV, the previous occupant of the Channel 52 slot, was taken off air after losing its broadcast license.
In May 2019, CtiTV gave 70% of its airtime to coverage of its preferred presidential candidate, Han Kuo-yu. CtiTV also inflated the crowd count at Han’s mayoral inauguration, to create the perception that Han’s support was much larger than it actually was, claiming that 800,000 were in attendance at the inauguration. Another report claimed that an “auspicious cloud” shaped like a phoenix had appeared above an event attended by Han along with fellow KMT mayors Lu Shiow-yen and Hou You-yi.
CtiTV was later fined 200,000 NT and 400,000 NT respectively for these reports. In addition to other fines, this resulted in CtiTV being fined over five million NT in 2019. Consequently, CtiTV did not have its broadcast license renewed in November 2020. The NCC stated at the time that CtiTV has been fined 10.73 million NT for 21 violations of the law in the past six years, the most of any television station. CtiTV’s loss of its broadcast license is what led to it losing the Channel 52 slot.
CtiTV is owned by Tsai Eng-meng’s Want Want Group. Although the Want Want Group began in foodstuffs, the Want Want Group currently has holdings in media companies including CtiTV, CTV, and the China Times.
Tsai, one of Taiwan’s richest men, has made no secret of the fact that his interest in acquiring media companies in the early 2010s was to promote pro-unification views in Taiwan. As a result, from 2011 to 2014, the “Anti-Media Monopoly Movement” took place, calling on regulators to prevent Tsai from achieving “media monopoly” by continually buying up media outlets in order to promote pro-China views. Many of the key leaders of the 2014 Sunflower Movement originally cut their teeth as protest leaders in the Anti-Media Monopoly Movement.
If the Channel 52 spot was taken up by CTV News and Info after CtiTV lost its broadcast license, one observes that in the years since CtiTV lost its broadcast license, the KMT has gone after any television network that takes up channel slots previously reserved for CtiTV.
With online media outlet Mirror Media starting up a new television network called Mirror TV, the KMT alleged that the DPP has intervened in the approval process for Mirror TV out of political favoritism. This seemed to be anger that occurred due to the view that Mirror TV, too, would be taking up television slots previously reserved for CtiTV. At the time that the KMT sought to expand legislative powers in the series of events that triggered the Bluebird Movement last year, the KMT stated that it would start a legislative investigation into Mirror TV’s approval.
The new legislation advanced by the KMT would allow channels whose licenses have been revoked by the National Communications Commission (NCC) to continue broadcasting while appealing such revocations. But notably, this would also apply retroactively to cases.
As CtiTV is still seeking to appeal the NCC over its loss of broadcast license, it is thought the attempt would be to restore the Channel 52 slot to CtiTV. This would occur despite the fact that CtiTV has since shifted to online streaming and the slot is occupied by a new television channel.
The NCC has responded that swapping it out for CtiTV at this late stage would infringe on the rights of CTS, as well as that it is currently unable to make rulings on key matters. The NCC’s operations are stalled at present because of legislation passed by the KMT-controlled legislature requiring a minimum number of members to be present on the NCC for it to make judgments.
After passing this bill, as a means of freezing the NCC, the KMT has refused to confirm any new NCC members–effectively the same way that the KMT froze Taiwan’s Constitutional Court until late last week, when the Constitutional Court moved against its freezing. Indeed, the KMT has also raised legislative proposals that would shift the NCC to be subordinate to the legislature, illustrating how the KMT seeks control of media regulatory institutions and aims to benefit media it sees as aligned with it.