Scholars fight Want Want’s proposed acquisition

Want Want China Broadband (旺中寬頻公司), a subsidiary of the Want Want Group (旺旺中時集團) has proposed a NT$70-billion buyout of China Network Systems (CNS). The deal, which is Want Want’s largest acquisition in five years, would add Taiwan's second-largest multiple systems operator (MSO) to its existing major acquisitions; that include CTI Television (中視), China Television Corp. (中天), and the Chinese-language daily China Times (中國時報).  The planned deal has raised concern from scholars and civil rights groups, who fear poor checks by the National Communications Commission (NCC) may allow the emergence of a media behemoth.

 
Groups spearheading the ‘Oppose Media Behemoths’(反媒體怪獸) petition warned, if the deal is allowed to succeed, it will mean Want Want Group instantly controls access and content to 1.8 million domestic, and up to 1 / 3 of cable TV households. Scholars argue that Want Want already possesses newspapers, magazines, and a host of TV channels, and the addition  of a broadband network would result in excessive market concentration. Moreover, this would adversely affect freedom of speech and multiplicity of views in Taiwan.

Scholars fight Want Want’s proposed acquisition 

URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/86035

(以下為中英文對照)

學者連署反對旺中購併案 反媒體巨獸 要NCC把關

照片

已擁有中視、中天、中國時報的旺旺中時集團旗下的旺中寬頻公司，提出併購吉隆等11家有線電視系統商，進軍有線電視平台案，由於該案是近5年來最大宗的購併案，交易金額更超過700億元，讓學者及公民團體憂心NCC把關不力，讓媒體巨獸成形。

反媒體怪獸」連署活動發起團體指出，控制通路即控制內容，一旦旺中寬頻併案案草率過關，將掌握
國內近180萬戶、高達1/3的有線電視收視戶。學者認為已經擁有報紙、雜誌、電視台的旺旺中時集團，若再擁有有線寬頻的通路，造成市場的過度集中，媒體集團化會對台灣的言論自由與多元造成影響。

為擴大服務範圍，自2010年4月起，PeoPo每周精選三則公民報導及相關活動與發展，翻譯成英文摘要，讓更多關心台灣公民新聞的朋友，瞭解台灣在地大小事。