Taiwan's NCC turns down four of Next Media's TV channel applications

Only its movie channel was given the green light yesterday. A NCC spokesperson explained that the movie channel was seen as having the least potential for controversial content.

Last year, Next Media enjoyed a moment of global fame when it debuted online content with animations of tabloid news stories. It also earned the animus of the NCC, which was flooded with complaints from Taiwan consumers.

The channels rejected by the NCC included news, sports and entertainment. The approved movie channel must launch within six months and will be available on Chunghwa Telecom's multimedia on demand, MOD.

Ann Yang, managing director of Aegis Media Taiwan, said: "This broadcasting market is so crowded, fragmented and lacking in programming. Yet there is still room if someone comes in with a quality offering."

In Taiwan, Next Media's print ventures have been nothing if not successful. The Hong Kong publisher was criticised by locals when it launched Apple Daily, yet it succeeded in wrestling away readers and advertisers from the entrenched duopoly, China Times and United Daily News. Later, its launch of Next Magazine enjoyed similar success.