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Ann Arbor, MI 48106 SOCIETY, STATE, AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA POLICY: THE INTRODUCTION OF CABLE TO TAIWAN DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Chung-jen Chang, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1991 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Joseph M. Foley Dr. Rohan A. Samarajiva fj Advis&£/ tent oy Communication Dr. Wen L. Li Department of Communication ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professors Joseph M. Foley, Rohan A. Samarajiva, and Wen-lan Li for their guiding counsel and encouragement in this endeavor. Thanks go to those interviewees and my colleagues at the Government Information Office of the Republic of China for helping me gain insight into issues related to the cable project. My appreciation is also due to the ROC government for financing my study at the Ohio State University over the last three years• I would especially like to thank my parents for their indispensable love and support. Last but never least, my deep gratitude goes to my wife, Chao-mei and my son Ting-rei for providing me with endless strength and hope across Pacific Ocean through the most difficult years of my life. I owe them too much to say. VITA July 26, 1953 .... Born - Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC 1977 ................. B.A., Chinese Culture University Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 1979 ................. M.A., National Chengchi University Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 1984 ................. Professional Diplomat Certificate The Witwatersrand University Johannesburg, South Africa 1986-1987 ........... Executive assistant to the government spokesman, also Director-General of the Government Information Office, ROC 1981- .............Secretary Government Information Office Republic of China (Taiwan) FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Communication Studies in: Telecommunication and Eelctronic Media Policy Organizational Communication iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................... ii VITA .........................................................ill LIST OF TABLES ............................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................... viii CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ............................................ 1 1.1 Rationale for the S t u d y .............................. 3 1.2 Defining the S ta te ................................... 12 1.3 Research Method ..................................... 15 1.4 Overview of Chapters ................................20 II. THEORIES AND LITERATURE ............................... 23 2.1 Policy-Making Approaches ......................... 23 2.1.1 Rational actor and state autonomy................ 24 2.1.2 The state autonomy in relation to development ........................ 2 8 2.2 Mass Media and Politics ..................... 32 2.2.1 Relationships between media and political institutions ............. 33 2.2.2 Disintegrating the monopoly— deregulation and privatization .............. 40 2.3 Language in the Context of P o l i t i c s ............... 44 2.3.1 Language, nationalism, and social i d e n t i t y ..................................... 45 2.3.2 Language policy and planning 4 9 2.4 Broadband Communications ......................... 52 2.4.1 Concept of cable communication ............... 52 2.4.2 Cable's impact on use of competing media . .56 2.5 S u m m a r y ........................ 58 III. THE IDEOLOGY, STATE, AND R E G U L A T I O N S .................. 62 3.1 The State and National Ideology ..................... 62 3.1.1 The KMT state ................................... 64 3.1.2 The national ideology and media philosophy: the thoughts of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Ching-kuo . 69 iv 3.2 BroadcastinG Environments Before and After 1949 ..79 3.2.1 Broadcasting in China— before 1949 ........... 7 9 3.2.2 Radio and television in Taiwan— after 1949 82 3.3 Control and Regulations ................ 94 3.3.1 The evolving regulatory environments .......... 95 3.3.2 Regulations at i s s u e .......................... 103 3.4 S u m m a r y .................................... .112 IV. CABLE TELEVISION IN TAIWAN: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FACTORS ................................. .115 4.1 Society in Transition................................ 115 4.1.1 Economic development— rapid growth and structural change ................... 117 4.1.2 The rise of middle class ........................123 4.1.3 From hard to soft authoritarianism.............130 4.2 Cable Emergence. ................................. 134 4.2.1 Emergence of "little ear" and "channel 4 " ................................... 135 4.2.2 Cable TV System Working Group 1983-1985 . 140 4.2.3 Conclusions of the Working Group Report . .14 9 4.3 Who Owns/Runs the C a b l e ? ........................ 155 4.3.1 No more monopoly ............................. 157 4.3.2 Take-off of the cable project ............... 162 4.4 S u m m a r y .............................................. 173 V. CABLE TELEVISION IN TAIWAN: PROGRAMMING, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND MARKETPLACE ........................176 5.1 Programming Capability ......................... 176 5.1.1 Filling air t i m e ............................. 177 5.1.2 What people w a t c h ...........................183 5.1.3 How good is TV programming industry? . .191 5.2 Technology Innovations .......................... .196 5.2.1 The Odyssey of technology development. .197 5.2.2 The satellite pipe dream ........................203 5.2.3 Information infrastructure ................... 211 5.3 Advertising Growth ................................. 218 5.3.1 Advertising Grows along with the economy . 220 5.3.2 Advertising selling and control ......... 225 5.4 S u m m a r y .............................................. 229 VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............. 232 6.1 S u m m a r y .............................................. 232 v 6.1.1 Forces that influence electronic media policy 233 6.1.2 Reasons for having cable systems.... 240 6.1.3 Supporting industries ......................... 248 6.2 Appraisal.............................................. 251 6.3 Conclusions ...................... 253 »■ v r 6.4 Findings, Recommendations and suggestions .... 257 6.4.1 Major findings ................................ 257 6.4.2 Recommendations for electronic media . .2 60 6.4.3 Suggestions for future researches ........... 2 62 APPENDICES A. Key Economic Indicators for Selected Nations . .264 B. List of Interviewees ................................ 2 65 C. Interview Questions.... ............................. 268 D. Map of Taiwan ........................................ 270 E. The Broadcast and Television Law . 271 F. The Enforcement Rules and the Broadcasting and Television L a w .................................. 284 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................300 LIST OF TABLES TABLES PAGE 1. The forces behind privatization . 43 2. Evolution of ownership of radio stations in Taiwan ....... 84 3. Allocation of VHF TV channels in Taiwan 106 4. Selective indicators of Taiwan Economy 118 5. Indexes of Taiwan's labor productivity and earnings in manufacturing 1974-1987 . 126 6. Benchmark survey of cable TV market in Taipei and its environs, 1984 .... 144 7. Advantages and potential problems concerning development of cable systems in Taiwan 150 8. Top ten foreign TV programs in Taiwan (1989) 178 9. Proportions of classified TV programs by nature of contents 1962-1989 .... 184 10. Proportions of classified TV programs by languages ...... 190 11. The Recovery of telecommunications construction in Taiwan ....... 212 12. Telecommunications infrastructure in Taiwan 213 13. Key indicators of Taiwan's information industry ....... 217 14. Breakdown of information industry products in Taiwan ....... 219 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE 1. Conceptual model