05 Chen (jr/t) 18/2/04 9:29 am Page 167 GAZETTE: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR COMMUNICATION STUDIES COPYRIGHT © 2004 SAGE PUBLICATIONS LONDON, THOUSAND OAKS & NEW DELHI 0016-5492 VOL 66(2): 167–183 DOI: 10.1177/0016549204041476 www.sagepublications.com TRANSNATIONAL CABLE CHANNELS IN THE TAIWANESE MARKET A Study of Domestication through Programming Strategies Ping-Hung Chen Abstract / From the perspective of an unbalanced flow of information and cultural (media) imperialism theory, the focus of the impact of transnational media has been on how countries that import television programming are affected. However, following the logic of capitalism and the innovation of communication technologies, the objective of transnational media conglomerates to maximize their profits has been to attract more local audiences in import countries. Therefore, instead of analysing the effect of media imperialism on host countries as most research to date has done, this study focuses on the influence of the importing countries on the domestication of cable programming of transnational cable channels. Overall, the purposes of the study are to: (1) reveal the strategy of domesticating transnational cable channels in Taiwan, (2) analyse the domestica- tion of transnational cable channel programming and (3) evaluate the effect of their domestication mainly from the viewpoint of the Taiwanese audience. Keywords / cable television / media globalization / programming domestication / transnational cable channels / transnational media conglomerates Introduction The advent of Taiwan’s cable television service in the 1970s brought more infor- mation and programming choices to the Taiwanese people, who prior to this could only receive three government-controlled terrestrial television networks. At the outset of cable television, the Taiwanese government banned the new service, claiming political and national security concerns. However, after more than one-and-a-half decades of illegal operation, the Taiwanese government was forced, mainly by opposition parties, to enact a cable television law in July 1993 that legalized the industry. This legislation was regarded as a media revolution in Taiwan, as the government had previously used martial law to suppress new media outlets. Media observers and researchers predicted that the newly legalized cable industry would become a strong competitor not only to the electronic media, but also to print media, bringing Taiwan more information and programming choice. As some surveys show, the penetration rate of Taiwan’s cable television service increased rapidly after the Cable Television Act was passed, going from 05 Chen (jr/t) 18/2/04 9:29 am Page 168 168 GAZETTE VOL. 66 NO. 2 39 percent in 1992 to 56 percent in 1993 and reaching approximately 75 percent in 2000 (Cable and Satellite, 1997; Chen, 2001). Transnational Media Corporations The trend of globalization is not only affecting trade and finance, but also cultural activities. Hamelink (1993) contends that the globalization process undeniably affects the communications industry as it extends its activities geo- graphically to reach towards ‘statelessness’, and an oligopolistic market of a few global media firms is developing. Mainly due to the advent of communication technologies, media firms make foreign investments to penetrate a foreign market, to create production and distribution efficiency, to overcome regulatory barriers to entry, and to build their own transnational media empires (Gershon, 1993). As Gershon (1993) stresses, giant transnational media conglomerates (TNMCs) are the most powerful economic forces within global media activities. Data show that the total sales in 1989 of the Dutch company Philips, one of the leading transnational media and electronics firms, amounted to US$30 billion, 94 percent of which was acquired outside its home country (Hamelink, 1993). Certain media firms have become TNMCs and have performed a vital role as global organizations during the last dozen or so years. Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, News Corporation, provides a perfect example of media globalization since he owns newspapers in Europe, satellite services in Asia and print and electronic media in the US (Negrine, 1996). According to Gomery’s prediction, a handful of TNMCs based in the US and/or Europe will dominate media pro- duction, distribution and presentation around the world in the 21st century (Gomery, 1993). Over the last several decades, global television programming has been a one-way flow from developed countries such as the US to developing countries such as those in Asia (Nordenstreng and Varis, 1974). Statistics for the early 1990s show that US mass media products accounted for 75 percent of broad- cast and basic cable television revenues, 85 percent of pay-TV revenues, 55 percent of theatrical film rentals and 55 percent of home video billings world- wide (Bernstein, 1990; cited in Turow, 1992: 209). Television, probably the most significant carrier of western popular culture, has carried US program- ming into homes everywhere around the world (Lent, 1995). Taiwan’s Cable Programming Market At the outset, beginning in the late 1970s, most of Taiwan’s cable television pro- gramming consisted of pirated videotapes, pirated movies and Japanese variety shows. Following the passage of the Cable Television Act in July 1993, Taiwan’s cable system operators encountered stronger pressure than before from copy- right owners such as film production and distribution companies, and even from the US government on behalf of its film companies (Government Information Office, 1995). Thus, finding sources of authorized programming has become a major hurdle for legal cable television operations. Under the Act, the 05 Chen (jr/t) 18/2/04 9:29 am Page 169 CHEN: TRANSNATIONAL CABLE CHANNELS IN TAIWAN 169 Government Information Office (GIO)1 reserves the right to suspend system licences if cable television operators broadcast any pirated programming. Nevertheless, there has been a large gap between the demand for television programming and the supply since cable television was legalized. Before it decided to legalize ‘the fourth channel’,2 the government had worried that the sufficient provision of cable television programming would be a critical problem for the cable television industry (Chang, 1991). According to a 1995 govern- ment report, the three terrestrial television stations broadcast approximately 21,000 hours of programming per year, of which 12 percent consisted of foreign programmes and 8 percent rebroadcast programmes (Government Information Office, 1995). All existing domestic cable channels in Taiwan combined require 1000 hours programming per day and televise a total of more than 360,000 hours of programming per year. That is 16 times more than the total broad- casting hours of the then three existing television stations (Government Infor- mation Office, 1995). Therefore, the Cable Television Act mandates that domestically produced programming may not account for less than 20 percent of cable television pro- gramming (Article 36). This compares to the Broadcasting and Television Act, which regulates radio and television stations and dictates that at least 70 percent of radio and television programming must be domestically produced (Article 19). In other words, the Act allows cable television systems to provide as much as 80 percent of airtime for international programming, much more than broadcast television’s 30 percent. That is to say, the legalization of cable television has given transnational media companies, mainly US cable channel operators, an extensive opportunity to introduce their products to Taiwan and to participate in its cable television industry. Similarly, the legalization of Taiwan’s cable industry has intensified com- petition in the programming industry. As of the end of 2002, Taiwan had 123 cable television channels (Government Information Office, 2003). Nevertheless, the maximum capacity of channels in the average Taiwanese cable system is approximately 80 channels. Except for five requisite terrestrial television stations and several shopping channels that occupy around 10 channels on an average cable system’s lineup, the existing 123 channels are forced to compete for the remaining 70 channels in each cable system. Thus, for cable channel operators, Taiwan’s market is comparatively competitive in terms of the channel capacity of each cable system. Aside from those domestic channels producing programmes exclusively for their own use, cable channels in Taiwan’s market can be divided into two other categories: transnational cable channels, such as HBO and Discovery, and local channels acquiring programmes domestically and internationally. Gallup Taiwan, Inc. conducted a research project in June 2001 to discover the most frequently viewed cable channels by the audience in Taiwan (Table 1). Transnational Cable Channels3 in Taiwan The mixture of Taiwan’s cable channels is perhaps the most cosmopolitan in Asia (Hughes, 1996). As mentioned earlier, Taiwan’s cable channel operators 05 Chen (jr/t) 18/2/04 9:29 am Page 170 170 GAZETTE VOL. 66 NO. 2 TABLE 1 The Top 10 Most Frequently Viewed Cable Channels by Audiences in Taiwan Rank Channel Name Remarks 1 Home Box Office (HBO) TNMC (US) 2 TVBS Taiwan/Hong Kong joint venture 3 San-Li Taiwan Taiwan’s local channel 4 Discovery Channel TNMC (US) 5 San-Li City Taiwan’s local channel 6 GTV 28 Taiwan’s local channel 7 ETTV News Taiwan’s local channel 8 TVBS-G Taiwan’s local channel 9 = National Geographic Channel TNMC