CNS plans OTT investment

Taiwanese multi-system operator, China Network Systems (CNS), plans to invest in over-the-top (OTT) video content as it expects to complete its digitisation programme by the end- 2015.

According to reports, the company has made a cumulative investment of NTD 20 billion (USD 653 million) to NTD 30 billion (USD 979 million) and has digitised 80% of its cable TV networks.

CNS currently has oevr 1.28 million cable TV subscribers. The company plans to shift its business focus this year to OTT video service, for which it has been acquiring content based on licensing, shared revenue or other similar models.

EQT plans to exit Taiwan’s GTV

Sweden-based private equity fund, EQT Partners, is proposing to sell its controlling stake in Taiwanese pay- TV group, Gala Television (GTV) for NTD 6 billion (USD 200 million). EQT had acquired 96.5% stake in GTV in February, 2011.

Gala TV runs four commercial cable and satellite television channels namely GTV One, GTV Variety Show, GTV Drama and GTV Channel K. The pay-TV’s content includes in-house produced, commissioned and acquired material which is broadcast for both domestic and overseas viewers in places such as China and Southeast Asia.

As per reports, domestic industrial conglomerate, Formosa Plastics Group and local financial investors are the potential buyers of GTV.

Taiwan’s NCC not retracting Want Want ruling

The protracted acquisition by Want Want China Times Group of the cable TV services operated by China Network Systems is no further forward after the National Communications Commission (NCC) of Taiwan said the group has still not met conditions paced on the deal.
The NCC ruled on July 31, 2012, that the group must fulfill three major conditions as well as 25 complementary clauses before it would be allowed to buy CNS. These included that the group’s chairman Tsai Eng-meng and his family had to dissociate themselves completely from the management of CtiTV, that China Television’s (CTV) digital news channel had to be changed into a non-news channel and that CTV had to have an independent content review board.

NCC spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng said that Want Want is required to follow the commission’s ruling in order to become a qualified buyer. MBK Partners, the major shareholder in CNS, in October and November last year filed for withdrawal of its applications to both the Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the NCC to transfer the company’s shares to the Want Want Group.

Taiwan´s Kbro to complete digitalisation by 2015

Taiwan´s MSO, Kbro, has already digitised 43% of its cable network and will be digitising at least 50% of its network by this year. The company will be able to complete its digitisation process by 2015 itself, a whole one year before it was expected to do so.

According to the timeline, Kbro will be completing 75% of digitisation by 2014 and hence will complete it by 2015. Earlier this year, the company had announced that it will be 370,000 STBs for this year to keep up with the demands.

As of March 2013, Taiwan´s cable TV subscribers reached 4.97 million as of end of March 2013 which covers 60.70% of households according to the National Communications Commission (NCC). The government had also changed its own plans of digitising 75% of the country in 2015 to just 50%.