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Agencies pitch for NextTV media account despite licence row
by Glenn Smith
18-Dec-09, 10:59
TAIPEI - Media agencies in Taiwan are pitching for the launch of cable channel NextTV, despite the whirlwind of negative publicity last month that prompted Taiwan’s National Communications Commission (NCC) to reject NextTV’s application for a broadcasting licence.
It is understood the client is approaching agencies one by one. Sources within those agencies have not been told which agencies they are competing against.
NextTV, owned by Jimmy Lai's Next Media, was expected to launch after Chinese New Year. On 16 November it began airing teaser content on a website belonging to Next Media in Taiwan.
NextTV’s animated recreations of news stories drew worldwide attention and the violent and sexual content resulted in the NCC fining it twice for a total of US$30,000.
During the November controversy over NextTV’s pre-launch animated news videos, some speculated that it was a publicity ploy. “Sure it generated publicity for NextTV, but it went too far,” said a media agency source. “The animated videos generated awareness, but also hurt its corporate image.”
More recently, the NCC announced that it had rejected NextTV’s broadcast application, explaining that the controversial teaser content indicated that NextTV intended to launch a ‘drama’ channel, not a news and information channel as specified in its license application.
A head of a media agency involved the pitch said: “The cable TV channel was just one of three platforms that would carry NextTV’s programming. There is also MOD and internet, including mobile Internet.”
MOD is Taiwan’s IPTV service offered by Chunghwa Telecom. It reaches just 700,000 households.
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