The Role of the State in Shaping Taiwan’s Cable Television Industry

At the outset of Taiwan’s cable television industry in the 1970s, the Taiwanese government banned the new medium, claiming political and national security concerns. Eventually, 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 which legalized the industry. This study presents an analysis of Taiwan’s cable industry through an examination of the role of the government and political parties. It shows that political and state influences by the long-ruling Kuomintang have faded away since cable television was legalized. State power was soon replaced by business conglomerates, which now dominate the industry. Taiwan has become a case in which new media have effected a decrease of the state’s power.