wfn.org | Lack of funding forces NETV to mull over closure

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3011 Edition

>November 9~15, 2009

Lack of funding forces NETV to mull over closure

>Reported by Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

In view of a NT$40 million broadcast fee due by

>November 15, New Eyes Television (NETV) has

written an open letter urging Taiwanese viewers to

donate any amount of money they can spare to save

the Presbyterian network and keep it on the air.

According to reports, some of Taiwan’s best-known

Christian artists will schedule a fundraising concert for

NETV in mid-December to help raise funds for the

network and a few have promised to make new single

releases with full proceeds going to NETV. At the

same time, NETV leaders are calling Christians to

pray for the future of NETV and give a financial offering

>if possible.

In response to the latest financial crisis facing NETV,

PCT General Secretary Andrew Chang said that if the

November 15 deadline cannot be met and there aren’t

sufficient funds to cover the network’s operating

expenses, then NETV might fold and disappear from

cable television indefinitely. PCT General Assembly

Moderator Leonard Lin reflected that this might be a

sign that it’s time for the church to rethink and review

how we use mass communication as an evangelistic

>tool.

>After rounds of meetings with NETV staff, PCT

General Assembly staff, and consultations with leaders

from other network channels, PCT Associate General

>Secretary Kho Sing-doh, who was appointed as

Acting General Manager recently after the resignation

of NETV’s General Manager Hsu Te-yi, concluded that

the root of the problem lay in the extremely high cost of

broadcast fees, the similarity NETV programs share

with Good TV (another Taiwanese Christian network),

and the lack of programs in Taiwanese language that

>would have set NETV apart from Good TV.

>NETV CEO Dung Tsung-lin said frankly when

interviewed by Taiwan Church News that if the network

disappeared from cable television, it will be very

>difficult to make a comeback later. He urged

Christians to support media ministries in Taiwan

>through prayers and financial contributions.

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