Glenn Smith
Apr 30, 2010

MAA advises local broadcasters to amend TV prices in Taiwan

TAIPEI - Taiwan's media agency association, MAA, has issued a letter to the island's terrestrial and cable TV associations requesting that local TV broadcasters review and perhaps amend their pricing practices.

MAA advises local broadcasters to amend TV prices in Taiwan
“This is the first time in 20 years we have done such a thing,” said the newly elected head of the MAA and managing director of MEC, Vince Cheng (pictured).

The memo was also sent to ad agencies and major advertisers, two industry groups directly effected by TV pricing practices that have spiraled out of control since the fourth quarter of last year.

The MAA is not telling TV broadcasters how to run their business. “This is a free market, but there needs to be some order,” said Cheng.

Over the past six month TV stations have issued price updates as often as several times per day.

“We negotiate a price with the TV station in the morning, and then discuss it with our client,” said Cheng. “Then we queue the spot, and get a phone call telling us the price has gone up.”

Media agencies hope that at a very minimum, TV stations can put their price changes on paper that can be shown to clients. Ideally, the whole industry could establish guidelines on how price changes are announced, or barring that, individual channels could create their own.

Two broadcasting groups, ETTV and Sanli, have already formulated and issued their own voluntary standards.

“Without this, clients wonder if the problem is with the media agency and not the broadcaster,” said Cheng. “Pricing standards would help us communicate with clients and enable us to function as media planners on their behalf.”
Source:
Campaign China

Follow us

Top news, insights and analysis every weekday

Sign up for Campaign Bulletins

Related Articles

Just Published

Jan 29, 2026

Gemini 3 becomes the default model for AI Overviews

A pair of updates from Google see the tech giant attempt to gain a further foothold in the battle for AI-powered search supremacy.

Jan 29, 2026

Google criticised after blocking measurement ...

YouTube owner sent a 'cease and desist' letter to Barb and Kantar Media.

Jan 29, 2026

Inside Campaign Connect Indonesia: what matters to ...

Candid conversations on growth, AI and the cultural trade-offs of scaling brands, with more than 100 marketers in the room.

Jan 29, 2026

Meta hits $200 billion revenue milestone on ...

Meta reports double‑digit year-on-year revenue growth, with advertising once again accounting for almost all of the top line.