(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
The analysis of signing contract when domestic TV stations of Taiwan purchase
foreign programs' copyright
Sheng-Weng Doong a , Min-Ping Kang b
a Department of Communications Management, Shih Hsin University, Taipei,
Taiwan
b Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Global Strategy, National Taiwan
Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
brucewengx@gmail.com a , mpkang19@gmail.com b
Abstract
TV programs’ copyright transaction is characterized by high transaction cost,
owing to the asymmetry of information, limited rationality, and opportunism. Both
parties must implement governance to maintain the efficiency of transactions. which
are particularly contract-based so as to protect the interests of buyers and sellers. This
research will take Korean programs as the main body of study and further explore
how to sign a contract in the context of two different program purchasing models, one
is import by agent the other is purchase of Korean work directly by domestic TV
stations .
Although the agents can select the appropriate programs for the domestic TV
stations according to their professionalism, in the case of asymmetric information, it is
important when copyright buyers have to deal with agents and sign a contract, and
when to skip agents and sign a contract directly with copyright holders to avoid risk.
The main idea of this research is to explore the mode of signing contracts with Korea
TV program holders by domestic TV stations in Taiwan.
According to secondary data, we concluded that the buyer usually make a deal
based on the program rating in Korea, and other factors include story, actors,
reputation of company, and the differences of media audience cultural preferences.
But despite of these considerations, there are still a lot of risks for domestic TV
stations, such as whether the price can be in line with their benefit, and whether to
attain the maximized economic benefit.
Therefore, when dealing with different copyright holders, the domestic TV
stations will take a different governance of contract, and select a different channel to
purchase programs. Thus, we propose the model of signing contract for buyer, and the
protection strategy for domestic TV stations based upon transaction cost theory,
secondary data, and field interviews. It is also suggested that advertising plays an
important role in a deal strategy. Whether advertiser supports the foreign programs or
not will influence the decision of domestic TV stations and how they sign a contract.
253