Watch Live TV from Taiwan

Digital television launched terrestrially throughout Taiwan on 1 July 2004. Currently, there are simulcasts of analogue and digital television. Taiwan plans to replace analogue broadcasting with a digital system by 2014 after the analogue cable broadcast terminated. The Republic of China Cabinet approved a measure mandating that all new televisions are to be equipped with a digital television tuner from 2006. The rule will apply to TVs measuring between 21 and 29 inches in 2007, and to sets of all sizes in 2008, the Cabinet said in a statement. To assist lower-income families with the switch to digital television, the government plans to provide NT$300 million in aid to purchase converters or for the purchase of new digital televisions. In February 2009, the National Communications Commission proposed amendments to the Cable Television Act; they include mandating cable companies to provide free set-top boxes.

Cable television is prevalent in Taiwan, as a result of cheap subscription rates (typically around NT$550, or US$15 a month) and the paucity of free-to-air television, which comprises about 20 channels. Programming is mostly in Mandarin and Taiwanese with a few channels are in Hakka or English. There are also programms in other foreign-language, mainly east Asian and south-east Asian languages. Miniseries, called Taiwanese drama, are popular. There is a dedicated station for Taiwan’s Hakka minority as well as the arrival in 2005 of an aboriginal channel. There are around 100 channels with most stations being dedicated to a particular genre; such as game shows, news, anime, movies, sports and documentaries. Almost all programs are in the original language with traditional Chinese subtitles.