一九八九年以來,來自民進黨為主的反對聲浪,以「開放」電視頻道為訴求,持續施加壓力,期能改變國民黨所掌控的三家電視台之政治表現。本文指出,這種只流於批判「黨國」,但卻不及於檢討商業利益所支配的廣電邏輯,不能眞正掌握台灣廣電問題的本質。事實上,在資本主義世界經濟休系的動態發展過程中,愈來愈多的有線及衛星電視頻道已經顯示,對於台灣在內的許多國家而言,關於電視的辯論,不能只是再著眼於頻道之不足,而是必須正視頻道過多所引發的諸多不民主現象,包括了公民身份的萎縮與消費身份的凸顯,以及影視雙元結構的出現(影視貧富落差;城鄉差距;影視進出口國家的分立;影視節目的多量取代了多元)根據這些論點,論文最後提出若干原則,探討改造台灣電視生態應該遵循的方向。
Since the late 1980s, centering their appeals on 'opening up' TV channels, opposition forces in Taiwan have pressed hard for altering the political coverage by Taiwan's three TV networks, which are all under the command of the ruling party. However, as this essay contends, training their critical attention exclusively on the 'party-state' dimension, without at the same time bringing out the influence of commericial interests on Taiwan's broadcasting industry, these critics are likely to be scratching merely on the surface of the pro-blems. The fact that a sharp proliferation of cable and satellite TV channels has resulted from the needs of the dynamics of capitalist world-economy is sufficient to show that policy debates about TV should not proceed from the assumoption of a spectrum shortage. The focus should instead be placed on the diverse undemocratic tendencies that emerge along with an oversupply of TV channels, such as the retreating of citizenship, an expanding consumer identity, and the two-tiered structure of visual consumption. Finally, on the basis of these contentions, the author suggests a few conclusions which may better inform how TV ecology in Taiwan should be restructured.