Due to new laws restricting political parties from owning broadcasting interests, Taiwan’s nationalist Kuomintang has sold its broadcasting interests for a not too shabby chunk of change. But Jason says no changes in content should be expected.:

I guess Day-After-Christmas sales are no longer a solely American phenomenon: the KMT has reportedly sold its shares in the anachronistically-named China Television (中視), China Broadcasting (中廣), and the Central Motion Picture Corporation (中影) to the China Times Group (中國時報團隊) for a cool US$264 million, just as the National Broadcasting Law’s Dec. 26 deadline for political parties to sell their stakes in media companies arrived.

KMT Deputy Secretary Zhang Zhe-chen officially announced the deal Monday afternoon after the KMT’s Chung-hsia Company handed over its stake in the so-called “3 Chungs (Zhongs)” including a 33.94% stake in China TV, a whoppin’ 97% share in China Broadcasting, and a 50% part in the Central Motion Picture Corporation ) for around US$264 million cash (NT$9 billion). The China Times Group is also taking over US$147 million (NT$5 billion) in debt as part of the deal.

But as with most other deals involving the KMT and large amounts of money, someone ended up getting the shit end of the stick. Just as Zhang had announced the deal, he was chased back into his office by employees of the Central Motion Picture Corporation , who were not a little bit pissed off that KMT HQ hadn’t given them advance notice of the sale. After Zhang had, uh, retired to safety, scuffles reportedly broke out among the legion of journalists present covering the story.

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