Broadcasting Authority of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas

The Broadcasting Authority of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas (BAILN, pronounced as bail-n), frequently shortened as simply the Broadcasting Authority (Traditional Chinese: 廣播事務管理局) is a public and kingdom-managed statutory of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas. The establishment of the authority is under the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, 1990.

The authority is a subdivision of the Telecommunications Authority, and is mandated to regulate the television and radio (collectively known as "broadcasting") industry operating in the kingdom.

All television and radio channels operating in the kingdom is under the jurisdiction of this authority.

Scope
The authority is authorized to issue licenses private companies to run television and/or radio stations across the kingdom. The authority also regulates the decency of the contents aired via all channels of broadcasts across the kingdom, and investigates on complaints of programmes generated by the citizens across the kingdom. The authority can then issue fines, warnings, or even suspend the license of the related broadcasting company.

With the emergence of internet media, another subdivision of the Telecommunications Authority, takes care of the Internet media related matters, and is out of scope of the Broadcasting Authority.

Structure
Given the large area of the kingdom, and also the quasi-independent nature of each autonomous countries in the kingdom, the authority is formed and governed by the Board of Broadcasting Commissioners. Each member of the board is appointed by the King, on the advice of the local government body. The King is also the honourary chairman of the board. The term of the board is 3 years.

By default, the representative from the Capital City Region is the chair of the board.

The current board consists of 13 individuals, with one representing the Capital City, ten representing each of the autonomous countries, one representing all the special regions, and one representing the Kingdom-Directly Controlled Territories.

History
In 1977, as television and radio broadcasts are emerging and became more and more prominent, there were discussions in the Transitional Council about the creation of a governing body, or a statutory body to regulate the content and the licences of television and radio channels. However, with concerns of potential censorship with the creation of such authority, the discussion was set aside until 1986. Meanwhile, the related works of the future authority was managed under the Cultural Department, and later, the Communications Bureau and subsequently the Communications Authority.

In 1986, with an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong, TVB, a Hong Kong-based television company, wanted to operate a television company in the kingdom. In addition, the complaints of a monopoly in the television industry has been growing (prior to the 1990s, the kingdom operates the sole television company of CZTV). As a result, a board of broadcasting was created in 1988, to investigate and to determine the possibility of allowing TVB to broadcast in the kingdom.

In June 1989, the board of broadcasting proposed to form a subdivision under the existing Communications Authority, to better investigate and monitor TVB's performance in the kingdom. The bill was passed in October 1989 in the Transitional Council, which later known as the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, 1990.

On 1 April 1990, under the provision of the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, 1990, the Broadcasting Authority was established, as the Broadcasting Authority of the National Transitional Council.

On 2 April 1993, with the establishment of the Third Kingdom, the authority's name changed to the Broadcasting Authority of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas.

Major Events and Decisions

 * 1992 - Approved the establishment of TVB-ILN, ultimately ending the monopoly era of the kingdom's television history.
 * 1993 - The establishment of TVB-ILN; The creation of Channel 21, operating 24 hours a day. The appendix states that at least 60% of the television content must be local.
 * 1996 - Mandated television and radio channels must have predominantly Cantonese and English content, with no more than 30% of content can be broadcasted in other languages.
 * 1998 - Granted 3 extra channels to each of TVB-ILN and the state-owned CZTV, partially to fulfill the authority's ruling in 1996. (Channels 22, 24, 25). In addition, the extra channels must feature 100% local content of the kingdom.
 * 2003 - Allowed and incorporated commercial radio stations, and autonomous-country-run radio stations. Allowed an increase of content proportion in autonomous countries' mandated official languages.
 * 2005 - TVB-ILN seeks to have 6 more channels to broadcast in the ILN. The authority has rejected the proposal.
 * 2007 - The authority granted 4 extra channels for interactivity and high-definition content for TVB-ILN. 18 hours of live broadcast from Hong Kong was permitted in two of the channels, while the other two must be 100% local content.
 * 2008 - Provisioned the digitalization of television broadcast (switch from analog to digital). This was largely completed in 2011, with 97% of televisions in the kingdom has switched to a digital reception.
 * 2012 - Received a proposal from the Hong Kong Television Network (HKTVN) to broadcast in the kingdom. The proposal was first rejected due to the impracticality of the network's proposal of establishing 60 channels, but went under the second review in 2013 due to public's support.
 * 2014 - The Authority has granted one television channel (Channel 64), which was to operate under the name of HKTVN-ILN, and allows for broadcasts 18 hours a day. Broadcasts must include no less than 70% local content under the ruling. The channel ultimately began broadcasting on 19 November 2014.
 * 2015 - HKTVN-ILN has announced to cease airing dramas beginning August 2015 due to financial constraints. The BAILN begins to review HKTVN's decision in accordance to the Broadcasting Ordinance, and to determine if HKTVN has breached any parts of the ordinance.
 * 2016 - The BAILN has suspended the license of HKTVN-ILN.