This study examines the trend of commercialization in the broadcast media in Asia's four newly industrialized countries (NICs) - Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong - and its impact and implications. The central theme of this study is to investigate the `Asian characteristics' of media commercialization and their significance and limits. The direct and indirect, immediate and profound impact and the various implications in the Asian political and social context are discussed. As the focus of the study is on the four Asian NICs, changes in other Asian countries are also discussed as a reflection of some general traits of the region. In particular, this research suggests that: (1) the trend of media liberalization and deregulation in Asian NICs has been mainly manifested through media commercialization, and: (2) the most profound significance of media commercialization in the Asian political and social context is that media commercialization is an alternative or indirect way to achieve media democratization, which is the first step toward political and social democratization.
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