Ubc/true At It Again?!?

[ratcatcher]

You think they have a PR department?

But what does PR stand for? Positively Repulsive??

No, P.R. stands for Programming Ripoff. (or Plain Rude)

U.B.C. stands for Utterly Boring Crap

TRUE stands for Totally Ridiculous - Utterly Expensive .

In my opinion, UBC has been ripping off the Thai television audience for years with their sub-standard and sloppy programming. I have been wondering if any of the readers on Thai Visa forum (this subject) are Thai. It would be interesting to get an opinion from someone other than a farang.

As many posters have commented, most of their programming is reruns and third rate movies.

As there are several mobile phone providers giving subscribers a choice,, maybe one day Thai television will have some reasonable & affordable options other than a monopoly dishing out crap..

Feel sorry for the poor b*ggers who have to watch the local networks with their soap operas and interminable game shows. No learning programmes there.

Frankly I doubt that TRUE management could organize a Pi$$up in a Brewery.

[Mobi]

There is a full page ad in today's Bangkok Post by ESPN/Star Sports promoting their coverage of the Asian Football cup.

At the foot pof the page there is a note that UBC-True visons hold exclusive rights for the transmission of ESPN/Star in Thailand and they provide a phone number for anyone who wishes to subscribe.

It will be interesting to see if they solicit subscriptions for punters to watch ESPN/Star on 14 July, and then cancel the contract on 31st.

I am waiting with baited breath....

[Old Man River]

You think they have a PR department?

But what does PR stand for? Positively Repulsive??

No, P.R. stands for Programming Ripoff. (or Plain Rude)

U.B.C. stands for Utterly Boring Crap

TRUE stands for Totally Ridiculous - Utterly Expensive .

In my opinion, UBC has been ripping off the Thai television audience for years with their sub-standard and sloppy programming. I have been wondering if any of the readers on Thai Visa forum (this subject) are Thai. It would be interesting to get an opinion from someone other than a farang.

As many posters have commented, most of their programming is reruns and third rate movies.

As there are several mobile phone providers giving subscribers a choice,, maybe one day Thai television will have some reasonable & affordable options other than a monopoly dishing out crap..

Feel sorry for the poor b*ggers who have to watch the local networks with their soap operas and interminable game shows. No learning programmes there.

Frankly I doubt that TRUE management could organize a Pi$$up in a Brewery.

Come on Ratcatcher. Don't hold back. What do you really think?

[Dustoff]

Come on Ratcatcher. Don't hold back. What do you really think?

And what do you do with those rats when you catch them...?

Good response but there is obviously no shortage of negative opinions concerning the service/programs being offered by UBC/True for the premium price being charged and I cannot help but agree.

As the OP, please allow me to offer an opinion which may also be a resolution:

I have found over many decades that the best way to avoid being ripped off by a corporation is to expose their dealings in public, such as through the news media. Calls to their offices are totally ineffectual and I suspect that public exposure is the only way we can affect change. I have not wanted to do this alone lest my service be somehow 'mysteriously disconnected'.

I will take a chance and post something to the Bangkok Post and The Nation. If you will all follow suit (surely it won't take more time than posting here which accomplishes nothing whatsoever) we could possibly inspire others to demand the quality service we are paying for..

If not, what the hey, we gave it our best shot.. It is only reasonable that we get our money's worth...

[Mobi]

I wish you luck and I hope you achieve something.

There have been a number of letters complaining about UBC in the Bangkok Post in the past, and I recall on at least one occasion when a representative from UBC replied and refuted the complaint with a load of evasions and half truths, so they certainly are aware of such letters.

I do not want to appear negative, but I have to say that I doubt UBC/True will lose too much sleep over letters in the Post or Nation. Whether they should do or not is a matter for conjecture, but I really doubt they could give a sh..t.

The only effective consumer protest in Thailand that I can recall in recent years was that lady who smashed up her new car (was it a Honda?) outside the showroom when the dealer repeatedly failed to fix the problems. She got enormous publicity, and the Japanese car makers were suitably embarrassed and immediately took action to shake up their dealer service levels. But they were Japanese - not Thais.

Maybe we should all stand outside the UBC head office (wherever that may be) and ceremoniously smash up our UBC boxes...

[Old Man River]

Come on Ratcatcher. Don't hold back. What do you really think?

And what do you do with those rats when you catch them...?

Good response but there is obviously no shortage of negative opinions concerning the service/programs being offered by UBC/True for the premium price being charged and I cannot help but agree.

As the OP, please allow me to offer an opinion which may also be a resolution:

I have found over many decades that the best way to avoid being ripped off by a corporation is to expose their dealings in public, such as through the news media. Calls to their offices are totally ineffectual and I suspect that public exposure is the only way we can affect change. I have not wanted to do this alone lest my service be somehow 'mysteriously disconnected'.

I will take a chance and post something to the Bangkok Post and The Nation. If you will all follow suit (surely it won't take more time than posting here which accomplishes nothing whatsoever) we could possibly inspire others to demand the quality service we are paying for..

If not, what the hey, we gave it our best shot.. It is only reasonable that we get our money's worth...

True does not care about the ex-pat market. All you have to do is look at their monthly magazine and it is obvious. This is Thailand and their primary market is Thai's. Now, if Thai's complained in mass, then they would take notice.

[ratcatcher]

Come on Ratcatcher. Don't hold back. What do you really think?

And what do you do with those rats when you catch them...?

Good response but there is obviously no shortage of negative opinions concerning the service/programs being offered by UBC/True for the premium price being charged and I cannot help but agree.

As the OP, please allow me to offer an opinion which may also be a resolution:

I have found over many decades that the best way to avoid being ripped off by a corporation is to expose their dealings in public, such as through the news media. Calls to their offices are totally ineffectual and I suspect that public exposure is the only way we can affect change. I have not wanted to do this alone lest my service be somehow 'mysteriously disconnected'.

I will take a chance and post something to the Bangkok Post and The Nation. If you will all follow suit (surely it won't take more time than posting here which accomplishes nothing whatsoever) we could possibly inspire others to demand the quality service we are paying for..

If not, what the hey, we gave it our best shot.. It is only reasonable that we get our money's worth...

True does not care about the ex-pat market. All you have to do is look at their monthly magazine and it is obvious. This is Thailand and their primary market is Thai's. Now, if Thai's complained in mass, then they would take notice.

Too TRUE!

[scousemouse]

I noticed in this months ubc guide that they no longer have the schedule for ESPN and Star sports.

Surely they cant scrap the 2 most popular channels , then again thai's are running the show now .

[Plus]

Much of this UBC bashing is misplaced, they are just looking after themselves and their business, not us. They are not in the public service, you can't demand them to do this or that.

Re. monopoly charge - before UBC there were two cable TV companies in Thailand - UTV and IBC, and they were both losing money big time. Merging them and creating UBC was the only choice to minimize their losses. That was more than ten years ago. It was last year or so that UBC has finally stopped losing money.

The market for cable TV in Thailand is too small, even for one company, and they don't have any advertising revenues.

And yes, they don't care about expats. All those talk shops on ESPN are a waste of time for Thais, the bulk of their customers, as they either don't understand English or don't want to stress themselves trying to catch what's going on.

UBC realised that they can't continue doing business relying only on the small percentage of expats and truly bilingual Thais, they can make more money selling to the ordinary folks - the monthly charge is the same for all.

Creating their own football channels is a smart move - no other TV station can offer everything in one package - football commentary, reviews and previews, and games themselves. Free TV channels can't show games, only talk about them, and ESPN can show games but no football talk in Thai.

Please also consider two aspects of their business - transmitting programs created by others - HBO, Cinemax, ESPN etc, and producing their own TV programs like MTV substitutes and that bloody Academy Fantasia (can't stand the stuff, too, in our house it's on 24 hours a day now).

All considered, UBC is not doing too bad, pity we are not their target market anymore. Good luck to them with their new customers.

Mobi, how's that Jsat thing going? Keep us informed, I myself might consider buying it in time for the coming season, next month already. And if kids get a lot more channels than UBC Spark and Cartoon Networks, all the better.

I was thinking about spending on the "two programs at once" solution for UBC anyway (about 10k) and Jsat at 24k and no monthly fees sounds like a better alternative.

Edit: correction, I have no idea how much Jsat with football and cartoons would cost - they have all sorts of prices starting from 8.5k.

Edited July 14, 2007 by Plus

[Jimjim]

I noticed in this months ubc guide that they no longer have the schedule for ESPN and Star sports.

Surely they cant scrap the 2 most popular channels , then again thai's are running the show now .

You're a little late, scousemouse. That's been talked about a lot a couple of weeks ago. I'll fill you in if you like. The reason was they were negotiating the contract so ESPN didn't send the schedule to them for the July magazine. The contract was continued for one more month while they continue to negotiate for the contract that will start in August. I feel something will be done and they'll keep those two sports channels. I really do. There are a lot of NFL fans in Thailand, believe it or not. I had one student that was crazy about it. So they'd lose some NFL games and the Super Bowl, although the Super Bowl could be covered on a Thai channel. Maybe it already is done. Anyway, the only place to watch NBA is on ESPN, so I think they'll keep it for that again. I had many Thai teenage students who were really into the NBA. I know you can talk about how stupid True is and they got rid of MTV, etc., but I think that's a much lesser channel compared to the sports and I just think they've got their heads on more straight now and are going to keep ESPN and Star Sports.

As for all of you that are considering protesting or something, wait until August. If they dropped ESPN in August for sure, then that would be the time to make a big scene. If they're already going to keep it, then it'd be silly to protest, I think. You may think it still sucks even with the big two sports channels, but you can't get exactly the same cable service in Thailand as you can in other countries. They're doing ok for their country.

As for Plus, you're a little off, mate. Free TV channels (i.e. Thai broadcast channels) CAN show football games, what are you smoking? They don't show as much as cable of course, but the only place I could watch the Carling Cup Final last year was on a free Thai TV channel. I don't know what will happen with the Premiership now and free Thai TV, but they always shown Champions League, Premiership, etc. on Thai free channels. Well, now that I think about it, you're probably talking about the whole Premiership deal with True having the rights, so you're right there, but I have a feeling you'll see some Premiership occasionally on the free broadcast channels if they can get the advertising to ask True to show one game a week. I believe it can happen because it's a Thai business dealing with a Thai business, instead of dealing with a foreign entity like ESPN. And anyway, just remember Carling Cup, FA Cup, international matches and Champions League (and German, Spanish, etc. leagues) can still be shown on other channels. True only has the rights to the PREMIERSHIP.

[cnmltd]

Not sure OMR, but if you go to the JSat website and look for the 'multichoice' package, (which is the S. African package), you will find about 8 Supersports channels listed, which between them, seem to cover every conceivable sport I'm interested in from football, to cricket, to tennis, to rugby, to the grand prixs to the open Golf, to athletics and goodness knows what else - all live. If you hunt around a bit you can find the schedules, and then scroll through all the SS listings by either sport or day. (I'd give you the links but I'm not allowed. )

There's also Sky news (for us Brits), BBC Prime, Hallmark, some other movie channels, series channels, and a load more besides. All for a lump sum payment of around 21K.

I pay 24K a year for UBC, and most of it is Sh..te

J Sat did a site survey today, and can install next week.

I'll also keep UBC Platinum until my sub expires in Dec, and then make a decision on whether to keep it or not. I may have to so that the wife can watch the movies with Thai sub titles, and anyway, I quite like some of the BBC entertainment stuff, and some of the Star World comedies - and of course.. horror upon horror...American Idol.

I'm retired, and I can afford to spoil myself - so why not?

I am having the same package installed tomorrow by BKK cable TV at a price of 12,500 Baht

plus 300 Baht / month for automatic code feeds. Do Jsat charge this or is it free or do you have to do it yourself?

[Oswulf]

Have you noticed that in the magazine and on their website they promote the three new add-on packages - but don't give the prices? Basically, they want you to 'phone up, then give you the hard sell.

Anyway, in the interest of saving people a 'phone call, the costs are as follows:

Price for Platinum package customers

- HBO Package 150 Baht

- Discovery Package 120 Baht

- Disney Package 100 Baht

All Package 299 Baht

Price for Gold package customers

- HBO Package 220 Baht

- Discovery Package 190 Baht

- Disney Package 170 Baht

All Packages 490 Baht

[Mobi]

There has been much discussion about the 'rights' for broadcasters to show small snippets of football matches in discussion and sports reporting programmes. Some say that ESPN will still be able to do this, even if they don't have the rights for the premiership, others say not.

I'm not an expert, but I believe you have to pay for anything you show. It may not be much, but a fee is still payable, or the very least you require the permission of the rights holder. Have you ever noticed on the BBC World and CNN sports round up programmes that they show footage on some events and not on others? I believe it is CNN that never show excerpts from Premiership action, but do show action from other European leagues. Clearly there is a rights/payment issue 'at play' here.

My view is that if UBC don't cancel ESPN - which anyway I believe they will - we still won't get any of those pundit programmes which show excepts of premiership action. But who knows? Its all speculation - we'll find out soon enough.

Plus, I pretty much agree with what you say. I seem to remember reading not long ago that UBC/True is still making a loss on their TV business. At the end of the day, they have a monopoly and they must do what they need to do to turn a profit. I have no complaints with that, but the way they go about it, with their lack of professionalism, miscommunication and total lack of PR savy is frustrating in the least. It effects the lives of many people who live here, and at the end of the day, their attitude simply can't be good for business.

Don't forget that the same company is also trying to sell us their mobile phone business, internet, and other services - and even if farangs represent a small percentage, it must amount to something worth having. The way they go about it, they will piss every farang off who ever came to live in LOS.

As for JSAt. There seems to be two alternatives. Down here in Pattaya, it looks like it will cost me a bit more than 21K for the set up - still awaiting written quotes. Once it's set up, the back up service is free. Then there are other companies, here, and apparently also in BKK who will provide similar hardware for about half the JSat price, and then a monthly service fee. The fee here is 350 Baht/month. I'm still weighing up my options while awaiting the written quote from JSat. I don't really care what I have as long as it bloody works, and that every time it goes down, I don't have to wait 2 weeks for an engineer to come and fix it. I think the reputation of the supplier is all important here.

Also please be aware the equipment is not all the same, and the links to sites in China are not the same. I wish I knew which was the best.

[petedk]

Not sure OMR, but if you go to the JSat website and look for the 'multichoice' package, (which is the S. African package), you will find about 8 Supersports channels listed, which between them, seem to cover every conceivable sport I'm interested in from football, to cricket, to tennis, to rugby, to the grand prixs to the open Golf, to athletics and goodness knows what else - all live. If you hunt around a bit you can find the schedules, and then scroll through all the SS listings by either sport or day. (I'd give you the links but I'm not allowed. )

There's also Sky news (for us Brits), BBC Prime, Hallmark, some other movie channels, series channels, and a load more besides. All for a lump sum payment of around 21K.

I pay 24K a year for UBC, and most of it is Sh..te

J Sat did a site survey today, and can install next week.

I'll also keep UBC Platinum until my sub expires in Dec, and then make a decision on whether to keep it or not. I may have to so that the wife can watch the movies with Thai sub titles, and anyway, I quite like some of the BBC entertainment stuff, and some of the Star World comedies - and of course.. horror upon horror...American Idol.

I'm retired, and I can afford to spoil myself - so why not?

I am having the same package installed tomorrow by BKK cable TV at a price of 12,500 Baht

plus 300 Baht / month for automatic code feeds. Do Jsat charge this or is it free or do you have to do it yourself?

I have never heard of BKK cable Tv. Do yhey have a website (I'll check myself in a minute or two).

I sincerely believe the time has come to find an alternative to True. At this very moment True are down so all I have is snow on all channels. I don't know if this is local or not as I can't get through to them (which probably means other people have the same problem)

Yes I understand True is in business to make money and don't care about ex-pats at all. Look at all the Thai music channels now. This is what young Thais like. There is less and less foreign music available.

Regarding English Premier League Football I have noticed that they say that for "Season 2007 to 2008" they will be a certain number of matches sent free on the new sports channels. It doesn't say anything about the following years. My guess is that they'll introduce some form of pay tv in 2008. Just do it little by little and people forget how things used to be. (I have noticed that with many things in Thailand but that must come on another topic).

[sleepyjohn]

Midsomer Murders makes it all worthwhile.....although I hear there may be a "surge" soon to try and get things under control.

[Mobi]

Midsomer Murders makes it all worthwhile.....although I hear there may be a "surge" soon to try and get things under control.

Deserves a topic all of it's own

I have seen Midsomer murders all over the world - from the USA, to South Africa to England to.. of course Thailand...and have never yet succeeded in remaining awake through to the bitter end to find out who did it. It's the best sleeping therapy I have ever come across.

I have even missed the end of episodes in one country, only to find them repeated (ad finitem) in Thailand, and sat down to finally find out who was the murderer - only to fall asleep again and still not know.

I once had the foresight to record the second half of MSM on my DVD player, only to check the next day and find I had recorded the wrong channel.

So it's goodbye from UBC and Midsommer murders ---- and it's goodbye from Mobi....

Edited July 15, 2007 by Mobi

[djinn]

As for JSAt. There seems to be two alternatives. Down here in Pattaya, it looks like it will cost me a bit more than 21K for the set up - still awaiting written quotes. Once it's set up, the back up service is free. Then there are other companies, here, and apparently also in BKK who will provide similar hardware for about half the JSat price, and then a monthly service fee. The fee here is 350 Baht/month. I'm still weighing up my options while awaiting the written quote from JSat. I don't really care what I have as long as it bloody works, and that every time it goes down, I don't have to wait 2 weeks for an engineer to come and fix it. I think the reputation of the supplier is all important here.

Some infos about Jsat service.I was the giny pig (sorry for spelling) for multichoice/dreambox in Pattaya.Main problem was reliability of...my internet ISP (ToT )

Now no problem.You only need internet connected to dreambox.jsat provides even a transmitter /receptor via radio frequencies to do that

So your TV doesn't need to have a cabled link with your computer

I have a second dish which connects me to DreamTV (Phillipina).More movie channels (HBO,starmovies and some crapmovies from local channels) and some more sports channels (Eurosport,Starsport)

DreamTV is only OK when the weather is not cloudy and the image quality (coulours)is crap compared to multichoice

But it work even if internet link is out of order

Jsat service is good.Sometimes had to wait one week for onsite intervention (dish moved due to very strong wind;I am in a condo on the beach).Jsat can intervene via internet for reprogramming my dreambox from BKK so there is no delay and Jon (Jsat manager ) is always helpfull.Honestly not sure they offer this service to everybody...It is part of my giny pig "status"

For more infos please contact Jsat ....There are forum rules and I don't want to break them

[baboon]

Why dont you all try reading a bloody book?

[Mobi]

Why dont you all try reading a bloody book?

Yup, do that.

And I like to watch sport and the odd movie, and catch up on the news in the outside world.

Anything wrong with that?

[baboon]

Why dont you all try reading a bloody book?

Yup, do that.

And I like to watch sport and the odd movie, and catch up on the news in the outside world.

Anything wrong with that?

Yes, you have more money than me.

[Dustoff]

~

If this question has been asked/answered, please excuse my duplication.

I am very interested in an alternative to UBC/True but still have questions/concerns.

While True has totally screwed up their on-screen menu listings by prefacing them with the package names, at least there is a menu and a monthly magazine that sometimes matches what is really on. Do any of the satellite offerings provide such things?

I would like to reduce my stress over poor programming, not increase it by having to surf some 20+ channels to see what is currently on the tube. By the time I go thru all the channels, the first 15 minutes of a movie (which sets up the whole premise of the rest of the film) or half of a half-hour show is already gone.

Those of you who already have J-Sat or whatever, are you satisfied with it? Are there any menu offerings whatsoever or are you on your own? I can deal with accessing programming schedules on the internet but are they accurate?

Dustoff the curious...

[bdenner]

Much of this UBC bashing is misplaced, they are just looking after themselves and their business, not us. They are not in the public service, you can't demand them to do this or that. .....................

All considered, UBC is not doing too bad, pity we are not their target market anymore. Good luck to them with their new customers. ..................

These, along with your comments in similar threads to this points to you having more than just a passing interest in UBC - True. UBC 'Customer Service' (I use the term very loosely) had been grid locked for days on the rumours that ESPN/Star was being scrubbed. They certainly acted positively to what ever was happening and I’m sure that was out of common sense rather than some misguided business approach they may have had in thinking about scrubbing ESPN/Star.

But just in case I, for one, am still sitting back and will not renew my annual subscription in August opting for the one month payment so as I can pull the pin at any time. I had stated before the service engineer that handles this area is pulling out an average of 25 units a month, he stated this when removing UBC from a friends home who had had a gut full. I don’t know how many they are putting in that’s not his job but it’s not that many. The new red dishes stand out like beacons and there aren’t many of them around and none at Thai residences.

And I agree the new Program menu sucks, I know what package I’ve got.

[Plus]

Right now I've been off UBC for about a month now - since Champions League final and the start of AF4.

I'm doing ok, I watch more movies than ever thanks to torrents and usenet, so I don't miss HBO and Cinemax.

The real test will be when Premier League starts. Free Thai TV won't show any Premier League games, I believe. They got rights only to lesser competitions like Carling Cup and other Euro leagues.

"TVUplayer" is still unreliable and the picture is crap on my Internet connection - I tried watching Wimbledon and it's not good enough for football.

That means that I will either return to UBC or talk the missus into buying a satellite dish.

There's lots of info on jsat website but it's difficult to say what exactly I will need to watch football and cartoons for kids. There are about 30 satellites to choose from, two kinds of bands, two kinds of dishes with at least a dozen models, and quite a few differet settop boxes.

They are pretty straightforward about what they can't do, though - no montly magazines with satellite programming. They explain that Jsat means Just Satellite.

Programs I believe are available on providers websites - South African SuperSport has them, for example. I'm not sure they'll have pre and post games analisys ala John Dykes on ESPN.

[Plus]

After checking with jsat website again it appears that there's no way I can watch football without paying for it - either to UBC, Malaysian Astro, or South African Mutlichoice.

Then it comes down to the price and convenience. It is apparently possible to find these sim cards in Thailand but no mention on the website how much it would cost here.

[Jimjim]

Right now I've been off UBC for about a month now - since Champions League final and the start of AF4.

Champions League final was about 2 months ago.

[mobile69]

if true keep espn, maybe we'll get a wider range of sport as espn will have to fill their schedule with something other than epl.

[jayjayjayjay]

Just spoke with mate Glenn, senior producer at ESPN STAR Sports, in Singapore. He said there is no play to stop the ESPN service in Thailand, they are working over the program planning right now to take out the Premiership slots, still not sure what they are going to replace them with!!!

[mobile69]

Just spoke with mate Glenn, senior producer at ESPN STAR Sports, in Singapore. He said there is no play to stop the ESPN service in Thailand, they are working over the program planning right now to take out the Premiership slots, still not sure what they are going to replace them with!!!

espn /star used to show a lot more rugby than they have recently. Some cricket would be nice too Although I am a EPL fan, I think they overdid it in the last 2 seasons at the expense of other sports.

[jbowman1993]

Just spoke with mate Glenn, senior producer at ESPN STAR Sports, in Singapore. He said there is no play to stop the ESPN service in Thailand, they are working over the program planning right now to take out the Premiership slots, still not sure what they are going to replace them with!!!

Hopefully more American football, basketball, and baseball! But I am decidedly biased, lol.

hel_l, Ill even take swimming, track and field, figure skating, skiing, etc. Anything except the complete overdose of soccer I've been receiving thusfar....

Edited July 18, 2007 by jbowman1993

[pattayaGaz]

Just spoke with mate Glenn, senior producer at ESPN STAR Sports, in Singapore. He said there is no play to stop the ESPN service in Thailand, they are working over the program planning right now to take out the Premiership slots, still not sure what they are going to replace them with!!!

Hopefully more American football, basketball, and baseball! But I am decidedly biased, lol.

hel_l, Ill even take swimming, track and field, figure skating, skiing, etc. Anything except the complete overdose of soccer I've been receiving thusfar....

Great just what we don't need more self indulgent American sports C***P, your Baseball World series featuring 1 foreign team from Canada, as for Basketball maybe they could show some European teams but it would still be boring, and American football is starting to get so worried about the growth of real football(Soccer) amongst the youth in the U.S that you are starting the next season staging league games in Europe still looking for overseas markets, let's face it there are plenty of other European football leagues so expect more Spanish, Italian, German games in the EPL's place.