Thailand To Get Singapore Tv

[george]

Thailand to get Singapore TV

BANGKOK: -- The Cable Television Association of Thailand and MediaCorp’s Channel NewsAsia agreed yesterday to make the Singapore channel available to half a million viewers across Thailand.

Deputy Prime Minister Vishanu Krua-ngam presided over the signing ceremony in a Bangkok hotel.

Ernest Wong, CEO of MediaCorp Group, said Singapore’s most-watched news channel is now seen in over 16 million homes and hotels in 19 countries and territories across Asia.

It has correspondents in more than 10 Asian cities, and its satellite signal covers the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and Australia. The latest deal comes just two months after Channel NewsAsia secured landing rights in China.

Wong said that in today’s increasingly global society,

relevant and accurate information is of paramount importance.

“For the sophisticated viewers out there, it is not enough to be told the latest in the quickest time, but to be given information that adds value, that has meaning in its proper context, whether it be for business or for entertainment.

“At Channel NewsAsia, we want to contribute to this landscape of information sources with another perspective to Thai viewers’ understanding of Asia and Asians. We pride ourselves on giving Asian perspectives on Asia,” he said.

--The Nation 2004-07-10

[Highwayman]

BANGKOK : ChannelNews Asiais marking another milestone in Asian broadcasting.

By Glenda Chong, Channel NewsAsia

Mediacorp which runs the channel, signed an agreement on Friday with Thailand Cable TV Association to carry ChannelNewsAsia on over 170 cable operations in the Kingdom.

With this agreement, MediaCorp and Thailand Cable TV Association officially launched Channel NewsAsia International's presence in Thailand.

Bumroong Wasontakorn, President, Thailand Cable TV Association, said: "Thailand's communications industry has developed quite rapidly, and having Channel NewsAsia as one of our members will be beneficial for the exchange of information between Channel NewsAsia and Thailand."

With over 170 affiliated cable operators in Thailand, Channel NewsAsia will be accessible to over half a million households throughout the Kingdom.

Ernest Wong, Group Chief Executive Officer, MediaCorp, said: "Thailand is very much a part of Asia, it's a big country and what happens in Thailand, does matter to everybody especially Singapore which has a very close relationship to Thailand."

Woon Tai Ho, Chief Executive Officer, MediaCorp News, said: "So when we roll out to Asia, being able to be watched and being able to interact with Thai viewers, it's not only a key but a major milestone in our rollout to the entire region."

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Singapore's Ambassador to Thailand Chan Heng Wing and Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-Ngam.

Wissanu Krea-Ngam, Thai Deputy Prime Minister, said: "I admire this corporation very much because it will provide Thai people with more opportunity to watch TV programmes from foreign country besides BBC or CNN which may cover international news but not focus on the regional news. If you want to know more about the election in Indonesia, I don't think we can learn or know more on BBC or CNN. I believe Channel News Asia will cover the election in Indonesia widely and broadly rather than CNN or BBC."

Channel NewsAsia, Singapore's most watched news channel, is now viewed in more than 16 millions Asian homes and hotels across 19 territories.

Mediacorp's alliance with Thailand comes just two months after the company was granted landing rights in China.

And Mediacorp says there will be more tie-ups with other territories to come.

[Highwayman]

ChannelNewsAsia has a very good news service. Glenda Chong, the main news anchor is sensational. They also have some good lifestyle type shows as well.

ChannelNewsAsia has actually been available in Bangkok on TTV for ages but about six months ago it was cut back to only being available after midnight. They cut most of the ChannelNewsAsia, DWTV and CCTV English language news programs and replaced them with Hong Kong movies.

on over 170 cable operations in the Kingdom

Nothing on the UBC website about this, so does anyone know if UBC is a member of The Thailand Cable TV Association Someone with a fast connection may be able to work it out from the website but it's another one of those Thai websites that takes a week to load on dial-up.

[PlanetMan]

Maybe a bit off-topic. But I would love to know why UBC et all blank the commercials aired on cable broadcasts originating from outside LOS. Anyone have the real reason? I assume there is some Thai law, so I would also be interested to what was the rationale for such a law.

Having lived here some years, I know enough to ask "for whom was said law written to help?"

Cheers

[Highwayman]

UBC aren't allowed to show commercials as a condition of their broadcasting licence.

I imagine it would have something to do with not taking revenue from the free to air stations which of course are all independently run and owned....ahem

[chingy_]

ChannelNewsAsia talk to much about their own economy, which i don't like and don't need to know. i want english speaking news around thailand and bangkok, local channel.

i think the nation have, but only for a few minute, would like to see more of english speaking news on local channel tho

[Highwayman]

The Nation Channel have a 30 minute English news service at 20.30 as well as 5 minute English updates at about 35 minutes past the hour.

If you have a bilingual tv then the Channel 3 news between 17.30-18.00 has Thai and English audio.

[ASIC]

I agree with Chingy. It's too ego-centric and only concern itself with "safe" subjects that has been pre-approved by the ruling powers in Singapore.

It's a sad day for Thailand that it has to stoop so low as to import this kind of government sponsored thrash. It's bland, without any real contents, no relevance to Thailand, and made by people who call themselves journalists, but aren't.

This is the kind of station that Toxin would love to have all the Thai TV stations turned into. I shall not watch it.

ASIC

[bonsaimax]

So, when exactly will this come to effect???

[ChiangMaiThai]

UBC aren't allowed to show commercials as a condition of their broadcasting licence.

I imagine it would have something to do with not taking revenue from the free to air stations which of course are all independently run and owned....ahem

Its a ridiculous law. If UBC could charge for ads, they could afford to bring down the price and offer quality programming. Also, from a customer's point of view, they should have the right to view ads. The ads are part of the broadcast.

[astral]

UBC aren't allowed to show commercials as a condition of their broadcasting licence.

The law is intended to stop Pay TV services showing adverts as well.

I am in India at the moment and the fims on Star Movies, HBO etc are broken up by adverts every 20 minutes.

The Thai law stops this, but is applied so rigorously that all the adverts are cut, and hence we have to pay more to watch the channels.

Crazy!!

[Axel]

I would love to see the exciting Singapore traffic news, talking every morning, and showing live-feeds, from Singapore highways. Teir 'traffic congestion" is similar to Bangkok traffic 3:00 am.

[Highwayman]

Give UBC the right to show ads and it will probably end up like free to air Thai television.

Try watching the western movies shown on Channel 7 most weekday mornings. After the first 10 minutes you get the first break with 15 advertisments (yes, l've counted them). Then each following break at 10-15 minute intervals has similar amounts of adverts. At least with UBC you can watch the movie, not adverts with a movie shown in between, and you also get to see the credits instead of another 5 minute advert at the end disguised as a mini game show/quiz.

[ChiangMaiThai]

Give UBC the right to show ads and it will probably end up like free to air Thai television.

Try watching the western movies shown on Channel 7 most weekday mornings. After the first 10 minutes you get the first break with 15 advertisments (yes, l've counted them). Then each following break at 10-15 minute intervals has similar amounts of adverts. At least with UBC you can watch the movie, not adverts with a movie shown in between, and you also get to see the credits instead of another 5 minute advert at the end disguised as a mini game show/quiz.

Its pretty simple. The movie channels of course could not air ads. And you could pay a few hundred baht extra for them if neccessary liek in the US. But as I'm sure you've noticed, most of the programming on other channels are set up for ads. So while other countries watch the ads, we watch a message from UBC. As long as they cut away from the program, they might as well show real ads.

Obviously, this is all about protecting the revenue of free to air stations at the expense of quality programming and reasonable prices on UBC.

[ovenman]

Its a ridiculous law. If UBC could charge for ads, they could afford to bring down the price and offer quality programming. Also, from a customer's point of view, they should have the right to view ads. The ads are part of the broadcast.

It may well be ridiculous but "no commercials" was a mutually agreed-upon point when IBC and whatever the other cable provider company's name was (pre-UBC) signed their agreement with the Thai government way back when. The government has been disinclined to loosen this stipulation since then.

[NedKelly]

I cant wait to see the excitement of TV from one of the most boring places on Earth.