Thai Television: Content Quality Plunging

[george]

THAI TELEVISION: Content quality plunging

Experts say more channels do not mean more quality without regulator

BANGKOK: -- The quality of the content on Thailand's free TV stations is heading downhill due to the absence of a broadcasting regulatory body and increased commercialism, industry pundits say.

While most of the six stations are airing more entertainment and have introduced some new technology, little has been done to improve programme quality, said Dr Somkiat Tangkitvanich of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), who recently released an in-depth study of Thai broadcast media.

Most experts interviewed by The Nation said no improvement in content could be expected before the long-delayed National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) goes operational.

Somkiat said viewers would soon have even less choice on free TV due to ongoing changes at several stations.

"Diversity of content will be reduced. We may have as many as 60 channels" as a result of station plans to spin off new subchannels with the help of digital-compression technology, "but there will be little diversity of content," he said.

The government's privatisation policy has been a key driver of changes at state-owned stations such as Channel 9, owned by the Mass Communications Authority of Thailand, and Channel 5, owned by the Army.

These stations are consolidating their content producers and other business aspects in preparation for stock-market listing. This has resulted in less competition among programme-producers.

In addition small producers who have been creating high-quality programmes are now losing their contracts as stations consolidate.

Supinya Klangnarong of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform said advertisers and commercial sponsors had gained more influence over the direction of TV content as stations became more profit-oriented.

In the end it is the consumers and viewers who suffer, she noted.

In terms of creativity, Kriangsak Sakulchai, better known as Toy Aigner, editor of Maya Channel magazine, said most local content-producers were still copycatting each other.

"More channels might be possible technically, but I doubt if the quality will get any better. Most producers are focusing on profitable programmes. They make decisions solely on ratings, which means only game shows, comedies and soap operas are developed," he said.

Even in soap operas producers are concentrating on financially sound concepts in an effort to sell stars while they are still in the public eye.

Producer Yuwadee Boonkhrong said that apart from the news she hardly watched TV because there were too many shows about movie stars and pop singers.

Wilasinee Phiphitkul of Chulalongkorn University said one programme that stood out from the rest was "Khon Khon Khon", a popular drama-documentary that proved small production companies could produce quality programmes that made money.

Somkiat agreed that "Khon Khon Khon" was an exception to the rule as TV stations consolidated content suppliers and big production houses eclipsed small ones.

To provide more choice Supinya said the NBC needed to start operating sooner rather than later so that overall TV content could be properly regulated.

"Once it's operational, it will be a win-win solution. The public will get more choice of quality programmes while producers will know exactly what's required of them," Yuwadee said.

Kriengsak added that the NBC should push for greater transparency in the television industry and serve as a check-and-balance mechanism.

Staffing too needs to be seriously considered, said Suthipong Thamawuit, producer of "Khon Khon Khon".

Yuwadee agrees. Based on her direct experience, she said, she is facing a serious shortage of qualified graduates for recruitment into the industry.

Is more news always good news?

Academics are warning viewers to be aware of the limitations of the new flowering of "news-related" programming, especially TV news talk shows.

They may be dubbed "quality" programmes on the one hand, but there are a lot of points to consider when watching these shows, especially now, when they are booming like the latest fashion fad.

During the aggressive reform of Thai TV stations, one prominent phenomena has been the emergence of news-related programmes, a result of consumer demand for more quality on TV. This genre includes the "read the newspaper on the air" morning news programme, user-friendly news analysis and particularly the "talk show" or "news talk" programme, where the guest is often the latest subject of national news coverage.

Consumers who have long been hungry for such programming have mostly welcomed these shows. But some are criticising them for copying each other and lacking originality. "On a positive note, this means the medium of television has the potential to present something in a different way than the newspapers," said Dr Somkiat Tangkitvanich of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).

"But the nature of television and of the print media are different. TV can affect more people than the print media. If a TV news programme relies on newspaper sources, it could affect the development of TV news itself," he added.

Wilasinee Phiphitkul of Chulalongkorn University said viewers could benefit from the new genre, but only if it was streamlined to eliminate the weakest shows.

"Too many similar programmes might bore consumers and turn them away from these shows," she said.

Toy Aigner, of Maya Channel magazine, explained the phenomena as a way of attracting audiences to the news by making stars out of news subjects. The only limitation is finding anchors who can combine strong presentation with sound journalism.

"This means we find similar faces on different channels. Sometimes, we find these anchors do not provide the best analysis they could," he said.

Producer Suthipong Thamawuit is worried the shows could oversimplify complex issues in an effort to make them easily understandable.

"Some stories can be clearly explained quickly. But many stories are not black and white - they are complicated and sensitive. It might be risky if people believe what they watch on TV is the whole truth," he said.

"By its nature, TV can easily convince audiences. There is another risk inherent if the production team has insufficient information but has to take one side or the other," he added.

--The Nation 2004-08-08

[Darlek]

Plunging ? It was already at a low point so how low can it go ?

Soaps are dire .

[stumonster]

thai television is just one long advertisement.

[astral]

The words Quality and Thai TV should never be in the same sentence.

[plachon]

The words Quality and Thai TV should never be in the same sentence.

You mean you don't like the high drama of Thai soaps and excitement of "Who wants to be a baht millionaire" Astral? Can't understand that at all.