True To Run Tv Commercials By Mid-year

[george]

True to run TV commercials by mid-year

BANGKOK: -- Pay-TV operator True Visions expects to begin inserting commercials into its programming by mid-year, pending negotiations on revenue sharing with concession-owner MCOT.

Supachai Chearavanont, CEO of True Visions' parent company, True Corp, yesterday said MCOT and True Visions had reached agreement in principle on the company's plan to run commercials, as allowed by the Broadcasting Act, which took effect early this month.

He said the two sides were still talking on many issues, including legal details and whether the revenue share needed revising. At present, True Visions pays 6.5 per cent of its revenue to MCOT as a concession fee.

Supachai said commercials were expected to account for only 10 per cent of True Visions' total revenue, which was average for pay-TV operators in the region.

The types of commercials on pay-TV will be different from those broadcast by free-to-air television channels and target specific groups, Supachai said. True Visions has about 700,000 subscribers.

Meanwhile, True Visions deputy director for special projects Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa said the company planned to launch a mobile-phone television service in the fourth quarter, enabling True Visions' subscribers to view programmes on their mobiles via an ultra-high-frequency spectrum. The company is waiting for the establishment of the new National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, so it can apply to use the spectrum to offer the service.

The pay-TV operator is also planning to launch True Visions Anywhere in the third quarter, which will allow subscribers to view its television programmes via a broadband-Internet channel, even when they are in foreign countries.

-- The Nation

[PoorSucker]

Does this mean my UBC bill will be lower???

[pickel]

Does this mean my UBC bill will be lower???

From what I've read, that would be a NO. Dam_n chiseling bastages.

[BigSnake]

Need to improve their service first.

[Gravelrash]

Most cities seem to have a cheap alternative cable system you can subscribe to. Not as an extensive a range of programs (many of which repeat endlessly anyway) but enough except for those that live in front of the box.

I used to have UBC but got annoyed with the service and the constant blackouts. The B300/mth cable system has been completely reliable.

[grantbkk]

Paid advertising on satellite and cable channels could be the funding source that content providers could only dream of in the past. Forward-thinking, progressive companies will use this money stream to improve the quality of their programming and lower the draconian fees we as viewers must pay here in Thailand. Or will they?

I have read four articles quoting unnamed sources at True Vision saying they will not lower fees. They said that 10 per cent of their revenue would now come from advertising - but this huge amount of money will not reduce our fees one baht. They will however raise the channel count to 100 from the 90 we currently are able to enjoy. This will mean more "classic" channels, at little or no cost, with programming from the 1980s and 1990s to quench our thirst for quality television. Perhaps True Vision will relent and allow us to view programming previewed during the endless promotions for Singapore television if they can get it at a low cost. I have called my cable provider several times as requested in the adverts but True Vision says there are no plans for adding these channels to their line-up.

I would hope many of us would contact True Vision and voice our displeasure with their content and pricing. True Vision holds a monopoly in most urban cities in Thailand; consequently we have no real choice when it comes to satellite and cable television. True Vision's parent company, the Charoen Pokphand Group, is sending billions of US dollars to countries like Vietnam to increase their bottom line at the expense of their subscribers here in the Kingdom.