Major Switch To Satellite Tv Predicted In Thailand

[george]

Major switch to satellite TV predicted

BANGKOK: -- Satellite television is forecast to attract the majority of Thailand's TV viewers within three years.

The audience for satellite TV is now about 32 per cent of the Kingdom's 19 million households, Satellite Television Association of Thailand (STAT) president Nipon Naksompop said yesterday.

And that figure is expected to grow to 90 per cent by 2013.

The forecast is based on trends in consumer behaviour, in which viewers have shown a preference for television content customised to their own lifestyles and needs instead of having to watch only a limited number of channels.

Nipon said research by the National Statistical Office and AGB Nielsen Media Research had found people were more likely to watch content they wanted to watch and that on average, they watched only three channels per day per person over a period of three hours per day.

"This signals a change in demand by TV audiences and opens up huge room for content providers and satellite-TV providers to gain this market," Nipon said.

In the near future, free-to-air TV will be transformed into a totally digital system. Uplinks to satellites may still involve analogue signals, but downlinks will be digital, he said.

"Free-to-air TV will be on satellite, and people will not need an antenna at all. Next year, about 90 per cent of Thailand's total 19 million households will move to watching satellite TV for sure."

At present, the STAT provides 45 satellite channels.

Meanwhile, GMM Broadcasting managing director Dew Waratangtagoon said his company expected more advertising spending to pour into satellite TV.

At present, annual ad spending on satellite TV is between Bt2.5 billion and Bt5 billion, or only 5-10 per cent of total ad spending, which amounts to about Bt50 billion per year.

"Customer needs and innovative technology will be the two main driving factors encouraging demand for satellite TV in the next couple of years. More people even prefer to watch TV, or 'consume content', over the Internet, and that's also a part of satellite TV. Because we produce content and deliver it through many channels, including the Internet, cable, satellites and mobile phones, consumers will make their own choices," Dew said.

-- The Nation 2010-01-27

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[CTO]

The growth has been fuelled by a pioneering low cost STB designed in part by some dick who posts here and sold at half the cost of other STB's.

The plan by ThaiCom has always been to switch viewers to satellite rather than terrestrial networks.

Governments don't mind as then the spectrum the Terrestrial networks use can be sold again for something else

[givenall]

They just have to be prepare to lose 10 to 20% broadcast time due to clouds or rain. I lost my reception as soon as the sky got cloudy or the rain started. Also too expensive for majority of Thai people even if they already have it

[SM7WGP]

it depends on what band Ku band or C band

Ku band small dish but very bad when it rains

C band the big dish 1,2 m to 3,4 m not so critical for rain

[CTO]

They just have to be prepare to lose 10 to 20% broadcast time due to clouds or rain. I lost my reception as soon as the sky got cloudy or the rain started. Also too expensive for majority of Thai people even if they already have it

Agree regarding rain fade - however the box ThaiCom made sells for less than 3000 baht inc dish etc. That's affordible - the yellow/green dishes are these ones.

[Pib]

it depends on what band Ku band or C band

Ku band small dish but very bad when it rains

C band the big dish 1,2 m to 3,4 m not so critical for rain

Agree. Here in Bangkok with my 1.7M/5.5Ft Dynasat C-Band antenna/dish I have never lost reception even in the heaviest rain and lightning storms. The signal remains bright and clear in rain or shine.

"However, but, on my TrueVisions KU band antenna/dish," in the past I would always lose reception in median to heavy rain storms...and some times it hasn't even started raining yet at my home (just very cloudy) and I lose signal reception 5-10 minutes before the rain arrives. Normally, this only amounts to a few hours during the entire year in lost reception but it always seems to occur at a time when you really want to watch a certain show.

Now, I'm hoping that my recent TrueVisions KU band dish realignment/peaking last week may reduce the KU band downtime. Although TrueVisions technicians originally installed my KU dish, my "personal" realignment/peaking last week showed the antenna was off 5 degrees in azimuth (optimum in my location for Thaicom 2/5 is 240 degrees and the antenna was at around 235 degrees according to my compass readings), off a few degrees in inclination, and off just a little in LNB adjustment. By monitoring the signal level on my setup box/IRD, peaking the azimuth gave me a 6db gain (and 5 degrees is only a very slight adjustment of the dish), peaking the inclination gave another 2 db gain, and adjusting the LNB forward/backward location in it's holder gave another 1 db gain (and adjusting the skew a little from the recommend 4:30 (or 57 degreees) position made no differnce). Summary: 9db total gain from just optimizing my KU band antenna/LNB alignment, with most of that gain coming from the azimuth alignment. And with these adjustments the signal reaching my set top boxes/IRD's is at the high end power level recommend for the boxes (i.e., approx a -25dbm input level for my boxes). Now, I just need to wait for the rainy season to see if this 9db gain/antenna alignment reduces/eliminates my KU band signal loss using the TrueVisions dish. I've even taken out the 20db in-line amp from the dish/LNB, but can quickly reinstall if that 20db gain makes any real difference during a rainstorm. I'm not sure the amp makes any real difference when the LNB output drops below a certain level with reduced reception like cause during rain/heavy clouds (I know for sure the amp wasn't preventing total signal loss during rain before the dish realignment)....zero LNB output to an in-line amp just results in zero signal output plus more noise.

In closing, don't assume your TrueVisions dish is optimized alignment/signal reception-wise just because TrueVision installed it...TrueVisions techs install the antenna "very" fast and don't necessarily pick the best location for it to ensure unobstructed signal reception.

[longball53098]

I agree with his last post completely. My dish has been re-aligned and I rarely loose the signal now. It has to be a very heavy rain cloud or storm and then only until that cloud passes in a minute or two. In the last year I would say I have lost the signal maybe two or three times for no more than 5 minutes total. I get more break up from solar flare ups than rain issues.

[Phil Conners]

Funny. The rest of the world is going away from Satellite TV as IPTV is proliferating. TiT I guess, always 20 years behind.

[astral]

It is no wonder really.

All the stations on one satellite.

If you want to use the terrestrial system then you need one antenna for each channel,

heaven forbid that the channels should have co-operated and use a common transmitting mast.

[PattayaParent]

They just have to be prepare to lose 10 to 20% broadcast time due to clouds or rain. I lost my reception as soon as the sky got cloudy or the rain started. Also too expensive for majority of Thai people even if they already have it

Agree regarding rain fade - however the box ThaiCom made sells for less than 3000 baht inc dish etc. That's affordible - the yellow/green dishes are these ones.

And the monthly fees needn't be the excessive 1,500 Baht that True charge, in Viet Nam you get better coverage for only 150 Baht a month.

[kiwiinasia]

Whats the point with satellite when the local channels all stick to 4:3 and HD means hard disk?

[dominique355]

Thanks to PiB for the valuable input. I will check the alignment of my dish too.

But would it be possible to attach the True LNB to a bigger dish, like 90 cm diameter or bigger? Wouldn't that help getting a stronger signal?

[Pib]

Thanks to PiB for the valuable input. I will check the alignment of my dish too.

But would it be possible to attach the True LNB to a bigger dish, like 90 cm diameter or bigger? Wouldn't that help getting a stronger signal?

Yes, no problem in switching from the TureVisions 75cm dish which gives approx 36.5db gain compared to a 90cm solid dish which would give approx a 38.5db gain. A 90cm solid dish would give about a 40.5db gain and a solid 120cm dish about 45.5db gain.

Since you get around a 2db gain for each bump-up in dish size and since a small amount of dish misalignment can easily wipe out a 2db gain, I would first recommend you ensure your current dish/LNB is correctly aligned vs "close enough for govt work/quickly installed just to get a picture on the tube." If you can "easily/safely" get to the dish, do the alignment yourself by monitoring the signal value level on your set-top box/IRD as you make dish/LNB adjustments. It's very easy to do...just loosen a few dish alignment bolts/screws, make "small" movements of the dish left and right, then up and down, then ensure the LNB is in a 4:30 setting (like a clock reading), and then side the LNB backward and fowards in the LNB holder. Get the peak/higher signal on your set top box (a peak/higher signal is a "lower number"...that is, a -25db signal is a stronger signal than a -30db signal). If you can't easily/safely reach the dish, then hire someone to come in to do the alignment check, but be sure to watch the dish/LNB peaking/tweaking yourself to ensure yourself you have the dish pointing dead on to the satellite.

Remember, I got a 9 db gain just by properly aligning my 75cm dish...that is more gain than I could have got with a much bigger (and expensive) 120cm solid dish if it was slightly misaligned just as my 75cm dish was. Also make sure there are no obstructions in front of your antenna to include a roof edge/overhang/eve. When eyeballing for obstructions (especially a house roof edge/eve, keep in mind the signal from the satellite is coming down at approx a 60 degree angle although from looking at a properly aligned antenna you would probably think the signal is coming down at approx a 45 degree angle. When I drive/walk around and look at some of the locations Truevisions dishes have been installed on buildings (i.e., partially blocked by a nearby building/home or the building the dish is mounted on, behind a large tree, etc), I expect these folks have a "LOT" of rain fade reception throughout the year and don't have a clue their signal reception could possibly be increased greatly by proper dish location/alignment.

Edited January 28, 2010 by Pib