True Plans To Introduce Dozens Of Hdtv Channels This Year

[maamoot]

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/188193/truevisions-making-inroads-into-hdtv

TrueVisions making inroads into HDTV

Dozens of channels planned this year

* Published: 28/07/2010 at 12:00 AM

* Newspaper section: Business

TrueVisions, the pay-TV subsidiary of True Corporation, is moving aggressively to promote its HDTV (high-definition television) service to expand its foothold in the new segment.

The strategic move is aimed at differentiating its services from other cable broadcasters and adding value to the existing services, said Noppadol Dej-Udom, group chief financial officer of True Corporation.

Currently, HDTV broadcasts are not available in Thailand whether on cable TV or free TV.

TrueVisions was the first to launch three such channels out of its 110 cable programmes in total.

As well, Mr Noppadol said TrueVisions was preparing to apply for a cable-TV licence with either the National Telecommunications Commission or the National Telecommunications and Broadcast Commission.

He said True was now confident about the HDTV market potential in Thailand after signing up 12,000 subscribers to the service during the one-month World Cup tournament.

The company planned to introduce dozens of HDTV channels this year under its annual budget of 500 million baht.

Unpopular channels will be taken off the air and replaced with an HDTV channel since one HDTV channel will take up the resources normally required by three regular cable channels.

Mr Noppadol said TrueVisions had set a revenue growth target of 5% to 6% this year, up from 10 billion baht last year, helped by a new advertisement revenue stream, a lower interest cost as a result of the recent debt refinancing and a lower tax payment.

It booked a net profit of 1 billion baht last year.

TrueVisions had targeted advertising revenue of between 700 million and 1 billion baht this year but has revised it down 600 million baht in light of the political mayhem. It earned 80 million baht in ad revenue in the first quarter of this year and 100 million in the second quarter.

He added TrueVisions is expected to save 200 million baht in interest cost following the successful 9.7-billion-baht debt refinancing.

TrueVisions has secured 12 billion baht in baht-denominated loans from four local banks at an interest rate of 5.3%, compared with 7.7% previously.

Mr Noppadol said the refinancing also reduced the risk on foreign currency fluctuations and facilitated cash flow.

It also eliminated duplicated financial roles of businesses under the TrueVisions group.

True Group currently has 67 billion baht in debts. Of the total, True Move, the mobile phone flagship, accounts for 26 billion, TrueVisions 12 billion with True Online and others sharing the remaining burden.

[maamoot]

Dozens ? I would think that means at least 24 HDTV Channels . Well I guess this will be filed under " I will believe it when I see it "

Also article mentions 3 HDTV channels . pretty sure there is only 2 right now .

This would be nice if it actually happens , but True has pretty limited credibility in most peoples opinion .

[naidraw66]

Dozens ? I would think that means at least 24 HDTV Channels . Well I guess this will be filed under " I will believe it when I see it "

Also article mentions 3 HDTV channels . pretty sure there is only 2 right now .

This would be nice if it actually happens , but True has pretty limited credibility in most peoples opinion .

"He said True was now confident about the HDTV market potential in Thailand after signing up 12,000 subscribers to the service during the one-month World Cup tournament"

I bet more than 3/4's of them are regretting signing up in the first place (due to false advertising), and would get their money back if they could . . . . True have such a long way to go even to get their 2 HDTV channels to function. The sports channel only shows repeats on repeats of old & last years sporting events. The movie channel plays the same repeats as on the normal SD channel, and in most instances the compression of the picture is terrible and it looks like cr@p!! And all of this from a company that still transmits in mono sound on SD, not much hope is there for a proper HD TV service. As you can see I am one of the " most people" mentioned above.

Get rid of the monopoly and allow other satellite companies to compete for our business, thats the only way we will ever get a decent TV/Satellite provider here in Thailand. In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

Edited July 29, 2010 by ianwrd4

[maamoot]

Dozens ? I would think that means at least 24 HDTV Channels . Well I guess this will be filed under " I will believe it when I see it "

Also article mentions 3 HDTV channels . pretty sure there is only 2 right now .

This would be nice if it actually happens , but True has pretty limited credibility in most peoples opinion .

"He said True was now confident about the HDTV market potential in Thailand after signing up 12,000 subscribers to the service during the one-month World Cup tournament"

I bet more than 3/4's of them are regretting signing up in the first place (due to false advertising), and would get their money back if they could . . . . True have such a long way to go even to get their 2 HDTV channels to function. The sports channel only shows repeats on repeats of old & last years sporting events. The movie channel plays the same repeats as on the normal SD channel, and in most instances the compression of the picture is terrible and it looks like cr@p!! And all of this from a company that still transmits in mono sound on SD, not much hope is there for a proper HD TV service. As you can see I am one of the " most people" mentioned above.

Get rid of the monopoly and allow other satellite companies to compete for our business, thats the only way we will ever get a decent TV/Satellite provider here in Thailand. In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

I called up True today and asked the girl how come you keep playing the same 3 or 4 shows on the sports channel while there is live golf and many other sports available . Her answer was if you want to watch golf you should get the golf channel , I said well what does having the golf channel have to do with repeating the same stuff over and over again on the sports channel ?

She said , well sir you are the only one complaining !

Really talking to Trues staff is like talking to a retarded 4 year old . They have no idea about customer service .

PS if I could get astro here in Chiang Mai would order in a minute .

And If there are any other HDTV customers out there reading this , I would think it would be great if you all called True and told them that there is more than one customer pissed off about their crap service and that you would like to talk to a manager, not that one ever called me back or would speak to me on the phone .

[stgrhe]

In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

Are you using Astro provided by JSAT or is there another provider in Thailand? I am considering Astro too as I find True much too poor. Secondly, I do not speak Thai and have no interest in the Thai channels.

[Pdaz]

I do speak Thai.... and I still find nothing of interest on the Thai channels.. That aside since loosing DSTV I now have true.. What terrible programming.. Most of the series are repeats of 2008/2009 or older. The programming is constantly interupted by ads.. and to make it worse the ads are advertising the channel you are already watching.. Worst of all is the censorship, blurring and lack of choice. Bad enough to make do with last seasons programs but then they cut out half of the storyline. What i the point of showing an 'adult' programme like 'trueblood' if they are gonna cut out all the nudity, sex and language ? Same for Movies and other series that are aimed at adults.. Unless the programme is some homogenised 'family' comedy pap you aren't allowed to watch it.. Meanwhile Thai newspapers are full of gore, sex and scandal... Basically TV here sucks and won't improve anytime soon.

[maamoot]

I do speak Thai.... and I still find nothing of interest on the Thai channels.. That aside since loosing DSTV I now have true.. What terrible programming.. Most of the series are repeats of 2008/2009 or older. The programming is constantly interupted by ads.. and to make it worse the ads are advertising the channel you are already watching.. Worst of all is the censorship, blurring and lack of choice. Bad enough to make do with last seasons programs but then they cut out half of the storyline. What i the point of showing an 'adult' programme like 'trueblood' if they are gonna cut out all the nudity, sex and language ? Same for Movies and other series that are aimed at adults.. Unless the programme is some homogenised 'family' comedy pap you aren't allowed to watch it.. Meanwhile Thai newspapers are full of gore, sex and scandal... Basically TV here sucks and won't improve anytime soon.

If you have a decent internet connection you can download just about everything (tv shows from around the world and many movies ) in very very high quality from warez sites . You are right of couse the tv here is a joke . But I think as a side note that most Thai's are very reluctant to complain .

[naidraw66]

In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

Are you using Astro provided by JSAT or is there another provider in Thailand? I am considering Astro too as I find True much too poor. Secondly, I do not speak Thai and have no interest in the Thai channels.

Depends where you are living I believe JSAT are the main supplier in Bangkok. I dont use JSAT have a look at this http://www.comsat.co.th/index.php?id=135

Regards

IW

[naidraw66]

Dozens ? I would think that means at least 24 HDTV Channels . Well I guess this will be filed under " I will believe it when I see it "

Also article mentions 3 HDTV channels . pretty sure there is only 2 right now .

This would be nice if it actually happens , but True has pretty limited credibility in most peoples opinion .

"He said True was now confident about the HDTV market potential in Thailand after signing up 12,000 subscribers to the service during the one-month World Cup tournament"

I bet more than 3/4's of them are regretting signing up in the first place (due to false advertising), and would get their money back if they could . . . . True have such a long way to go even to get their 2 HDTV channels to function. The sports channel only shows repeats on repeats of old & last years sporting events. The movie channel plays the same repeats as on the normal SD channel, and in most instances the compression of the picture is terrible and it looks like cr@p!! And all of this from a company that still transmits in mono sound on SD, not much hope is there for a proper HD TV service. As you can see I am one of the " most people" mentioned above.

Get rid of the monopoly and allow other satellite companies to compete for our business, thats the only way we will ever get a decent TV/Satellite provider here in Thailand. In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

I called up True today and asked the girl how come you keep playing the same 3 or 4 shows on the sports channel while there is live golf and many other sports available . Her answer was if you want to watch golf you should get the golf channel , I said well what does having the golf channel have to do with repeating the same stuff over and over again on the sports channel ?

She said , well sir you are the only one complaining !

Really talking to Trues staff is like talking to a retarded 4 year old . They have no idea about customer service .

PS if I could get astro here in Chiang Mai would order in a minute .

And If there are any other HDTV customers out there reading this , I would think it would be great if you all called True and told them that there is more than one customer pissed off about their crap service and that you would like to talk to a manager, not that one ever called me back or would speak to me on the phone .

More fantastic customer service from good old TRUE!! They just don't care . . . . . and they don't have to when they are the only provider in most cases!! I really don't know what other options are available to you in the Chiang Mai area. Downloading is an option, but I'm sure like me you just want to sit down and watch TV without the added hassle of having to download everything all of the time? I download a lot but sometimes when I come in after a long day I just want to put my feet up and watch TV . . . . . !

Good luck!

[maamoot]

Dozens ? I would think that means at least 24 HDTV Channels . Well I guess this will be filed under " I will believe it when I see it "

Also article mentions 3 HDTV channels . pretty sure there is only 2 right now .

This would be nice if it actually happens , but True has pretty limited credibility in most peoples opinion .

"He said True was now confident about the HDTV market potential in Thailand after signing up 12,000 subscribers to the service during the one-month World Cup tournament"

I bet more than 3/4's of them are regretting signing up in the first place (due to false advertising), and would get their money back if they could . . . . True have such a long way to go even to get their 2 HDTV channels to function. The sports channel only shows repeats on repeats of old & last years sporting events. The movie channel plays the same repeats as on the normal SD channel, and in most instances the compression of the picture is terrible and it looks like cr@p!! And all of this from a company that still transmits in mono sound on SD, not much hope is there for a proper HD TV service. As you can see I am one of the " most people" mentioned above.

Get rid of the monopoly and allow other satellite companies to compete for our business, thats the only way we will ever get a decent TV/Satellite provider here in Thailand. In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

I called up True today and asked the girl how come you keep playing the same 3 or 4 shows on the sports channel while there is live golf and many other sports available . Her answer was if you want to watch golf you should get the golf channel , I said well what does having the golf channel have to do with repeating the same stuff over and over again on the sports channel ?

She said , well sir you are the only one complaining !

Really talking to Trues staff is like talking to a retarded 4 year old . They have no idea about customer service .

PS if I could get astro here in Chiang Mai would order in a minute .

And If there are any other HDTV customers out there reading this , I would think it would be great if you all called True and told them that there is more than one customer pissed off about their crap service and that you would like to talk to a manager, not that one ever called me back or would speak to me on the phone .

More fantastic customer service from good old TRUE!! They just don't care . . . . . and they don't have to when they are the only provider in most cases!! I really don't know what other options are available to you in the Chiang Mai area. Downloading is an option, but I'm sure like me you just want to sit down and watch TV without the added hassle of having to download everything all of the time? I download a lot but sometimes when I come in after a long day I just want to put my feet up and watch TV . . . . . !

Good luck!

Ya I hear you about just sitting down and watching the tv , but I download everything that I want to watch in better than HDTV quality , that is except the news and live sports of course . I can and do download some sports but what I really wanted from the True sports channel was live sports .

But they just have no idea about how to run a business , I worked in customer service for the phone company in Canada for 26 years , we were not perfect but when I customer wants to talk to a supervisor they talk a supervisor . The tech support for true are very poor at their job , at least most of them . They don't understand the product they are selling , and to tell you the truth they just don't care . When you try to reason with them , they display no sense of logic . I mean when I asked them how come you don't have golf on the sports channel , their reply is golf is on the golf channel . Using this logic , they will I guess there will be a channel for every different sport .

But a heads up to anyone thinking about subscribing to this crummy service , unless they do get all these new hdtv channels and who knows if anything true says is true , don't bother , you will imo regret it .

[stgrhe]

They don't understand the product they are selling , and to tell you the truth they just don't care .

Let's face it, the typical Thai mentality is:

- Carelessness

- No professional pride

- Total lack of responsibility

so I suppose the staff at True's attitude is probably what one can expect here in this Thai protective country.

[maamoot]

They don't understand the product they are selling , and to tell you the truth they just don't care .

Let's face it, the typical Thai mentality is:

- Carelessness

- No professional pride

- Total lack of responsibility

so I suppose the staff at True's attitude is probably what one can expect here in this Thai protective country.

Ya of course they are not all like that , but I think it comes from the management down . There is no pride in the product or service that they are selling , pretty much zero knowledge of what the product or service is . Dealing with children most of the time , but you have to blame management of course , I don't know what they hel_l they are doing but they sure as hel_l are not doing their jobs . I quit paying my True bill today and I regret ever signing up for the crap service in the first place , my bad .

If Astro is ever available here I would sign up in a minute .

[stgrhe]

If Astro is ever available here I would sign up in a minute .

But it is, just take a look at JSAT, but the reception might not work i Northern Thailand. Also the satellite is broadcasting using Ku-band, which means rain could cause disturbances.

http://www.jsat.tv/s...ro-network.html

[bkk_mike]

But I think as a side note that most Thai's are very reluctant to complain .

Isn't it more a matter of, like the internet here, most Thais have never experienced a proper digital TV service and think what they get here is as good as other countries.

[craigt3365]

But I think as a side note that most Thai's are very reluctant to complain .

Isn't it more a matter of, like the internet here, most Thais have never experienced a proper digital TV service and think what they get here is as good as other countries.

I think the problem is no competition...makes you fat and lazy...like True! Their offerings are pretty sad. Open it up and I guarantee you will see somebody come into the market with a better setup.

[maamoot]

Noppadol Dej-Udom, group chief financial officer of True Corporation.

Does this guy get up in the morning and wonder how full of crap he is or does he already know ?

[astral]

TrueVisions, the pay-TV subsidiary of True Corporation, is moving aggressively to promote its HDTV (high-definition television) service to expand its foothold in the new segment.

I thought the expression was "monopoly".........

[JohnnyFeelIt]

When are more HD channels due?

[nikster]

They don't understand the product they are selling , and to tell you the truth they just don't care .

Let's face it, the typical Thai mentality is:

- Carelessness

- No professional pride

- Total lack of responsibility

so I suppose the staff at True's attitude is probably what one can expect here in this Thai protective country.

Let's face it the typical ThaiVisa poster mentality is:

- Complain

- Complain

- Complain

I know pointing this out isn't going to change anything given the attitude. I just find it very boring.

True TV kinda sucks (note I didn't say Thailand sucks, or pull out racial stereotypes), I did sign up for the HD service and haven't watched it since the world cup, basically. Ok, the odd Tennis tournament was also nice. That said it's clearly way better than their standard signal, so more programs is good news, and makes sense.

[apetley]

In the mean time I will stay with Astro and my 8, and soon to be 12 HD channels.

Are you using Astro provided by JSAT or is there another provider in Thailand? I am considering Astro too as I find True much too poor. Secondly, I do not speak Thai and have no interest in the Thai channels.

Depends where you are living I believe JSAT are the main supplier in Bangkok. I dont use JSAT have a look at this http://www.comsat.co.th/index.php?id=135

Regards

IW

I can recommend bnpsat.com as well. They have a few offices scattered around I believe.

[nikster]

But I think as a side note that most Thai's are very reluctant to complain .

Isn't it more a matter of, like the internet here, most Thais have never experienced a proper digital TV service and think what they get here is as good as other countries.

I think the problem is no competition...makes you fat and lazy...like True! Their offerings are pretty sad. Open it up and I guarantee you will see somebody come into the market with a better setup.

Yes, exactly. True is pretty competitive in mobile and internet - where they have competition...

[pitrevie]

Years ago I subscribed to their top package only to find a short time later they added more channels which cost more. I think we have moved from gold to platinum not sure if the present one is titanium. Not exactly sure what happens when we have exhausted all the elements.

[apetley]

There's swindlenium, gypnium and screwmanium left so there's a few alternatives for future packages.

[jfchandler]

I understand about the monopoly issue, but remember just the other day, MCOT announced plans within the next couple months to roll out their VING broadband television service and were boasting about 1,000 available channels....a mix of live, on demand and supposed premium.

Who knows what's going to come of that...since there was absolutely no detail of what kind of content VING will have available. But I suspect True is at least feeling some pressure from that direction, especially considering that MCOT is basically the Thai government.

There was a separate TVisa thread here about MCOT's VING project, leading off with the news stories on the announcement that day... In that thread, we had a good time joking about the likelihood we'll all have a lot more Panda channels to watch soon.

By the way, re True's HD plans.... did you catch the True guy's comment about needing to remove "unpopular" SD channels in order to make way for the new HD channels, whatever they may be...

They just got thru adding a bunch of new (mostly uninteresting) channels last year to expand their channel lineup... Now they're going to start cutting back on channels, and charging more to replace those with fewer HD channels (1 HD channel equals bandwidth of 3 SD channels???)

I wonder who's going to decide what the "unpopular" channels on True are... They'd better be careful, because if they use that standard, they might well end up removing their entire channel lineup.

[bkkjames]

I understand about the monopoly issue, but remember just the other day, MCOT announced plans within the next couple months to roll out their VING broadband television service and were boasting about 1,000 available channels....a mix of live, on demand and supposed premium.

Who knows what's going to come of that...since there was absolutely no detail of what kind of content VING will have available. But I suspect True is at least feeling some pressure from that direction, especially considering that MCOT is basically the Thai government.

There was a separate TVisa thread here about MCOT's VING project, leading off with the news stories on the announcement that day... In that thread, we had a good time joking about the likelihood we'll all have a lot more Panda channels to watch soon.

By the way, re True's HD plans.... did you catch the True guy's comment about needing to remove "unpopular" SD channels in order to make way for the new HD channels, whatever they may be...

They just got thru adding a bunch of new (mostly uninteresting) channels last year to expand their channel lineup... Now they're going to start cutting back on channels, and charging more to replace those with fewer HD channels (1 HD channel equals bandwidth of 3 SD channels???)

I wonder who's going to decide what the "unpopular" channels on True are... They'd better be careful, because if they use that standard, they might well end up removing their entire channel lineup.

Unpopular SD channels - unlikely to be those channels dedicated to talking about nothing 24.5 hours a day.

On my receiver it shows a bunch of future channels available in 100+ zone. Can't those be used or are they only for show.

MCOT 1000 channels - sounds nice - gonna have to hire a whole bunch of people good a blurring stuff.

HD or not HD, this is the question. Besides the sports, I haven't seen anything on HBO that would warrant me making the upgrade. Am I missing something?

[jfchandler]

Here's an idea...how about the True Repeats Channel?

TRC--Bringing you the best repeats of shows already shown on True that already were repeats of shows shown in the rest of the world years ago... All in STUNNING HD quality (except where we don't have any HD repeats to show).

Premiering on TRC this month -- the latest original first year series of "The Beverly Hillbillies" starring Buddy Ebsen (may he rest in peace). Uncut and with no blurring....except when they're drinking moonshine.

[sfokevin]

Years ago I subscribed to their top package only to find a short time later they added more channels which cost more. I think we have moved from gold to platinum not sure if the present one is titanium. Not exactly sure what happens when we have exhausted all the elements.

I believe the 24HD package is called Unobtainium....

Pricing to be announced :jap:

[bkkjames]

Here's an idea...how about the True Repeats Channel?

TRC--Bringing you the best repeats of shows already shown on True that already were repeats of shows shown in the rest of the world years ago... All in STUNNING HD quality (except where we don't have any HD repeats to show).

Premiering on TRC this month -- the latest original first year series of "The Beverly Hillbillies" starring Buddy Ebsen (may he rest in peace). Uncut and with no blurring....except when they're drinking moonshine.

MASH, All in the Family and The Jefferson's. Perhaps a little too politically insensitive for today's world but worth watching in HD or SD.

[sfokevin]

Here's an idea...how about the True Repeats Channel?

TRC--Bringing you the best repeats of shows already shown on True that already were repeats of shows shown in the rest of the world years ago... All in STUNNING HD quality (except where we don't have any HD repeats to show).

Premiering on TRC this month -- the latest original first year series of "The Beverly Hillbillies" starring Buddy Ebsen (may he rest in peace). Uncut and with no blurring....except when they're drinking moonshine.

I wonder if they have a blur big enough for when Granny whips out her shotgun?...

[jfchandler]

I was JOKING, James!!!!!