Metropolis 107 English Radio, Bangkok Closing Down

[Khun Bob]

There's not many english language FM radio stations i can pick up on my 100baht radio in bangkok and there will be one less next month. Metrolplis 107 fm will be closing down next month and this is definite as i was told by one of their dj's last night.

This is a shame as it is the only radio station i listen to and the only english language news and music i get. Admittedly they do play golden oldies but its better than the thai alternatives (for long stints anyway - ie more than 30 minutes....)

Twas the first time i got a request played on the radio in my life and i get told this... Still such is life - will have to get a bigger aerial and use the short wave band on my 100 baht radio, but i doubt it works or only receives non english language stations...

[Mobi]

I may be wrong, but I reckon FM 107 have no one but themselves to blame for their demise.

Back in the late seventies/early eighties, I was the general manager of the first English language radio staion in BKK, after they had been closed down by the military government, some years earlier.

We ran the original FM 107, and even imported the transmitter, and I bet it's the same one they are using today.

If anyone remembers, our theme was "Soft and Warm, the quite Storm" We had a carefully selected play list of soft pop, jazz, funky music, and ballads, and we stuck to an easy ,smooth and very professional American radio type formula of the times. We trained our dj's to speak in a particular way, not too much, just keep the music 'soft and warm", and to keep everything flowing.

It took a while, but within about 6 months our station was the talk of the town. Th A1 Thais loved it, and we were swamped with literally thousands of fan letters daily, and even had groupies queueing up outside the office doors. The farags loved it as well, but the key to our successs was the Thais - the ones who had been educated abroad, who had been educated at the good schools here and the ones who wanted to improve their English and be part of the upper 'in' crowd.. We built a huge following amongst the Hi So Thais very quickly.

And it wasn't long before the advertisers came flocking to our doors. All our ads were in English, with Thai tags at the end, and believe it or not we had to turn away advertisers because we had a self imposed limit per hour, so as not to spoil the programme content. We had all the top advertisers; The oriental Hotel - in fact all the major 5 star hotels would use us to promote special events, all the top restaurants, airlines, auto companies - you name it, we had it, the agencies loved us - we charged 4 times the going rate as Thai stations, so they got more commission.

So what's happened in the intervening 25 years. Well I left the country in 1983, the company I was with lost the contract with the then MCOT, and it has been going down hill ever since. They lost the plot long ago. The farangs may love the seventies music - but the Thais don't want to know - and it's the Thais that the advertisers want to reach. The dj's, by and large, are pretty amateurish and it's just a folksy, farang station, and not the original professional outfut that was designed to attract the Hi-So Thais, as well as farangs.

They scewed it up, and I bet they don't even know why.

That's what I reckon anyway.

[GuestHouse]

An interesting insight and one that backs an observation I've made many times about business in Thailand.

Thais are quick, extremely quick to copy of takeover a winning formula - Seldom, if ever do they add to it, rather it disapears down the drain of no imagination.

[wilko]

I for one will miss 107, it had its faults but I enjoyed the overall format. I guess one of the reasons for sticking to a pre-nineties play list was to avoid any royalty hassles.

I liked the DJ-ing in general as it was based on the informal UK/Aussie style.

However I do think that there has been a cock-up on the advertising front. The station can be clearly received in Pattaya AND I picked it up on Samui. These are all farang hang-outs. Maybe rather than chasing Scott Birds'-nest beverage and Arab airlines they might have chased Supermarkets, mobile phone companies, car rental/sales etc and other companies servicing the ex-pats and the tourism industry in Thailand rather than outside the country or its targeted demographic.

Above all I'll miss waking up in the morning to a quality news service from the Beeb or ABC; with the demise of BBC on cable I now have no reliable source of news.

Edited July 24, 2006 by wilko

[Scott]

I will miss it as well and will be going in to get a CD player installed. I liked the radio station as did a lot of my Thai friends--none of whom are Hi So., but who are office workers with a good command of English. I also know a number of students who listen to it.

[Khun Bob]

I for one will miss 107, it had its faults but I enjoyed the overall format. I guess one of the reasons for sticking to a pre-nineties play list was to avoid any royalty hassles.

Seperate question : How old does a song have to be before it is not necessary to pay royalties if played on a radio station ?

Cheers

[udon]

Above all I'll miss waking up in the morning to a quality news service from the Beeb or ABC; with the demise of BBC on cable I now have no reliable source of news.

Hi Wilko,

you mean you don't listen online to Aunty or the ABC?

[marquess]

I will miss it as well and will be going in to get a CD player installed. I liked the radio station as did a lot of my Thai friends--none of whom are Hi So., but who are office workers with a good command of English. I also know a number of students who listen to it.

Well I for one will miss the station when it goes, especially the BBC news that starts off my day at 5am. I wonder what the DJs will do, for a living now does anyone know. And for that matter, what are the DJ from the now defunct 105.5 doing? Radio here in Thailand has never been good and the propects in the future look equally as bad. Thanks heavens for the internet!

[Mobi]

My earlier critisism of FM 107 was a'professional' view, not personal view. I too enjoyed their 70's music and their 'not too' professional D'J's. It's a pity they didn't realise that they had to adapt a bit to keep everyone happy, and draw a bigger Thai audience.

So many farangs think that English radio, Englsih newspapers (B. Post, The nation etc), and English TV (UBC) are aimed at them. Well, by and large they are not - they are aimed at the top end of the Thai market. (What better example can I give than the news recently that our revered Gen Prem, only ever reads the Bangkpk Post)

It's a pity that FM 107 lost the plot.

As I have moved to Pattaya, I didn't realise that FM105.5 has also gone. I still listened to FM107 via the internet - and incidentally, for all you who are going to miss English radio and English news, the BBC web site provide 24 hour coverage of all their domestic staions, and reception is usually very good. I pipe it to speakers all round my house and on my pool terrace. Radio 4 in the late morning, followed by radios 5 and 2.

Just like being in England.

[marquess]

My earlier critisism of FM 107 was a'professional' view, not personal view. I too enjoyed their 70's music and their 'not too' professional D'J's. It's a pity they didn't realise that they had to adapt a bit to keep everyone happy, and draw a bigger Thai audience.

So many farangs think that English radio, Englsih newspapers (B. Post, The nation etc), and English TV (UBC) are aimed at them. Well, by and large they are not - they are aimed at the top end of the Thai market. (What better example can I give than the news recently that our revered Gen Prem, only ever reads the Bangkpk Post)

It's a pity that FM 107 lost the plot.

As I have moved to Pattaya, I didn't realise that FM105.5 has also gone. I still listened to FM107 via the internet - and incidentally, for all you who are going to miss English radio and English news, the BBC web site provide 24 hour coverage of all their domestic staions, and reception is usually very good. I pipe it to speakers all round my house and on my pool terrace. Radio 4 in the late morning, followed by radios 5 and 2.

Just like being in England.

That might well be so, but unfortunately I can't operate my computer by remote control, therefore I would have to get out of bed at 0500 just to hear the BBC news!

[Mobi]

That might well be so, but unfortunately I can't operate my computer by remote control, therefore I would have to get out of bed at 0500 just to hear the BBC news!

Leave your computer on all night, tuned to the BBC, and buy some cordless headphones. When you wake up in the morning, switch on your headphones.

Bob's your Uncle

[Khun Bob]

Listening today and they are now bradcasting the fact that the station will be changing on August 15 - wasnt listening that hard but seemed to pick up that there may be a new station coming along after that... But the DJ today didnt know anything about the station afterwards...

Just have to stay tuned...

The DJ i spoke to says he just did it for a "hobby" but I dont think this is the case for the weekday DJ's.

[Khun Bob]

Isnt there digital radio stations on satellite here that have good english language news on them ?

Also anyone considered getting a short wave radio and a long (the longer the better - like some other things in life !) piece of wire as an aerial. I use to do this a few years ago and around 14Mhz you can get round the world easy and commercial stations have massive transmitters - not tried it here as the SW on my 100baht radio is more of a gimmick..

[Khutan]

FM107 going. Well the repetitive lift music will hopefully stop bombarding the Airwaves. Apart from the news, the remainder of the format was to fill time between the news.

Their Play Lists were the rubbish I avoided listening to in the 70's and 80's MOR (Midle Of the Road)it was called then, and its equally as bad today. There were an infinite number of more tracks they could have played.

Well, I have not been bothered listening to them for a number of months, so I say, turn off the transmitter and save the electricity bill.

after edit

Just as another note, you can stream most radio stations around the world from your GPRS Mobile handset. Yes there are probems, but then you can choose what you want.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Khutan

[Greer]

Its a real shame that any radio station closes down. All that separates a good station from a bad one is the format and how it is received by the demographic at which they aim.

I have worked in the media all my life and seeing the demise of a place that has the technical capability to provide a quality source of entertainment and information is extremely sad.

I guess we will end up with more Thai radio in Thai with irritating very badly copied "pseudo-yank" accents on the announcers when they say anything in English - gawd help us!

Before anyone hits me for complaining that the radio will be in Thai, I am not actually attacking that aspect of it, just that there are so many radio stations transmitting in the official language of the country, but so few in anything like reasonable English (try putting up with Radio Thailand News for more than 30 seconds)!

The fact is that there is a large enough expat community here, with a large enough tourist input, to make it worth while having at least one good quality English language station providing entertainment, news, and information.

I stress "good quality" - meaning "good quality English" - as pointed out by Mobi, Thailand is much more aware these days of the need for decent language skills and a quality radio station can help toward attaining that goal.

I hope the one that inherits their spectrum space is a worthwhile replacement.

If not - you can always log into the BBC or one of the Australian or American networks on line - assuming your local telecoms provider has worked out which bit of wet string to plug into the internet!

[wilko]

I for one will miss 107, it had its faults but I enjoyed the overall format. I guess one of the reasons for sticking to a pre-nineties play list was to avoid any royalty hassles.

Seperate question : How old does a song have to be before it is not necessary to pay royalties if played on a radio station ?

Cheers

I don't know exactly....you'd be better off asking Mobi....I think the amount is reduced or phased out...

[Crossy]

According to the man this morning :-

107 goes bi-lingual as of 1/8/06, with 'very young DJs', all the existing DJs have been let go.

I suppose we shall just have to see what it's like.

[wilko]

Above all I'll miss waking up in the morning to a quality news service from the Beeb or ABC; with the demise of BBC on cable I now have no reliable source of news.

Hi Wilko,

you mean you don't listen online to Aunty or the ABC?

Unfortunately I have a crappy dial-up connection and none whatsoever in my car!

[Khun Bob]

According to the man this morning :-

107 goes bi-lingual as of 1/8/06, with 'very young DJs', all the existing DJs have been let go.

I suppose we shall just have to see what it's like.

Gee - the existing dj's are not that old

So will it be like thai TV - childrens TV 24/7 ?

Will be good to hear some thai spoken english too... if dont like listen - up to you !

I could do the same with my home brew FM transmitter and a mic down at the local university food court.

As you can tell, not too pleased about this - what other options are there - is there any other english language and music playing stations that can be picked up on a 100 baht radio in bangkok ?

[webfact]

I am wondering what has happened to this excellent

radio station ???

Any information on that is appreciated

[geoffphuket]

I am wondering what has happened to this excellent

radio station ???

Any information on that is appreciated

No problem on the internet - http://radio.mcot.net/107.htm

[Crossy]

Definately still on air in BKK as of 20:45 3/8/06

This station is undergoing format and staffing changes, there's another thread somewhere discussing what's going on (try a search, I can't be @rsed at the mo).

[wilko]

Anyone who thinks the demise of the old Mtropolis station was a free market "commercial" decision is deluding themselves.........

[wilko]

I may be wrong, but I reckon FM 107 have no one but themselves to blame for their demise.

Back in the late seventies/early eighties, I was the general manager of the first English language radio staion in BKK, after they had been closed down by the military government, some years earlier.

We ran the original FM 107, and even imported the transmitter, and I bet it's the same one they are using today.

If anyone remembers, our theme was "Soft and Warm, the quite Storm" We had a carefully selected play list of soft pop, jazz, funky music, and ballads, and we stuck to an easy ,smooth and very professional American radio type formula of the times. We trained our dj's to speak in a particular way, not too much, just keep the music 'soft and warm", and to keep everything flowing.

It took a while, but within about 6 months our station was the talk of the town. Th A1 Thais loved it, and we were swamped with literally thousands of fan letters daily, and even had groupies queueing up outside the office doors. The farags loved it as well, but the key to our successs was the Thais - the ones who had been educated abroad, who had been educated at the good schools here and the ones who wanted to improve their English and be part of the upper 'in' crowd.. We built a huge following amongst the Hi So Thais very quickly.

And it wasn't long before the advertisers came flocking to our doors. All our ads were in English, with Thai tags at the end, and believe it or not we had to turn away advertisers because we had a self imposed limit per hour, so as not to spoil the programme content. We had all the top advertisers; The oriental Hotel - in fact all the major 5 star hotels would use us to promote special events, all the top restaurants, airlines, auto companies - you name it, we had it, the agencies loved us - we charged 4 times the going rate as Thai stations, so they got more commission.

So what's happened in the intervening 25 years. Well I left the country in 1983, the company I was with lost the contract with the then MCOT, and it has been going down hill ever since. They lost the plot long ago. The farangs may love the seventies music - but the Thais don't want to know - and it's the Thais that the advertisers want to reach. The dj's, by and large, are pretty amateurish and it's just a folksy, farang station, and not the original professional outfut that was designed to attract the Hi-So Thais, as well as farangs.

They scewed it up, and I bet they don't even know why.

That's what I reckon anyway.

Sorry Mobi...you're 25 years out of date! This waS A POLITICAL OR SELF - SERVING DECISION

[wilko]

Anyone who thinks the demise of the old Mtropolis station was a free market "commercial" decision is deluding themselves.........

[Khun Bob]

listening to the new met 107 now and seems like they will have tp pay a few more royalty fees now...

The jingles are interesting..

Not heard any of the dj's yet as it is night time - but there is bbc news :-)

[udon]

That might well be so, but unfortunately I can't operate my computer by remote control, therefore I would have to get out of bed at 0500 just to hear the BBC news!

Leave your computer on all night, tuned to the BBC, and buy some cordless headphones. When you wake up in the morning, switch on your headphones.

Bob's your Uncle

Good idea.

What is the range of cordless headphones?

The ABC has Parliament on all day at present and news on the imternet.

You can imagine how interesting the Aussie parliament is.

[the swagman]

I may be wrong, but I reckon FM 107 have no one but themselves to blame for their demise.

Back in the late seventies/early eighties, I was the general manager of the first English language radio staion in BKK, after they had been closed down by the military government, some years earlier.

We ran the original FM 107, and even imported the transmitter, and I bet it's the same one they are using today.

If anyone remembers, our theme was "Soft and Warm, the quite Storm" We had a carefully selected play list of soft pop, jazz, funky music, and ballads, and we stuck to an easy ,smooth and very professional American radio type formula of the times. We trained our dj's to speak in a particular way, not too much, just keep the music 'soft and warm", and to keep everything flowing.

It took a while, but within about 6 months our station was the talk of the town. Th A1 Thais loved it, and we were swamped with literally thousands of fan letters daily, and even had groupies queueing up outside the office doors. The farags loved it as well, but the key to our successs was the Thais - the ones who had been educated abroad, who had been educated at the good schools here and the ones who wanted to improve their English and be part of the upper 'in' crowd.. We built a huge following amongst the Hi So Thais very quickly.

And it wasn't long before the advertisers came flocking to our doors. All our ads were in English, with Thai tags at the end, and believe it or not we had to turn away advertisers because we had a self imposed limit per hour, so as not to spoil the programme content. We had all the top advertisers; The oriental Hotel - in fact all the major 5 star hotels would use us to promote special events, all the top restaurants, airlines, auto companies - you name it, we had it, the agencies loved us - we charged 4 times the going rate as Thai stations, so they got more commission.

So what's happened in the intervening 25 years. Well I left the country in 1983, the company I was with lost the contract with the then MCOT, and it has been going down hill ever since. They lost the plot long ago. The farangs may love the seventies music - but the Thais don't want to know - and it's the Thais that the advertisers want to reach. The dj's, by and large, are pretty amateurish and it's just a folksy, farang station, and not the original professional outfut that was designed to attract the Hi-So Thais, as well as farangs.

They scewed it up, and I bet they don't even know why.

That's what I reckon anyway.

I do remember 'soft and warm, the quiet storm'

I bet I could still say it the same way now.

I was a dj at 107 back in the early eighties. It was a fun place to work, the music was different and as you say we attracted quite a following.

You say the djs by and large are pretty amateurish ....... gee, the first time I had ever been in a radio station was when I went o see a mate working at 107, I was asked if I wanted to be a dj,........ of course everyone wants to be a dj......... and so after having never been in a radio station to being a dj in a week was quite a thrill. The crew was a eclectic mix of foreigners on the mics, mind you most of them were residents of the Kingdom since they were kids, and me. TYhe Thais in the office and in the studio were excellent. It was a great way to get to know Thais and to learn how to work with them, not for or against them. Many memories. Thank you.

It will be sad to see or hear the end of 107 The Quiet Storm.

[thaihome]

listening to the new met 107 now and seems like they will have tp pay a few more royalty fees now...

The jingles are interesting..

Not heard any of the dj's yet as it is night time - but there is bbc news :-)

Left the radio on 107 driving in this morning. No apparent dj's. Between each song had a girl sorta sing what I thought was International 107". Also, 2 of the songs in 20 minutes were some sort of rap sh*t that would not have ordinarily been played.

See what happens, but sounds very much like the driver is going to get a bunch of CD to put in the player on random…

TH

[nonthaburial]

Today is the new format intro of 107 and what a load of old garbage it is. Been on the air a couple of heart beats and their promos are spouting "Thailands favourite international station" I was so impressed I totally wiped off all pre settings on my receivers.

In my opinion this has been a huge mistake by all decision makers and have done themselves or MCOT any favours at all!!!!!