Metropolis 107 English Radio, Bangkok Closing Down

[wilko]

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!!!!!

totally agree...I feel it's all part of keeping foreigners in their place. Far too Western for the Thai "great & good".

Same mentality that gets so paranoid about land ownership.

MODS...can't we merge all the 107 threads?????

[wilko]

Don't worry everybody.....it's all OK......I've just heard the news the new radio station is going to be a "hub" for international music!

Thailand has more hubs than a cleptomaniac's bedroom wall

[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.

Sorry Mobi...you're 25 years out of date!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

I have no reason to doubt your comments, as indeed I have no information as to why the station has been closed/changed/ re-formatted.

However, it was pretty clear if you listened regularly that it had very few ads, and no top of the market stuff, like we had back in the 80's.

A station without ads cannot survive - and I imagine those farang dj's didn't come that cheap - certainly not compared to what they would pay for Thai dj's.

I would also say the productions costs were relatively high, and the income was very low.

The station re-invented itself a few years back and that's when it bacame Metropolis FM. Before that it had very few ads and after it became Metropolis the ads didn't increase much.

OK, I accept it may have been a political decision - but I bet that the profitability of the station was also very critical.

So.. I stand by a lot of what I said in my first post - it may have been a good station for farangs - but farangs don't sell station ad time. I still believe they could have done it - but they didn't know how - so it has been canned by the powers that be.

Wilco, if you have any specific info on why it was canned, please enlighten us.

[Mobi]

[

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.

Swagman - I left in Sept 1983. Were you there before then? We may know each other.

As you say - "those were the days my friend...."

[Mobi]

New FM 107 aims for younger crowd

PLOY CHITSOMBOON

MCOT Plc yesterday signed an agreement with four major music labels, aiming to increase the popularity of its relaunched Met FM 107 radio station. President Mingkwan Sangsuwan said the company had come to an agreement with EMI Records, Sony BMG Entertainment, Universal, and Warner Music Group to operate the music station around the clock.

''Today's event is phenomenal, since it's very hard to bring all the big music [players] together in one place,'' Mr Mingkwan said.

The agreement coincided with the demise at midnight on Tuesday of Metropolis 107, which had played pop and rock hits from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

It also carried news from the BBC, Radio Australia and Voice of America.

The format and its personable English-speaking disc jockeys were popular with expats and over-40 listeners but advertising revenue was poor. Still, its passing was lamented in local online chatrooms such as Thaivisa.com.

The new Met 107 format offers more contemporary pop, hip-hop and other music aimed at a younger audience.

Mr Mingkwan said the agreement with the four major labels would spur growing demand for international music among Thai listeners.

''These [music companies] hold a total market share of 81.7% of the world's music industry,'' he added.

Strengthening its radio channel is one of the state-owned broadcaster's plans to increase revenue this year to four billion baht. Its flagship property is television Channel 9 and it also operates the Thai News Agency.

MCOT posted a first-half net profit of 710 million baht, up 30% year-on-year. First-half revenue rose 22% to 2.08 billion baht, with TV revenue up 21% to 1.3 billion and radio revenue rising 53% to 385 million.

Under the partnerships, Mr Mingkwan said the four music labels would also co-ordinate with MCOT to provide chart listings, music videos, concert tickets, and memorabilia for promotional purposes.

EMI Records is the third-largest record company in the world, having been home to artists such as The Beatles, Coldplay and Norah Jones.

Sony BMG is famous for artists such as Oasis, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin and Tata Young. Warner Music is home to Madonna, Linkin Park, Missy Elliott and Green Day.

Universal Music's big names include U2, 50 Cent, and Black Eyed Peas.

Bangkok Post , 17th August.

There you go - now you know.

I wasn't too far out was I?

If the old team had been a bit more with it, I reckon they could have avoided their demise, which was clearly down to money.

[Sulaphat]

Heard the new format this afternoon for the first time. Rap music with profanity.

What trash.

How sad.

[wilko]

New FM 107 aims for younger crowd

PLOY CHITSOMBOON

MCOT Plc yesterday signed an agreement with four major music labels, aiming to increase the popularity of its relaunched Met FM 107 radio station. President Mingkwan Sangsuwan said the company had come to an agreement with EMI Records, Sony BMG Entertainment, Universal, and Warner Music Group to operate the music station around the clock.

''Today's event is phenomenal, since it's very hard to bring all the big music [players] together in one place,'' Mr Mingkwan said.

The agreement coincided with the demise at midnight on Tuesday of Metropolis 107, which had played pop and rock hits from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

It also carried news from the BBC, Radio Australia and Voice of America.

The format and its personable English-speaking disc jockeys were popular with expats and over-40 listeners but advertising revenue was poor. Still, its passing was lamented in local online chatrooms such as Thaivisa.com.

The new Met 107 format offers more contemporary pop, hip-hop and other music aimed at a younger audience.

Mr Mingkwan said the agreement with the four major labels would spur growing demand for international music among Thai listeners.

''These [music companies] hold a total market share of 81.7% of the world's music industry,'' he added.

Strengthening its radio channel is one of the state-owned broadcaster's plans to increase revenue this year to four billion baht. Its flagship property is television Channel 9 and it also operates the Thai News Agency.

MCOT posted a first-half net profit of 710 million baht, up 30% year-on-year. First-half revenue rose 22% to 2.08 billion baht, with TV revenue up 21% to 1.3 billion and radio revenue rising 53% to 385 million.

Under the partnerships, Mr Mingkwan said the four music labels would also co-ordinate with MCOT to provide chart listings, music videos, concert tickets, and memorabilia for promotional purposes.

EMI Records is the third-largest record company in the world, having been home to artists such as The Beatles, Coldplay and Norah Jones.

Sony BMG is famous for artists such as Oasis, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin and Tata Young. Warner Music is home to Madonna, Linkin Park, Missy Elliott and Green Day.

Universal Music's big names include U2, 50 Cent, and Black Eyed Peas.

Bangkok Post , 17th August.

There you go - now you know.

I wasn't too far out was I?

If the old team had been a bit more with it, I reckon they could have avoided their demise, which was clearly down to money.

And you believe all that...what agree, to do what? What are they doing that other stations aren't doing?

where's the new revenue?Where's the advertising?

This is a govt run institution....

[Mobi]

And you believe all that...what agree, to do what? What are they doing that other stations aren't doing?

where's the new revenue?Where's the advertising?

This is a govt run institution....

Every radio station in Thailand is governement or quasi government owned and controlled. they sell the airwaves to influencial parties/ highest bidders. Sometimes air time is sold several times over and each time the price goes up.

I didn't say the new format would do better - I simply said the old format was not clearly not producing much revenue.

I agree the new format is crap - but they decided to change it to do 'something better' and increase their profits. Probabay the old contract came to an end and the production company could not afford increased rates due to poor advertising revenue.

There's no station on earth that will make a profit on day one. The FM 107 I ran 25 years ago took over 6 months to break even.

It doesn't surprise me in the least that they got the boot. This is Thailand - Thai people listen to the radio - a few thousand farang listeners is not going to produce many sponsors, if they can't also attract a decent number of A1 Thai audience.

If you want to see a conspiracy and a anti-foreigner campaign under every bed then its up to you.

In this country money is paramount - always was - and in the old days we used to deliver a brown paper parcel full of dosh to the director of the forunner of MCOT.

Then one day someone came up with a bigger parcel of money and the crowd I was working with were kicked out.

We are now seeing history repeat itself.

With respect, I think I might know a little more about this business than you.

'nuff said.

[Tony Clifton]

They now play mostly R&B and rap. Surely targeting the large black population of Bangkok

If you think it was bad before, it's now rotten. How could they come up with "Thailand's Favourite International Station" on the very first day when no one had had a chance to decide so?

I only tune in for the frequent and diversified news broadcasts, once the music starts, it's back to the luktung and morlam stations.

[Tony Clifton]

Interesting Mobi.

This new format will surely get scrapped eventually. I can't see it survive very long.

[Mobi]

Interesting Mobi.

This new format will surely get scrapped eventually. I can't see it survive very long.

It is interesting. I haven't listened to it very much - as you say a lot of r'n'b and rap, mixed in with all kinds of stuff - some of it not too bad. An eclectic mixture. I mainly liistened when driving to Bangkok as not much other choice.. To start with, no dj's at all, just pre -recorded station id's etc. The last time I listened thaey had afemale presenter/dj who sounded distinctly amateurish. The new format is still evolving - it remains to be seen if it will attract a large audience.

On a poll of one - my wife - she definitely prefers the new to the old.

My guess is that the current licence holders for 107 paid a large sum of money for the concession, outbidding the old lot - or paid more "under the table" or simnply had more 'connections".

Either way, they aren't going to give up any time soon unless they either go broke, or the new "regime" clears them out for any reason.

We must accept that the new sattion may eventually attract more listeners than the old format (BTW young modern Bankok Thais like rap), but it is a shame that in a city the size of Bangkok, with it's large expat population and tourist industry that, there is no room for a station like the old 107.

[wilko]

The new music being played is mostly quite old, ex-chart music...it looks as if they've done a deal to take all the dross and the has been stuff.

[webbew]

Well... it looks like all of the radio stations in Bangkok are following the lead of the radio stations in every other major market city in the world and selling out to the big mega-corporations. I guess everyone should have known this was coming sooner rather than later when Virgin Records stormed into town and bought up half of the stations on the air.

Here in the US, stations change ownership at the drop of a dollar bill. We also have lots of stations that don't even have DJ's anymore. It's all automated. You guys have that to look forward to as well.

[Khun Bob]

I left bkk a couple of weeks ago and just wondered if they actually have DJ's on 107 now as before I left it was still under construction but stay tuned - actually I totally tuned out and switched the radio off !!

It would be nice to know of a station that plays old thai music - stuff that is about 30-70 years old - in panthipplaza and other places there is a stall with all the old thai music - a stattion that plays this music...

[DUMPSTER]

They now have Thai DJ's and it now sounds very similar to 105.5. They still have the news in English and playing songs with mother f###er in the lyrics. it was better without DJ's now it's awful.

[wilko]

They now have Thai DJ's and it now sounds very similar to 105.5. They still have the news in English and playing songs with mother f###er in the lyrics. it was better without DJ's now it's awful.

It is pretty clear now that the station is aiming at an audience with a large number of Thais. This means that the English Language audience is being virtually ignored.

Now it may be that it is not a commercially viable audience on strict economic grounds, but when did that ever apply in Thailand?

I have no idea of the Figures or demographics for a potential EL audience within the 107 footprint but I would be very surprised if it didn’t merit some form of radio station.

Many countries provide foreign language radio for minorities especially in large urban areas. They do this not purely for direct financial gain but because of the beneficial effects it has in all areas of inter-relationship between that community and the host or majority language speakers.

107FM can been received in Pattaya as well as Bkk and I’m sure it’s not just an expat audience here but also tourist, business and other EL users who would enjoy and benefit from a station broadcasting entertainment and information in English. MCOT is a government run institution and I fail to see how the closure of the EL service was purely a commercial decision. I feel the the approach of the EL 107 could have been much improved but with it’s “closure” they have lost an opportunity here that would been of mutual benefit to both Thai and EL speakers in this Kingdom.

[jbowman1993]

Seems to me the powers that be are a little busy to be worried about setting up a farang radio station. Ask them next year.

[Khun Bob]

Mmmhhh - when i was in bkk i lived in thai student acommodation and never once did i hear the students listening to the music played on 107... And if they are aiming at a young female audience with young male DJ's and playing some Black African American (not sure if this is PC - there are some other words I could use but wont as they are certainly not PC) music with explicit, profane lyrics, I just fail to see how 20 something thai girls would be interested or want to buy this music.

In the local student food court there was a juke box and it mainly played thai bangkok group songs - little luuk thung or morlam - but it was interesting to see the expressions when i played some morlam and the students couldnt figure who had chosen that and why they didnt get to hear some farang music after I had payed for a song - actually there was no farang music in the juke box.

The only time I heard students listening to music close to 107 was in a covered area of the university where there were people break dancing - even then the music played had no explicit lyrics and sounded alot better than the new 107. I have to say that some thais are pretty good at this and it is good to see how thais do this in a positive way. In a mall in Khon Kaen there was even a break dance festival and it was done as a positive constructive form of expression. Unlike some other countries...

[wilko]

Seems to me the powers that be are a little busy to be worried about setting up a farang radio station. Ask them next year.

Or conversely NOW might be a good time?