NBTC defends Springnews deal to run FM 98.5

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NBTC defends Springnews deal to run FM 98.5

BANGKOK: THE National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission yesterday insisted that its contract with Springnews TV operator to operate the FM 98.5 radio station is lawful and its process was transparent.

Some had questioned whether it was appropriate for the NBTC as a regulator to act as a broadcaster by holding radio frequencies.

Meanwhile, Supinya Klangnarong, a member of the NBTC's broadcasting committee, had questioned why the selection process had begun without her panel's approval. But NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith yesterday said the selection process for the operator of the station was fair, transparent and in accordance with broadcasting regulations.

He said that after a previous contract held by Independent Network was terminated, the NBTC was obligated to call tenders to select another company to operate FM 98.5, commonly known as 1 Por Nor, and co-produce radio programmes for it.

"There were three bidders, GMM Grammy, Lukthung Thailand and News Network Multimedia," he said.

"After looking into the qualifications and relevant documents from all bidders, we finally decided to pick News Network Multimedia, a subsidiary of Springnews Corporation, as the winner of the bid because the company offered the best benefits, totalling Bt2.461 million a month inclusive of VAT," or value-added tax.

GMM Grammy offered just Bt1.4 million a month while Lukthung presented monthly benefits of Bt1.5 million.

The one-year contract between the NBTC Office and News Network Multimedia was sealed last month and Spring Radio will take to the airwaves in Bangkok tomorrow. Takorn stressed that all revenue incurred under this contract must be collected as government income and the contract was based on time-sharing and co-production conditions, not frequency allocation.

Springnews Corp, the operator of Springnews TV news station, called an urgent press conference to stress that its time-leasing contract to operate FM 98.5 granted by the NBTC was lawful and legitimate. Watanya Wongopasi, vice chairwoman for business management of Springnews Corp, said radio business was a part of the company's business strategy as multi-platform content provider.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/NBTC-defends-Springnews-deal-to-run-FM-98-5-30271978.html

-- The Nation 2015-10-31

[Srikcir]

NBTC's authority is to allocate all commercial spectrum licenses via auction and monitor broadcast operations in compliance with Thai laws and NBTC regulations. NBTC's actions to auction FM 98.5 and issue a license to the highest responsible bidder seems correct.

However, there is mention to "co-produce radio programmes for it." If NBTC becomes involved in co-production of programs owned or co-owned by NBTC, then it has become a broadcaster. More importantly, such a joint programming operation with a license holder represents a conflict of interest for which NBTC should be held accountable.