Thai TV told to find business partners
Writer:Post ReportersPublished:22/07/2015 at 03:29 AM
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has given cash-strapped Thai TV Co three months to find business partners to shore up its digital TV operations.
The decision was made yesterday after the sides held talks during an additional hearing at the Central Administrative Court.
The three-month period will help Thai TV extend its deadline to stop the broadcast of two digital channels, Local children's and Thai TV news, until Oct 31.
Earlier, the ailing company wanted to return the two licences to the regulator and let the two digital channels go "black screen" on July 26.
Col Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the NBTC's broadcasting panel, said Thai TV was given three months to adjust its business plan and find strategic partners.
During this period, the company still has to air programs on the two channels.
Pantipa Sakulchai, chairwoman of Thai TV, said it was a good solution for both sides.
The TV operator will speed up its search for partners or those who will rent its airtime. It has not yet talked to anyone seriously. Potential partners should have strong financial status.
"If we can't find business partners within the given period, we still stick to our intention to quit the digital TV business," Ms Pantipa said.
Yesterday the sides did not discuss the second installment of auction fees of 288 million baht that Thai TV has failed to pay the regulator since May. They agreed to negotiate about the money again in the next three months when Thai TV has secured business partners.
Ms Pantipa said the NBTC insisted it would not seize Thai TV's bank guarantee during this three-month period. The bank guarantee issued by Bangkok Bank is worth 1.6 billion baht and has Ms Pantipa's own assets as collateral.
Thai TV faces a 300-million-baht loss from running the two channels for more than a year. The licence for the Local children's channel is worth 648 million baht, while the one for Thai TV News is worth 1.3 billion.
However, Col Natee said Thai TV must still pay the NBTC the second installment of its auction fee and annual licence fee. The regulator will charge some interest on the overdue payment.
Thai TV is the only digital TV operator among 24 channels that has failed to pay the second installment of the auction fee.
Ms Pantipa wanted to quit the digital TV business and move her own TV programs from the two digital channels to the satellite and cable platforms. The company has monthly expenses of about 20 million baht for running each channel.
Thai TV decided to file a lawsuit against the NBTC at the Central Administrative Court for failing to facilitate a smooth transition of digital TV. Since the launch of digital TV last year, digital TV operators have been struggling to survive due to delays to subsidy coupon distribution and network expansion.
Initially, the NBTC planned to distribute 22.5 million coupons to Thai households but it had approval from the government to distribute them to only 14 million.
Ms Pantipa said this was a major reason why many digital TV channels have faced losses.
Moreover, the NBTC allowed subsidy coupon holders to redeem hybrid set-top boxes, which can watch both digital and satellite TV via the same box. This approval helped satellite TV platform operators but was not fair to digital TV operators.
Ms Pantipa said she disagreed when the regulator allowed Channel 3 to do a simulcast broadcast, meaning advertisers who poured advertising money into the dominant analogue channel were not interested in buying airtime on digital TV channels.
Last year, advertising spending on analogue channels was about 74 billion baht.