Published on August 27, 2005

Nation Channel, a 24-hour news channel operated by Nation Broadcasting Co Ltd, is marking its fifth anniversary with a plan to become a digital-based TV station under the MMDS terrestrial system next month. Adisak Limprungpatanakij, president of Nation Broadcasting, said Nation Channel had been appointed by Thai Television (TTV) to change its broadcasting system from analogue to fully digital.

With digital broadcasting technology, Nation Channel will increase its number of channels from eight to 16. The move into a fully digital TV station will allow it to provide viewers with a greater variety of programmes - movies, cartoons, foreign news and documentaries - after installation of a set-top box at home to access the channels.

“We celebrate our fifth anniversary with the clear standpoint of being a 24-hour news station - the first in Thailand. Our next direction at Nation Channel is to become a regional player, relying on our strengths of English capability and the reputation of The Nation newspaper,” Adisak said.

Many exciting events are being held at Impact Arena Hall 6 to mark the fifth anniversary and the big new leap of the Nation Group.

The Nation Channel pavilion inside the hall demonstrates the access of Nation Channel content through Internet broadband, as well as other media services such as television, radio and mobile telephones in the broadband zone. An MMDS antenna clinic has been set up to give advice to viewers of the TTV channels.

Speaking on “The Changing Point of Thai Radio and Television Towards a Digital World” held yesterday at the ceremony celebrating the Nation Channel’s fifth anniversary, PM’s Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva said local broadcasting laws and regulations were out of date and needed to be reviewed.

Suranan plans to hold talks with local stakeholders in the television industry - TV operators, content providers and NGOs - to review the legal regulations for TV media in Thailand.

Brainstorming ideas will help the government to create the new framework - involving all participants and appropriate to them all - that can cope with the changes in broadcasting technology, he said. Network providers and broadcasting operators should be in partnership to develop the “backbone” broadcasting technology and the technology superhighway to avoid any duplication of investment. They should join together to set the direction of the industry.

Thailand has great potential to become the media hub of the region by bringing talents together within the industry from network providers, operators and content providers, Suranand added.

“I have seen the major challenges to the Thai broadcasting industry, which are technology, content, and local laws and regulations,” he said.

The minister also said that Thailand did not have its own broadcasting technologies and must import them from abroad. Local players should apply and adjust broadcasting technologies to cope with local conditions and requirements. Local content providers need to create programmes that meet the interest of viewers.

“Thailand has been characterised as a ‘music video society’ as local viewers have a short attention span and prefer to switch to other channels if programming is not interesting from the beginning,” he said, adding that content providers should provide for their own self-regulation and censorship.

Pravit Maleenont, managing director of BEC World Plc, operator of Channel 3, said there were no appropriate conditions agreed to by all stakeholders: broadcasting operators, academics, the general public and the government. Grey areas occur in the market spawned by new advanced digital technology. Those players who do not respect the law and regulations benefit, while those who strictly follow broadcasting regulations suffer.

Kosit Suvinijjit, chief executive of Media of Medias, a leading TV programme producer, said current broadcasting regulations did not allow private firms to conduct content provision legally in Thailand. Many companies make use of legal loopholes to broadcast their content from abroad, using digital satellite-TV technology.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation

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