In 2013, there were 22 million households in Thailand and an estimated 98% of households had television at homes. Prior to 2012, in the absence of National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) there was a regulatory vacuum in the market. Despite this void, several broadcast services have emerged and evolved swiftly.
Regional cable operators and satellite players (FTA and Pay) have rapidly expanded in the market that is currently dominated by the state/ military controlled terrestrial television. Thailand market showcases cross media holding scenario from various verticals into broadcasting industry.
Pay-TV
According to Business Monitor International (BMI), TrueVisions, part of the True Group, is Thailand’s largest pay-TV provider, with 1.6m subscribers at the end of Q2 2012.
However, its customer base has been in steady decline due to competition. Cable Thai Holding (CTH) made headlines when it won the audio and visual broadcast rights for three consecutive seasons of EPL football (seasons 2013 to 2016) for a fee described in press reports as totalling £202 million, the highest in Asia, representing an increase of 432%, according to CASBAA.
Analogue terrestrial
Analogue terrestrial television is currently the traditional way of receiving television in Thailand, however it has now largely been supplanted by digital providers.
There are 6 analogue channels – Channel 3, TV5, CH7, Modernine TV, NBT and Thai PBS. Modernine TV and Channel 3 are owned by MCOT. TV5 and BBTV CH7 are owned by Royal Thai Army. NBT and Thai PBS are fully government-owned. Analogue terrestrial transmissions were scheduled to be switched off in phases as part of the digital switchover, expected to be completed in 2020.
Digital terrestrial
In 2005, the Ministry of Information announced their plan to digitalise nationwide free-to-air TV broadcasts led by MCOT. Four types of licenses are offered as followed − High- Def. channel license, Standard-Def. channel license, News channel license and Youth/Family channel license. All the major operators and content owners in the industry won the bid for new licenses. According to the license condition, DTTV services launched since April 2014. There are a total of 48 digital broadcast channels.
Satellite television
Thailand’s sole satellite television operator, Thaicom launched the TrueVisions service in 1998. It currently holds exclusive rights from the Thai government to offer satellite television broadcasting services in the country through the year 2017. The rights were extended to 2022 recently.
Keeping it real & entertaining
Thailand’s JKN Global Media is ready to rock the local content market with more royal family documentary. The content distribution and production house made headlines a few years ago with the launch of The People’s King.
JKN’s founding partner and sole owner today, Jakapong or better known as Andrew to the world, says the doc was one of his greatest collaboration with AETN’s History Channel as it brings out the Thai culture from the King himself. It was Andrew’s relentless pursuit to populate and propagate the seamier side of the country with a twist in the doc. Andrew makes no secret of the debt of inspiration he owes to King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The People’s King traces the extraordinary life of King Bhumibol Adulyadej from his childhood in Switzerland to his unexpected accession to the throne. Who is the man behind the throne and how has he managed to retain the respect and adoration of his people throughout his reign? The emphasis is on recounting the King’s good works and his position amongst the people, and there is no critical evaluation in the fi lm. The fi lm covers his overseas birth and education, his artistic endeavours and the many works he has engaged in to help develop his country and alleviate the suffering of his people.
Besides importing foreign content to Thailand, Andrew’s JKN exports local content through its network. The master of factual is actually a celebrity himself in the entertainment genre with the Andrew Show. The programming is simply based on living to your heart’s content. Hence, Andrew travels with a crew of fi ve to seven with celebrities from different countries to all corners of the globe sharing ideas, local food, sightseeing, shopping, fashion, island hoping, cross dressing, inhabited spaces – both home and offi ce – emotional and physical journeys and people’s relationships. He also interviews ex-politicians, retired celebrities and every other famous or prominent person to simply talk about themselves, hobbies, likes and dislikes in life. Andrew is confi dent of producing suffi cient original content all year round.
Key Developments
In August 2014, PlayBox Technology Asia Pacifi c announced opening of new offi ces in Jakarta and Thailand. The new offi ces will provide engineering and training for new and existing customers.
In December 2014, Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacifi c announced that Toonami was slated to launch in Thailand on January 2015 and will be seen in 11 million households as a cable and satellite channel across the country. Toonami will be broadcasted in Thai language and will have a wide appeal to local viewers with a programme line-up packed with high-octane, top-rating animated series and movies.
In February 2015, CJ E&M announced that it plans to invest in a Thai fi lm, titled Cha-Lui: Touching the Sky, through its partnership with Transformation Films, Thailand’s major fi lm production company.
CJ E&M will also take on the role of distributing the movie in such countries as China, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia.
In April 2015, Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacifi c has partnered with Thai free-to-air broadcaster Channel 3 to host a daily two-hour programming block of POGO-branded content from 30 March. The block offers a mix of animated and liveaction original content from POGO.
In May 2015, it was announced that global phenomenon Brazil Avenue is coming to Thailand. The hit show, which is Globo’s licensing record holder, has been licensed to Media Plex, a cable channel with a profi le aimed at female audiences. It is the fi rst time for the channel to show a Globo telenovela. Brazil Avenue will be dubbed into Thai.
In July 2015, DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and Thai pay TV operator CTH, along with HBO Asia, announced the launch of DreamWorks channel, a brand new kids and family programme service, in Thailand.
This is the fi rst country in Asia to premiere the channel, which DreamWorks and HBO are offering across the region. CTH will make the programming available for the fi rst time in High Defi nition (HD) and programming will be fully dubbed in Thai as of 1 September.
DreamWorks programming will include its signature original series All Hail King Julien, starring the world’s biggest party animal from the hugely successful Madagascar theatrical fi lms, and The Adventures of Puss in Boots, featuring the sword-fi ghting feline fortune-hunter made famous by the Shrek franchise. Dragons: Race to the Edge, inspired by the critically acclaimed How to Train Your Dragon fi lms, will further build out the schedule in Q4 this year, with even more original series expected to be added in early 2016.
Joining the award-winning lineup will be many other established characters, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost in his adventure series Casper’s Scare School, and the new original series Dinotrux, an action-packed adventure series of prehistoric proportions based on a series of award-winning children’s books. The channel will also present a daily morning preschool block, DreamWorks Junior, featuring allnew productions of such favorites as Raa Raa The Noisy Lion and Guess with Jess.
