GMM plans joint bid for rights to EPL

“It seems difficult, but we believe it is not impossible,” chairman Paiboon Damrong-chaitham said yesterday.
Though Paiboon declined to mention the names of those companies, free-to-air broadcasters, subscription and satellite TV were included in his potential list.
He added that acquiring the broadcasting rights of the Premier League was meaningful for GMM 1Sky, a new subsidiary for satellite TV, broadcasting platform services, home-shopping business and sports management.
His company has earmarked about Bt2 billion to Bt3 billion for the bid.
Meanwhile, GMM Grammy is experiencing saturation in the music market as it has already become the leading player, with 80-per-cent market share. The company aims to enjoy huge growth from this new business.
GMM 1Sky, which was earlier named 1Sky Multimedia, led by marketing guru Thana Thienachariya as chief executive officer expects sales of 1.5 million 1Sky set-top boxes by the end of the year, generating at least Bt1.5 billion in revenue.
It is also offering pay-TV service for its subscribers with imported content from leading production houses and international channels as well as sports content such as Euro 2012 and Germany’s Bundesliga 2012-15.
Additionally, advertising fees and sports-related events are among the key sources of revenue for GMM 1Sky. The company plans to increase advertising rates of its satellite TV channels and also jointly produce programmes on its free-to-air channels.
With all those marketing efforts, Paiboon believes that his company will see about 20-per-cent growth to Bt12 billion in revenue this year, mainly driven by music and the media business. GMM 1Sky should contribute 20 per cent of total revenue and could hit break-even point by the end of this year.