TrueVisions package targets soccer fans
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Pay TV operator TrueVisions has launched a monthly package offering broadcasts of Thai and English Premier League soccer matches to prepare for fiercer competition in the sport-broadcast sector.
The package, which costs Bt300 monthly, offers 72 programmes, including seven English Premier League matches of Manchester United, plus three matches of other teams in the league, during April and May. It also covers 306 Thai Premier League matches.
People who do not subscribe to True need to buy a TrueLife Plus set-top box worth Bt1,590 to receive the programmes.
Ongard Prapakamol, TrueVisions’ chief commercial officer, said the package aimed to acquire 150,000 subscribers this year. The company already has more than 2 million subscribers.
A company source said TrueVisions planned to launch another similar package next month offering only foreign soccer content.
GMM Grammy has acquired the broadcasting rights of major soccer matches, such as Germany’s Bundesliga in a three-year deal covering the 2012 to 2015 seasons and Euro 2012, while RS this year won the three-year broadcasting rights for La Liga, Spain’s top league.
This year TrueVisions aims to grow its subscription base by 25-30 per cent, the same projected growth as the overall pay-TV market. Of the 2 million households it serves, 25 per cent are premium customers, who account for 70 per cent of revenue.
Many companies, including GMM and TrueVisions, are keen to bid for the broadcasting rights to English Premier League matches from 2013 to 2016.
TrueVisions’ existing three-year broadcasting rights for the Premier League will expire next year, and a new round of bidding for the rights will take place in the middle of this year.
