BBTV keen to get gamut of digital service
Bangkok Broadcasting and TV (BBTV), the operator of Channel 7, is eager to bid for separate licences for infrastructure, network, service and spectrum-holding so that it can fully control its own digital terrestrial broadcasting service across the country
The planned bidding for the four licences is considered to be the largest investment in 45 years by the popular TV broadcaster.
“We want to ensure the company can retain its security and business stability despite the digital transformation,” BBTV managing director Saran Wiruttamawong said yesterday.
BBTV has had a broadcasting concession contract with the Royal Thai Army, a spectrum holder, to operate analogue terrestrial TV Channel 7 since 1967. The contract expires in 2022.
Channel 7 has been the Kingdom’s most popular television channel for many years, according to a TV rating survey by media agency Nielsen Thailand.
This partly results from BBTV’s aggressive strategy to expand its main broadcasting towers to cover all parts of the country, enabling it to become the first TV operator to reach more than 90 per cent of Thai households.
Currently, BBTV has 37 broadcasting towers, which are mainly used for very-high-frequency (VHF) transmission.
Saran said the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) had decided to use ultra-high-frequency (UHF) transmission to replace VHF usage for digital terrestrial TV broadcasting, despite the fact that technically, VHF transmission would allow a broadcaster to send a terrestrial signal covering a larger area than UHF transmission.
Given this factor, Channel 7’s current extensive coverage area will be likely be cut to just 30 per cent of households, he said, adding that this means a huge investment for the company during the trial broadcasting of digital terrestrial TV service, also known as the “simulcast period”.
According to the NBTC, those who receive a licence to be an infrastructure provider must be responsible for investment in 48 main broadcasting towers and about 140 supporting towers across the country – an overall investment cost estimated by some industry insiders at about Bt4 billion.
Meanwhile, over the past couple of years, BBTV has invested heavily in advanced technology at Channel 7, such as high-definition technology for TV production and the broadcasting system, as well as news-gathering equipment.
Therefore, the company is likely to join the bidding for operating licences for a high-definition TV channel as its production and people are all set for such a move, the head of BBTV said.
