Fox, CTH in local-content output tie-up
To cash in on the growth of the Thai pay-TV market, Fox International Channels is investing in local-content production in partnership with the country's leading pay-TV operator, Cable Thai Holdings.
CTH yesterday announced a partnership to carry 24 of Fox’s channels on its pay-TV platform, starting from next month.
Among the channels covered by the deal are Nat Geo Adventure HD, Nat Geo Wild HD, Nat Geo Music, Fox Action Movies, Star Chinese Movie, Channel M, Fox Thai, Fox Crime, FX HD, Starworld, Fox Sports News, Channel V HD, Fox News, Sky News HD and Baby TV.
“We are excited to bring our channels of the best-available television content to more than 2.5 million CTH subscribers and other cable operators in Thailand,” Ward L Platt, president of Fox International Channels for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, said yesterday.
He said that following the signing of the non-exclusive agreement, Fox International Channels – part of US-based News Corp’s international multimedia business – would collaborate with its new Thai partner to set up local-content production, which would commence early next year.
Local-content production does not only involve the localisation of international TV shows with subtitling and dubbing, but also means content creation by local staff, he stressed.
Platt said his company had already had great success in this TV format in a number of other countries, such as Taiwan, South Korea and the Philippines.
Apart from local-content production services, Fox International Channels plans to jointly launch “TV everywhere” services that CTH’s subscribers will be able to access on a pay-TV basis via mobile applications on their smart devices.
CTH chairman Wichai Thongtang said that under the partnership with Fox International Channels, the company also hoped that local content produced by CTH would have a window to be distributed via Fox’s network to the global market.
Fox International Channels operates and distributes more than 35 channels that reach more than 550 million viewers across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
CTH chief executive officer Kittsanan Ngampathipong said the long-term partnership agreement formed part of a broader Bt2-billion investment by the company in acquiring foreign content.
Meanwhile, CTH thisThursday will announce its new logo and brand image, which it is introducing in order to build consumer confidence.
On June 16, the company will also reveal its future packaging, including the packages for viewing next season’s English Premier League football.
