NBTC warns three digital-TV operators
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The operators of three digital-TV channels for children's and family programmes have been warned by the broadcasting regulator to adjust their programming, as their current schedules do not comply with the regulations governing such terrestrial-based digi
Sombat Leetapata, acting deputy secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunica-tions Commission, said yesterday that its broadcasting committee would hold a workshop with the operators of the MCOT Family, 3Family and Loca channels this month to discuss the correct scheduling under the regulations.
BEC-Multimedia runs the 3Family channel, while Loca is operated by Thai TV.
“We are witnessing that those TV broadcasters are providing general TV programmes, not edutainment programmes for children of different ages, particularly those in pre-school or primary school. They are supposed to place their emphasis more on those areas,” he explained. He said this was the second time that the NBTC’s broadcasting committee had warned the three channel operators about the problem. If there is no improvement after the current warning, the committee might take administrative action, including fines, against them, he added.
Meanwhile, the broadcasting panel yesterday approved the establishment of a working committee to follow up and elaborate on the transition plan for the Army’s TV5 station to become a public-TV broadcaster for national-security programming.
The new committee comprises five people: two representatives from TV5 and another two from the NBTC, plus Pirongrong Ramasoota, media expert and academic from Chulalongkorn University.
In preparation for intense competition in the broadcasting industry following the arrival of digital terrestrial TV, General Pakkapong Praijantr, deputy director for the TV programming department at TV5, said the station had prepared a four-year transition plan to become a public-TV broadcasting service for national-security purposes.
Under the proposed change, TV5 must comply with the NBTC’s regulations governing the 12 public-TV broadcasters.
For the category of national security, TV5 would be allowed to sell only between eight and 10 minutes of advertising on its channel per hour. Currently, it is allowed to sell 12 minutes per hour, like other commercial terrestrial-TV channels.
TV5 will also increase the proportion of news and information related to national-security issues to 70 per cent of its time slots, from 60 per cent at present, within the next four years.
