Major TV stations post better results in Q3 as ad spending grows on new digital format

Among all 24 digital terrestrial channels, Nation TV posted a surge in business in the third quarter. Revenue sprang up 91 per cent to Bt121.18 million from Bt63.41 million in the same quarter last year. 

Nation Broadcasting Corp president Adisak Limprungpatanakij is confident that the station’s advertising revenue will continue to perform well as viewership expands. 

An analyst at KKTrade, a member of Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group, said NBC apparently gained more viewers after broadcasting on the digital platform. 

The continuing distribution of discount vouchers for digital receivers by the regulator is a key driver of the viewer base.

Other key players in the digital-TV business also witnessed good feedback. An analyst from Bualuang Securities expects Workpoint Creative TV and RS Channel 8 to post growth in the third quarter. 

Workpoint Creative TV is now ranked as third in market share, after Channel 7 and Channel 3. The analyst believes that Workpoint has the potential to increase its average advertising rate from Bt35,000 per minute to Bt38,000 by the end of this year and to Bt55,000 next year with a billing rate of 75-80 per cent of sellable airtime. 

There is also more room for RS Channel 8 to hike its ad rate for this quarter, the analyst said. 

Saithip Montrikul Na Audhaya, co-chief executive officer of GMM Grammy, said that after her company revamped its programming at GMM Channel last month, the station received a very good response from both advertisers and viewers.

Saithip said the vision and brand positioning of the station were now clear. 

GMM Channel is a digital terrestrial TV station for variety programmes targeted at young adults and GMM’s fans as the key audience base.

After discussing with leading media agencies, she learned that advertisers had already prepared their budgets for next year to be spent on both analog and digital TV channels. 

“This means we have an opportunity next year to see more growth from advertisement revenue,” she said during a ceremony to mark the 31st anniversary of the country’s largest music and entertainment empire – GMM Grammy. 

Paiboon Damrongchaitham, chairman of GMM Grammy, said the company’s two digital TV channels – One HD and GMM Channel – would be key boosters for the company’s growth next year while the macroeconomy will also get back on track. 

But it seemed to be a different story for some terrestrial-based analog TV broadcasters, as they lost both viewers and ad revenue. 

A Bualuang Securities analyst referred to data from Nielsen (Thailand) on the change in audience and advertising shares in the TV broadcasting market. In September, digital TV rose to 28.3 per cent of total spending in the TV broadcasting industry from 4.5 per cent in April. 

The analyst believes this trend was bad news for some analog TV operators, including the second-largest player – Channel 3.