Planet Communications plans more business in digital studio system

Chief executive officer Prapat Rathlertkarn said yesterday that his company had been in talks with at least five TV broadcasters on providing them with production and studio equipment, media asset management and outside broadcasting (OB) vans. He identified these as Channel 3, Channel 7, Thairath TV, Voice TV and Amarin TV.
The company will assemble three OB vans for Bangkok Entertainment Company, the operator of Channel 3, for a cost of Bt50 million. The company expects to deliver those vans next year.
This year, the company inked two deals with digital TV stations. Spingnews Television spent Bt50 million for robotic studios while GMM Grammy also invested Bt40 million in new studios for expanding its production capacity.
Prapat said broadcasting production and studios accounted for about 25 per cent of revenue from equipment provision. Of total income, the provision and support of equipment represents about 90 per cent, while the rest comes from sales of digital-TV set-top boxes.
Under its new strategy, the company aims to see at least 20-per-cent growth next year, mainly driven by digital broadcasting. This year’s revenue is expected to jump by 20 per cent from last year’s Bt750 million.
PlanetComm is expanding its business in media platforms by introducing hybrid set-top boxes, which are able to handle both digital terrestrial TV signals and cable-based high-speed Internet.
Prapat said his company would collaborate with leading cable-network operators such as CAT Telecom, Symphony and TOT to expand fibre-optic service upcountry. Its customers will be able to watch both digital and Internet protocol TV, as well as accessing high-speed Internet, via the hybrid set-top boxes.
PlanetComm expects its new business ventures to generate about 30 per cent of total income next year, with the rest coming from its business in telecom and broadcasting equipment.