CTH eyes higher growth by venturing into IPTV service
On top of its satellite-based pay-TV business, CTH targets additional growth via the provision of Internet protocol television (IPTV) service next year, capitalising on the expansion of broadband Internet and the government's digital-economy policy.
They will be conducted by its subsidiary GMM Broadcasting, the operator of GMM Z Pay TV.
Chirdsak Kukiattinun, chief executive officer of GMM Broadcasting, said yesterday that his company had joined forces with Data CDMA Communication to develop and introduce an IPTV set-top box, the ZIPtv.
The equipment can work with both wired and wireless Internet service, which is an improvement on CTH’s previous version, My World by CTH, which works only with cable lines.
Chirdsak said the company was aiming for sales of least 500,000 of the set-top boxes, with the main target customers being young-generation urbanites.
The ZIPtv box offers four key features: three-day time-shift, three-day catch-up, live streaming and video-on-demand service.
GMM Broadcasting is confident about its pricing strategy. Instead of offering a 12-month package, it will provide customers an affordable price of Bt3,790 for a four-month package, he said.
“This offer, we think, is reasonable and persuasive for mass consumers,” the CEO added.
Meanwhile, Chirdsak – who is also chairman of the CTH executive committee – said satellite-based pay-TV service would also continue to be in focus next year, with the company aiming for an additional million subscribers over the course of the year, particularly prepaid customers.
By end of this year, CTH expects to have 2 million subscribers, while GMM Broadcasting will have one million. Combined full-year revenue from the companies is estimated at about Bt4 billion, rising sharply next year to Bt9 billion.
The chief executive said its killer-content English Premier League (EPL) coverage still remained a key revenue driver for the company.
This year, advertising and sponsorship income from the soccer competition’s broadcasting rights will be at least Bt700 million, growing to around Bt1 billion in 2015.
The cost of live broadcasting of EPL games remains by far the largest part of CTH’s content investment, at 70 per cent, but the company has high hopes of breaking even on its EPL investment by the end of next year, he added.
CTH paid about £200 million (Bt10.3 billion) to acquire three consecutive seasons of the EPL, from 2013-14 to 2015-16.
The company is keen on participating in the EPL’s next round of bidding, for which potential tenders will be welcome next year, he stressed.
