Major digital-TV operators opt for affordable ad rates

During interviews with high-ranking executives from digital-TV broadcasters, The Nation has learned that advertising rates at their channels range from Bt10,000 to Bt200,000 per minute, which is considerably less than the rates at analog channels.
To attract local advertisers and brands, and particularly first-time advertisers, some digital-TV operators prefer to offer affordable and flexible advertising packages.
Surapol Perapongpipath, managing director of GMM Digital HD Trading – the operator of One HD variety channel – said the station’s packages would be flexible, allowing advertisers to design and place TV commercials and tie-in ads at the right time, and to communicate with the right audience.
Though One HD sets its ad rate for prime-time slots at about Bt100,000 per minute, he said there were many affordable options for new advertisers to publicise their brands via its high-quality channel.
Adisak Limprungpatanakij, president of Nation Broadcasting Corp, the operator of Nation TV – a digital-TV news channel – said budget allocation from large advertisers via leading media agencies remained important for the company’s TV operations.
However, new advertisers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, are also being targeted, he said.
“I still believe that the arrival of digital terrestrial TV broadcasting is opening more doors for local business operators. The affordable ad rates will encourage them to have more confidence to spend their budgets via digital free-TV channels,” he said.
Apart from affordability, some digital-TV operators are planning to create programmes for specific target audiences in a bid to attract advertisers that want to communicate directly with those consumers.
Voice TV, for example, plans to offer three new programmes aimed at young adult viewers: a news commentary segment, “Club Jobber” and “U Debate”.
Voice TV chief executive officer Makin Petpla said the quality of programmes was a very important factor. This year, his company has therefore prepared Bt600 million for content development and production costs, considerably higher than last year’s Bt400-million budget.
“We have increased our investment to ensure that the quality of TV shows is better and that they can attract new advertisers, especially small and medium-sized businesses,” he said.
SME advertisers also remain a key target for satellite-TV broadcasters.
RS chief operating officer Pornpan Techarungchaikul said that from her direct experience in satellite-TV business, she had learned that there was huge demand from SME advertisers.
RS first entered the broadcasting business with satellite-TV stations including Channel 2, Channel 8, You Channel, Sabaidee TV and Sun Channel. After winning a digital-TV licence in the 2013 spectrum auction, the company decided to transform Channel 8 into a digital-TV channel for variety programmes, while its other satellite-TV channels remained unchanged, she said.
Pornpan explained that as Channel 8 would be a key driver for RS’s broadcasting business, the company had set aside a huge investment budget for programming in order to improve its TV ratings and attract higher income.
In the meantime, its satellite-TV channels are set to support clients who cannot afford Channel 8 after average rates at the digital channel are increased to Bt50,000 this month, from Bt10,000 in December, she said.
As to the size of the market, Nielsen (Thailand) estimates Bt70 billion in annual advertising expenditure via TV stations. However, while this is based on key sources, it does not include in-house ads and SME advertisers, as those sources contract directly with TV stations and other media outlets.
The ad-spending estimate via TV channels therefore comes mainly from media agencies.