Free magazines on the rise
Though the print media in general is suffering from evaporating advertising revenue, local free magazines are anticipating growth and new players are pouring into the market.
“We estimate the market for free magazines is about Bt50 million annually. This segment is still on the rise,” Sakeson Yoddamnurn, managing director of Show On Network, a small media and entertainment company, said yesterday.
To spread the risk in the magazine business, where more than 50 per cent of costs go for printing, paper and distribution, the company opted to launch its first free magazine in a digital format.
The ezine called Spectrum targets readers aged 20-39 who are connected to online media. It will feature an array of stories in both Thai and English ranging from travel to food and culture to lifestyles.
The app for it is available from Apple and Google’s stores. The company expects at least 50,000 downloads a month.
Kampanat Rodcharoen, director of the company, said the ezine offered a Bt50,000 advertising and sponsoring package that was on a par with physical magazines on the market.
Digital media was playing a key role in the media business mainly due to the improvement in telecommunications infrastructure like wireless broadband Internet and 3G/4G networks. Thais also spend more time on connected mobile devices, he said.
According to an analysis from various sources such as Nielsen, the Digital Advertising Associations of Thailand, Google and Facebook, of its 67 million population, Thailand has 4.7 million tablet users, 34.6 million smartphone users, 28 social network users and 27 million Internet users. “This is business opportunity for our digital magazine,” director Asadang Pakdee said. The company aims for about Bt10 million in revenue.
“If this project succeeds, we will launch another digital magazine targeting the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) group soon,” he said.
Besides the entertainment business, the three founders of Spectrum also run an out-of-home media company called Pano-Revo that operates and manages about 44 digital screens in 44 provinces, including Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Nakhon Ratchasima.
