MCOT revises TV programme schedule
MCOT is planning next month to revamp its television programme schedule in a bid to build confidence among advertisers and ad agencies after suffering a drop in revenue last year due to fierce competition from new players.
This year, the state media enterprise looks to be facing a tough situation after long-time content partners like Exact and Workpoint Entertainment decided to depart, taking with them some key programmes from Modernine TV to their own digital terrestrial-TV channels.
However, MCOT director-general Sivaporn Chomsumwan said yesterday that his company had prepared its strategies to retain confidence among both advertising investors and audiences with a newly revamped programme schedule at Modernine TV, which is being simulcast via the MCOT HD channel on the digital-TV platform.
The new schedule and programmes will be announced next month, while the new programmes will start to be aired from March to June, he said.
Key new programmes include famous international TV formats, while new local content partners will produce entertainment shows for the station.
Apart from this, MCOT’s news unit – Thai News Agency – will focus more on investigative news reporting, agricultural news and the latest stories about technology that can be used for business.
Thai News Agency will team up with its subsidiary, Panorana Worldwide, to produce documentaries for Modernine TV.
Yesterday, MCOT also announced the appointment of Yuthasak Supasorn as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He fills the post from which Jessada Promjart resigned last year.
Before joining MCOT, Yuthasak was director-general of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion.
To retain the station’s current content providers, Sivaporn said in a previous interview that the company did not plan to raise advertising fees at Modernine TV this year. The fee for prime-time slots will be maintained at around Bt450,000 per minute.
The director-general said this was aimed at retaining key content producers for its analog-TV channel, which is a major source of revenue for the state media enterprise.
Additionally, big producers like TV Burapa, Woody World and Panorama Worldwide still stay with MCOT.
For this year, MCOT has earmarked Bt5.24 billion for management, employment and new investment in the two TV channels and its digital-TV transmission network. The budget has been approved by the Cabinet.
Of that amount, Bt1.96 billion will be used to build the transmission network, while Bt2.94 billion will be spent on annual digital-TV licence fees.
Sivaporn said new businesses such as organising events and concerts to support its TV programmes would add to the revenue stream this year, although television would still be the main income source.
Fifty-six per cent of MCOT’s revenue comes from its TV business, and 16 per cent from radio broadcasting.
