NBTC's R&D fund rejects ratings research project
The board of directors of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for the Public Interest (BTFP) has agreed with its legal advisers that the Media Research Bureau's research project on television audience ratings does not mee
After a BTFP meeting yesterday, Takorn Tantasith, director and secretary of the fund and secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommuni-cations Commission, said the board had agreed with the view of the NBTC’s subcommittee for legal issues that the MRB’s Bt394.2-million project would not directly benefit the public or consumers.
The subcommittee reasoned that the likely outcome of the project would benefit members of the association who operate private businesses, and not the public or consumers, while urging business operators to team up for such project.
Market mechanisms in the TV broadcasting business will indicate the rating, while the supervision unit introduces rules and regulations, which help promote the competition.
The idea for the research project came after the Media Agency Association of Thailand teamed up with TV broadcasters to set up the MRB, aiming to control and supervise the broadcasting industry’s ratings system.
Recently, ratings company Nielson Nielsen Company (Thailand) formally asked the NBTC and BTFP to review the MRB’s project to see if was in line with the fund’s objectives.
