Digital TV operators welcome govt help

PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday invoked the special power under Article 44 of the Interim Charter to issue relief measures for digital-TV operators, who have faced business difficulties for problems that many say were caused by the state regulator, as well as the global economic slowdown.
The moves, which include extending the deadline under which state agencies have to return their radio spectra – or bandwidth – for reallocation, were welcomed by broadcasters, who said they would help ease financial strain. 
The PM’s order extends the deadline for all 21 state agencies to return their spectra to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission by another five years from the original deadline of April next year.
The PM’s order also allows the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund Commission to subsidise the monthly cost faced by digital-TV broadcasters for transmitting their programmes to satellite and cable platforms for three years, at a total subsidy of Bt2.5 billion. 
The fund commission will pass the subsidy to Channel TV 5, which will seek transmission services for broadcasters. Currently, broadcasters seek transmission services on their own.
It is estimated that each standard definition channel can save Bt15 million per year in transmission costs and each high-definition channel can save Bt60 million a year. 
This subsidy will apply for all 22 commercial broadcasters and four public broadcasters.
The order also increases the instalments of upfront licence payments that 22 digital-TV broadcasters must pay by an additional three instalments.
The orders were published in the Royal Gazette yesterday.
Originally broadcasters had to pay a minimum price upfront for their licences, plus an “exceeded value” sum. The minimum amount had to be paid in four instalments, starting with a 50 per cent upfront fee, followed by 30 per cent, 10 per cent and a final 10 per |cent.
At the same time, they had to pay the “excess” in six instalments, starting with 10 per cent of the amount in the first two instalments, then 20 per cent in the remaining four instalments. 
The broadcasters have already paid three instalments for the minimum price and the excess. The fourth instalment is due next May. 
Under the PM’s order, broadcasters can now pay half the original payment for the remaining instalments for minimum price and excess price. 
This will help ease the burden that faced by broadcasters, who have been lobbying the government for relief in the face of intense competition, plus disappointing advertising revenue and viewer numbers. 
But state coffers will still gain the same revenue. 
It means broadcasters will be able to pay smaller sums to the government in their next payments – 5 per cent in the fourth instalment and a final 5 per cent in the fifth round, instead of 10 per cent in a fourth round, as originally planned.
For the excess fee, they will pay 10 per cent of the remaining sum in the fourth to the ninth rounds, instead of 20 per cent as originally planned in rounds four to six. 
The instalment payments will be |subject to interest of 1.5 per cent for the fifth to ninth years, under the new arrangement. 
Thepchai Yong, chairman of the board of directors at Nation Multi-media Group (NMG), said the change was good news for digital TV operators. 
“It is a relief measure that will help digital TV operators out of their current financial burden,” he said. 
“Financial problems that digital TV operators face stem from the NBTC not being able to fulfil its commitment to those business firms, who won bids for digital-TV channels. 
“It then caused problems, including inadequate reception of digital-TV signals and small numbers of penetration – which didn’t reach the level projected initially by the NBTC.”

More money for content development
Kematat Paladesh, president of the Radio and Television Broadcasting Professional Federation and president of Bangkok Media and Broadcasting (the operator of PPTV digital channel), |welcomed the “very good news”, which had come after some TV operators and his federation put more effort into |convincing the regulator to support the industry. 
He suggested that the new rates could help TV operators cut costs so they would have more money to spend on content development to attract viewers. 
The broadcasting committee of the NBTC held an auction in Dec 2013 |that resulted in 24 digital-TV licences being granted to 17 bidders the following April. The total value of licence |payments was Bt50.86 billion, spread over six years.
But there are only 16 operators left now, running 22 channels. Two licences held by Thai TV Co were revoked by the regulator, after the company refused to pay a second instalment of its upfront fee late last year.