Channels 7, 3 plan to keep airing analog shows while concessions last
CHANNEL 7 and Channel 3 plan |to continue their analog broadc|asting until their concessions from the government expire, but the regulator may have other ideas about that.
Supinya Klangnarong, a member of the broadcasting committee of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said yesterday that her panel would today discuss the proposals submitted separately by the top two broadcasters.
Bangkok Broadcasting and Television (BBTV) – the operator of Channel 7 – notified the NBTC in writing that it would pull its analog broadcasting operation nationwide and return its frequency to the regulator immediately after its concession with the Army expires on May 2023.
However, BBTV and the Army are expected to wind down this old service in areas where no analog receivers are found.
For Channel 3, Bangkok Entertainment Company also offered the same option by saying that its analog system would be technically terminated when its broadcasting concession from MCOT runs out in 2020.
Supinya strongly opposed the moves from both stations.
“It does not make sense to keep the analog system of Channel 7 and Channel 3 until their concessions come to an end because other broadcasters like the Army’s TV5 and MCOT’s Modernine TV are set to stop airing their analog programmes by 2018, when digital terrestrial TV will reach all households,” she said.
Both MCOT and the Army were granted rights to manage digital TV networks in return for speeding up the analog switch-off.
If both MCOT and the Army fail to support the transition from analog to digital TV, it might lead to an opportunity loss for the country, she said.
