THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Some digital TVs oppose drafting of new plan

Some digital TVs oppose drafting of new plan

SOME DIGITAL terrestrial TV stations oppose the drafting of the second master plan for radio and television as they believe that the broadcasting regulator still has not delivered on its promises under the current one.

“The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission should extend the execution of the current master plan until the term of the five members of NBTC’s broadcasting committee comes to an end next year,” Adisak Limparungpatanakij, president of Nation Broadcasting Corporation, the operator of Nation TV digital news Channel 22, said yesterday.
“That would ensure that they can use the remaining time to solve all issues in the broadcasting industry,” he said.
Other stations – New TV and TNN 24 – also agree that the broadcasting regulator must fix all problems that surfaced after the launch of digital terrestrial TV. They include a concrete time frame for the analog switch-off, coverage and quality of digital TV signals and a subsidy scheme for media-content development.
Adisak also said there should not be a new radio and TV master plan until the Digital Economy and Society Ministry and two new ministerial agencies – the National Economy Committee and the Digital Economy Promotion Agency – are established to take responsibility for the development of the “digital economy”.
“Under the ongoing changes, the NBTC is expected to be transformed and restructured to suit the whole new structure under the ‘digital economy’ policy,” he said.
This idea was raised among participants from digital-TV stations at a workshop organised by the NBTC to brainstorm on the key components in the draft master plan for national radio and TV broadcasting services, which is expected to replace the current plan when it expires next April.
However, Vichai RoopKhumdee, a member of the working committee on the master plan, said the key intention was not to implement this master plan immediately but the NBTC wanted to prepare essential points before the new members of the NBTC assume office and take up this matter for consideration.
The working panel is led by Peerapong Manakit, a member of the NBTC’s broadcasting committee who oversees a subcommittee on content and TV programming.
The quality of digital-TV transmission was another key issue raised by several representatives from leading TV stations.
A representative from Bangkok Broadcasting and Television, the operator of Channel 7, complained that the quality of digital TV signals both in standard and high definition were unsatisfactory compared with the quality of pictures from satellite TV.
This concern should be added to the second master plan, he said.
Some representatives also called for financial support for content development and TV rating measurement to be written into the next plan.

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