TrueVisions treading a tightrope over HBO and football

Thailand’s largest pay-TV operator is like a girlfriend who keeps misbehaving but then tends to be super-sweet after each serious breach of trust. And you can’t leave her because you don’t quite know how to begin again.
When TrueVisions cancelled popular HBO movie channels recently, it was a deja vu moment for subscribers like me, coming just a few years after live coverage of English Premier League football was scrapped. The HBO and EPL decisions were purely business, influenced by the staggering costs of broadcast rights, yet both were tough to swallow for the countless TrueVisions customers who signed up specifically because they love watching great films and top-flight English football.
No legal action was possible following the EPL decision. Many TrueVisions customers ended up taking simultaneous subscriptions with another pay-TV operator, CTH, which out of nowhere launched an astronomical bid to clinch Premier League broadcasting rights. The result: many customers had to pay more because TrueVisions did not do so. It goes without saying that I was among them.
This time around, quite a few customers are pondering legal action. (I’m thinking about it.) Their case is based on the claim that TrueVisions failed to follow the rules for notifying customers of a service change. The company is required to inform subscribers of such a decision 30 days in advance, but the big change was made public only a few days before it took effect. Many subscribers, including myself, first heard news of the HBO decision through the tweets of a member of the National Broadcasting and Telecoms Commission.
Thanks to the NBTC, the TV operator is now facing fines, with further sanctions likely in the pipeline. The regulator acted after receiving complaints from subscribers, who have also criticised TrueVisions on web-boards and through the social media. My own criticism was in the form of a single tweet pointing out that there was no better way for TrueVisions to risk a subscriber rebellion. This article is only my second act of protest.
The company has tried to pacify customers with a series of offers, but those adamant on taking legal action insist that the legal contract with subscribers has been broken. TrueVisions has offered several new movie and variety channels to compensate the absence of HBO programmes. Subscribers’ response to the new channels has been lukewarm, partly because they didn’t begin airing until after New Year’s Day, and partly because they are nagged by the question “Where am I gonna watch ‘Game of Thrones’ now?”
In other words, TrueVisions gave viewers the opportunity to watch Jennifer Aniston at her awesome best in “Friends” once again, but took away Arya Stark in “Game of Thrones”. Was that a smart move? You tell me.
TrueVisions’ other compensatory measure was to upgrade each subscription package by one step for a month. Again, many subscribers were disdainful of what they saw as a cynical move timed to appease the NBTC and deflect much-warranted criticism.
Of course TrueVisions will insist it has every right to pull back from expensive and perhaps overpriced content. From its customers’ perspective, though, the programmes in question were the very reason they subscribed in the first place. It’s undeniable that HBO movies and Premier League soccer were the big draw for people walking into TrueVisions shops.
Now you can see why I compare TrueVisions to a roller-coaster romance. She advertised something you thought you could cherish forever. And when she shattered that dream, she immediately offered something else to keep you interested.
TrueVisions has come a long way since the early days of limited and patchy content, to unrivalled pay-TV operator in Thailand. However, HBO and English football have always been its main selling points – a good business strategy when the company could afford it, and a bad one when the content costs skyrocketed.
 Broadcasters always walk this tightrope. TrueVisions’ reliance on popular programmes from big-name providers can be a trap. On the one hand, the programmes draw crowds of subscribers. On the other hand, having to pull marquee names off the bill because of their rising fees risks breaching the trust of customers who paid to see them. 
Drawing subscribers is hard, but keeping them satisfied is harder. TrueVisions is learning the lesson the hard way. For everybody’s sake, we can only hope this is a blessing in disguise, because HBO is unlikely to be the last case of a pay-TV operator changing channels.
As for me, things are still up in the air. A roller-coaster romance will make you sick eventually. “Once bitten, twice shy”, goes the saying – although for me it’s “twice bitten” already.