Allowing advertising on Thailand's community radio stations
By Jon Fernquest
Some
community radio stations help people in local communities in important
ways but need advertising for their very survival. That's what today's article is about:
BUSINESS FOCUS
Lifting of advertisement ban urged to help stations survive
SRISAMORN PHOOSUPHANUSORN10/08/2009
Community radio is widely known as a non-profitcommunity-based operation, an affordable development tool to provide communities with access to useful localised information and popular content.
Mr Peerapong (left) of DTAC sits in during a broadcast by Ruam Duay Chuay Kan Happy Station, which specialises in news for farmers.
It comes as no surprise that this effective micro-level communication tool is often exploited by influential groups, political parties in particular, to make their voices heard among the voiceless people for their own interests.
Despite the overwhelming benefits and motivational and inspirational value to listeners, community-radio broadcasters today have to shoulder the investment costs of radio transmitters and operating costs by themselves.
A radio station to help farmers
Ruam Duay Chuay Kan Happy Station, a community station operated by INN Radio, is therefore calling on the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to speed up issuing licences to allow the broadcasters to sell advertisements for survival.Happy Station is now financially supported by two major sponsors: the mobile operator DTAC and Sam Nuek Rak Ban Kerd, a foundation set up by DTAC founder Boonchai Bencharongkul, who is the chairman of the three organisations.
Other sponsors include agriculture-related government agencies and state enterprises that support the station's specialised programmes on farming.
It has a total of 10 stations in 10 provinces, with broadcasting ranges covering more than 50 provinces. The station also offers a 24-hour hotline service - the *1677 Farmer Information Superhighway. The hotline provides agricultural news updates via SMS including market trends and movements, crop prices, and technical know-how.
Apiwat Ratananakin, managing director of INN Radio, said the station had a fixed cost of 2 million baht per month, comprising station rental fees, staff and operating expenses.
"Without advertising sales, community radio could not survive in the business," he said.
Mr Apiwat said his station could break even, thanks to its focus on agricultural information and a strong will to assist farmers and planters, which prompted the two big sponsors to provide financial support.
Happy Station's goal is to assist farmers, planters and low-income households. Participants can learn and receive training to enhance their agricultural skills. The goal is to help them maximise crop yields while keeping costs at a minimum.
Mr Apiwat said agricultural problems remained a major issue in Thailand as farmers make up the majority of the population. Unfortunately, many have little education and few own the land they farm on.
To help address the problems, the station holds seminars to educate and train participants. It also offers sponsorships supported by agriculture-related agencies.
He also said competition in the community radio market had intensified now that the number of stations shot up to more than 5,000 nationwide.
Peerapong Klinla-or, vice-president for corporate social responsibility (CSR) at DTAC, said Happy Station could echo people's voices and ensure their participation in community affairs.
DTAC's support, he said, was in line with the company's CSR policy, aiming to champion the sufficiency economy philosophy among farmers and help realise the goal of poverty alleviation.
"Our ultimate goal is to establish a network of farmers and encourage them to share best agricultural practices through modern information technology including mobile phones, radio networks and the internet," he said.
More than 180,000 DTAC customers have subscribed to the hotline service since its inception last year.
He said Happy Radio represented a successful integration of information and telecommunication technologies to create activities that benefit society.
(Source: Lifting of advertisement ban urged to help stations survive, SRISAMORN PHOOSUPHANUSORN, 10/08/2009, link)
Vocabulary:
ban - having a rule
against something
lifting of ban - ending the ban
urge X to Y - try hard to make people X to do Y
community radio stations - "radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups" (See Wikipedia)
non-profit - when the goal of an organisation is not to make profit like a normal company
community-based - done by people in the community for people in the community
cooperation - working together to achieve a goal
affordable - does not cost too much, so you are able to buy
localised information - information useful for people living in a local area (village, city, province)
popular content - articles or shows that many people like
specialises in - is an expert in a limited area
comes as no surprise - people expected it, already thought that this would happen
effective Y - Y really works and gets the job done
effective micro-level communication tool - a good way to communicate to people who live in a limited area (a city or province)
X exploited by Y - X used by for personal gain
influential - have power to make government make decisions that benefit them
exploited by influential groups, political parties - used for personal gain by powerful people and political parties
make their voices heard - make the public know how they feel about an issue
voiceless people - people whose opinions are not known by the public (who don't really participate in decision-making)
their own interests - for their own benefit
overwhelming benefits - very great benefits
motivational - gives you the energy and determination to do something
inspirational - giving you energy and enthusiasm to come up with new and creative ideas
motivational and inspirational value
shoulder the investment costs - pay for the investment costs (like carrying heavy load on shoulders)
radio transmitters - used to send radio signals
operating costs - the day to day costs of running a business
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) - the government agency that regulates mobile phones, satellite, and other communications devices
issuing licences - giving out official permission to do an activity to people
sponsors of Y - companies or organisations that pay part of the costs of Y, in exchange for some advertising and publicity
publicity - media attention given to something
a foundation - an organizationcreated to provide money for some purpose such as helping poor people
state enterprises - companies owned and operated by the government
a hotline - a telephone number to get a quick response (to report information or get information, or to get help)
market trends and movements - changes in markets, such as prices and factors affecting supply and demand
know-how - "knowing how" to do something
technical - requiring special detailed knowledge (example: computers, electronics, manufacturing)
technical know-how - knowing how to do something that requires special knowledge
break even - when a company earns enough money to pay for its costs but no more, making neither a profit or a loss
focus on Y - only looking at or working on Y (not getting distracted by other things)
will, willpower - the strength and determination to do something, to achieve goals
a strong will to Y - having the strength to achieve goal Y
planters - farmers
enhance - to make better and improve
enhance skills - improve ability to do activity well
maximise crop yields - produce the greatest amount of crops possible
majority of the population - most of the population
address the problems - deal with the problems in order to solve them
intensified - people doing or engaging in activity more and more
number of stations shot up - number of stations increased suddenly by a large amount
corporate social responsibility (CSR) - a new concept where companies develop socially and environmentally aware practices and policies for business stakeholders that now include employees and their families as well as the community the company does business in (See Wikipedia)
policy - a set of ideas and plans used for making decisions
a company's CSR policy - the set of ideas and plans that guide a company in their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts
echo people's voices - repeat what the public is saying (in order to better make it a reality)
participation in community affairs - when people get involved in what is happening in their local area (village or neighborhood)
in line with Y - following Y, agreeing with Y
champion Y - fight for Y to help Y succeed
champion the sufficiency economy philosophy -
alleviation - reducing the suffering and negative effects of something bad
poverty alleviation - reducing the negative effects and suffering of poverty
realise a goal - achieve a goal
realise the goal of poverty alleviation - achieve the goal of reducing the negative effects of poverty
our ultimate goal - the goal we are working towards
a network - a group of people who are connected to share information and help each other
establish a network of farmers - create a group for farmers to help each other and share information
practices - common ways of doing things
share best agricultural practices - let other people know about the best ways of farming (that you discover)
subscribed to service - joined the service and are receiving service (usually for a fee)
inception of Y - the beginning of an activity or institution Y
integration of X and Y - combining X and Y so that they work together as a one unit or whole
integration of information and telecommunication technologies - combining computer and mobile phone technologies
lifting of ban - ending the ban
urge X to Y - try hard to make people X to do Y
community radio stations - "radio service that caters to the interests of a certain area, broadcasting material that is popular to a local audience but is overlooked by more powerful broadcast groups" (See Wikipedia)
non-profit - when the goal of an organisation is not to make profit like a normal company
community-based - done by people in the community for people in the community
cooperation - working together to achieve a goal
affordable - does not cost too much, so you are able to buy
localised information - information useful for people living in a local area (village, city, province)
popular content - articles or shows that many people like
specialises in - is an expert in a limited area
comes as no surprise - people expected it, already thought that this would happen
effective Y - Y really works and gets the job done
effective micro-level communication tool - a good way to communicate to people who live in a limited area (a city or province)
X exploited by Y - X used by for personal gain
influential - have power to make government make decisions that benefit them
exploited by influential groups, political parties - used for personal gain by powerful people and political parties
make their voices heard - make the public know how they feel about an issue
voiceless people - people whose opinions are not known by the public (who don't really participate in decision-making)
their own interests - for their own benefit
overwhelming benefits - very great benefits
motivational - gives you the energy and determination to do something
inspirational - giving you energy and enthusiasm to come up with new and creative ideas
motivational and inspirational value
shoulder the investment costs - pay for the investment costs (like carrying heavy load on shoulders)
radio transmitters - used to send radio signals
operating costs - the day to day costs of running a business
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) - the government agency that regulates mobile phones, satellite, and other communications devices
issuing licences - giving out official permission to do an activity to people
sponsors of Y - companies or organisations that pay part of the costs of Y, in exchange for some advertising and publicity
publicity - media attention given to something
a foundation - an organizationcreated to provide money for some purpose such as helping poor people
state enterprises - companies owned and operated by the government
a hotline - a telephone number to get a quick response (to report information or get information, or to get help)
market trends and movements - changes in markets, such as prices and factors affecting supply and demand
know-how - "knowing how" to do something
technical - requiring special detailed knowledge (example: computers, electronics, manufacturing)
technical know-how - knowing how to do something that requires special knowledge
break even - when a company earns enough money to pay for its costs but no more, making neither a profit or a loss
focus on Y - only looking at or working on Y (not getting distracted by other things)
will, willpower - the strength and determination to do something, to achieve goals
a strong will to Y - having the strength to achieve goal Y
planters - farmers
enhance - to make better and improve
enhance skills - improve ability to do activity well
maximise crop yields - produce the greatest amount of crops possible
majority of the population - most of the population
address the problems - deal with the problems in order to solve them
intensified - people doing or engaging in activity more and more
number of stations shot up - number of stations increased suddenly by a large amount
corporate social responsibility (CSR) - a new concept where companies develop socially and environmentally aware practices and policies for business stakeholders that now include employees and their families as well as the community the company does business in (See Wikipedia)
policy - a set of ideas and plans used for making decisions
a company's CSR policy - the set of ideas and plans that guide a company in their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts
echo people's voices - repeat what the public is saying (in order to better make it a reality)
participation in community affairs - when people get involved in what is happening in their local area (village or neighborhood)
in line with Y - following Y, agreeing with Y
champion Y - fight for Y to help Y succeed
champion the sufficiency economy philosophy -
alleviation - reducing the suffering and negative effects of something bad
poverty alleviation - reducing the negative effects and suffering of poverty
realise a goal - achieve a goal
realise the goal of poverty alleviation - achieve the goal of reducing the negative effects of poverty
our ultimate goal - the goal we are working towards
a network - a group of people who are connected to share information and help each other
establish a network of farmers - create a group for farmers to help each other and share information
practices - common ways of doing things
share best agricultural practices - let other people know about the best ways of farming (that you discover)
subscribed to service - joined the service and are receiving service (usually for a fee)
inception of Y - the beginning of an activity or institution Y
integration of X and Y - combining X and Y so that they work together as a one unit or whole
integration of information and telecommunication technologies - combining computer and mobile phone technologies
