Channel nine shifts to more entertainment,
but retains "knowledge-based" news focus
By Jon Fernquest |
Channel nine is Thailand's third most popular TV station.
The audience shares for the top three channels are: Channel 7 (44.7%), Channel 3 (25.4%), and Channel 9 (10.6%) (AGB Nielsen's ratings as of June)
The 2008 Broadcasting Act that recently came into effect provides new opportunities for TV advertising revenue.
Content mix move towards entertainment
MCOT, the operator of channel nine, is changing its content mix towards more entertainment content to draw more viewers.
The plan is to move from 24% entertainment content to 32% starting this quarter, the third quarter. The third quarter has a reputation for being the low season.
Entertainment content, by drawing more viewers will win the station higher ratings and increase demand for commercial airtime on the channel. This will allow the channel to charge more for its airtime which should increase revenue and the channel's profit margin.
Channel nine's content has always been more knowledge-based than other channels. In the future, the context mix will likely remain more knowledge-based than other channels to maintain brand consistency. This would mean talk shows and variety shows instead of the typical entertainment content such as soap operas offered on Channel 3.
Academy Fantasia is a good example of more knowledge-based entertainment content.
The show has generated revenue of about 50 million baht for two years straight.
The new law allows a maximum of 70% entertainment content. This means channel nine has a lot of room to maneuvre in content mix unlike airtime utilization which already stood at a very high 93% in the second quarter, up from 73% the previous quarter.
With this new content mix channel nine aims to "expand its viewer base from children and adults to teenagers, entry-level workers and women."
News remains core business
News, currently 40% of all content, will remain channel nine's core content. News contenthas been driving the channel's revenue growth recently.
The evening news "generated nearly 200 million baht in the first half of the year, up 80% year-on-year." Revenue from news is projected to "double to 800 million baht by the end this year from last year."
The upcoming Bangkok governor election campaign is expected to be a major news revenue generator.
Profitable TV business in Thailand
The TV business in Thailand has been very profitable recently and MCOT has shared in these profits:
MCOT this week reported a better-than-expected performance in the second quarter. Its total revenue rose by 29% year-on-year to 1.19 billion baht, with net profit surging by 68% to 406 million baht due largely to 45% revenue growth in the TV business.In the first half, it reported 20% growth in total revenue to 2.1 billion baht, and net profit rose by 36% to 641 million baht.
Other businesses
The radio business has been less profitable for MCOT. The company missed its second quarter income targets and the 53 upcountry stations and seven Bangkok stations are currently being restructured.
MCOT will get a 6.5% share of total ad revenue, if MCOT allows revenue generating TV commercials by TrueVisions (formerly UBC) which holds a concession for pay-TV with MCOT.
Read more articles on the media and telecommunications in Thailand.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, 15-08-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
TV Vocabulary
an audience share - the percentage of the audience that a TV show gets
AGB Nielsen's - provider of the "Nielsen Ratings" in the US, the first and most famous TV ratings system (See Wikipedia on Nielsen Ratings and Nielsen Media Research)
ratings, audience measurement system - a system for measuring how many people watch a television show, advertisers use this information to choose shows to advertise their products one, ratings determine the popularity and price of advertising on a show (See Wikipedia)
content - what a media company presents to the public (the shows a TV station broadcasts, the articles a newspaper or magazine publishes)
the content mix of a TV channel - the percentages of different kinds of content shown on a TV channel (entertainment, news)
core content - the most important kind of content shown on the channel
the low season - the time of year with the lowest number of customers
draw more viewers - get more people to watch the channel's shows
commercial airtime - television time used for advertising
knowledge-based content - content that provides knowledge or makes people actively think (instead of just passively watching without gain)
consistency - when the parts of the whole all fit together and do not conflict or contradict each other
talk shows - shows where a host invites celebrities and interesting people to come and talk about their lives
variety shows - entertainment shows with variety of different activities: singing, acting, comedy,...
airtime utilization - the percentage of the 24 hours of the day in which shows and programmes are broadcast on the channel
viewer base - the channel's audience
holds a concession - pays the government money for the rights to do a business or use a resource
pay-TV - TV that people pay a monthly subscription fee to watch
General Vocabulary
came into effect - when a law becomes active and can be enforced
X has a reputation for Y - many people know X as being Y
the profit margin - the company's profits expressed as a percentage of revenue
room to maneuvre - flexibility that can be used to change things (the absence of constraints)
upcoming - will happen soon
upcountry - in the provinces north of Bangkok
restructured - changing a business to make it more efficient
