Early end sought to simulcast privilege

“In my opinion, the existing regulations appear to benefit the incumbent players in the analog system more than the new ones.
“For example, broadcasting service under state concessions is protected by law,” Supinya Klangnarong, a member of the NBTC’s Broadcasting Committee, said yesterday.
To ensure that viewers were not affected negatively by the birth of digital TV broadcasting, the NBTC decided to allow broadcasters to simulcast their analog TV programmes via their digital channels.
Supinya spoke about this issue at a public forum jointly held yesterday by the NBTC Policy Watch team and the Thailand Research Fund to follow up on the performance of the NBTC after five years in operation.
She explained that having such a privilege, analog TV broadcasters were likely to pay less in annual licence fees to the NBTC, as it was difficult to classify the clear sources of their revenue.
She acknowledged that this might be unfair for new players in the digital terrestrial TV business that were also facing difficulties due to intense competition in the market.
“Another issue affecting the ongoing transition to the digital TV system is the fact that major analog players like Channel 7 and Channel 3 want to keep their analog broadcasting services until their concession contracts expire,” she added.
Bangkok Broadcasting and Television has the right to operate Channel 7 until May 2023 under its concession with the Army, while MCOT’s concession with Bangkok Entertainment Company to run Channel 3 will run out in 2020. Supinya suggested that the simulcast period should be ended in 2018 when digital TV is fully available to all households.
Despite facing legal limitations, the NBTC has to seek ways to speed up the digital transition, she said.
In response to a notification from the Office of the Auditor-General suggesting that the simulcast of Channel 3’s full analog programming via digital channel 33HD appeared to violate broadcasting regulations, she said the decision on this matter aimed to support the transition to digital TV.