33rd JAMCO Online International Symposium
February 2025～
Media Strategies of Southeast Asian Television Stations for the Digital Age
The Reform of Thailand’s Broadcasting Administration and Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting
Introduction
Thailand enjoyed rapid economic growth from the Plaza Accord of 1985 to the mid-1990’s, partly through an increase in direct investment from Japan. This was also, however, a period of political turmoil, including a coup d’etat in 1991 and Black May (Prutsapha Tamin) in 1992. Seeking to exclude military influence from politics and promote political reform, and in the midst of Asian Financial Crisis (Tom Yam Kun Crisis), a new democratic constitution was enacted in 1997. Under this constitution, discussion of reform of the broadcasting administration began in the early 2000’s with the aim of making broadcasts neutral and independent of political and business interests. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) was established in 2011 under the 2007 constitution (Miyata 2013:92). Subsequently, NBTC held auctions for terrestrial digital broadcasting concessions, and the new terrestrial digital broadcasting service commenced in 2014 for the replacement of analogue broadcasting.
This paper examines the changes that have occurred in Thailand’s broadcasting administration and broadcasting industry. First, it outlines broadcasting law and administration in Thailand, including NBTC’s establishment and its organizational character. Second, it reviews Thailand’s terrestrial analogue service, which continued from 1955 until March, 2024. Third, it examines the introduction and subsequent transformations of terrestrial digital broadcasting since April, 2014.
（1）Broadcasting Law and Administration in Thailand and the Establishment of NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission)
1－1 The Outline of Thai Broadcasting Law and Administration
Since 2011, Thailand’s radio and TV broadcasting industries have been placed under the jurisdiction of NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission), an independent body separate from both governmental ministries and the private sector. Thailand’s Radio and Television Broadcasting Law was enacted in 1955 (Ubonrat 1999:148). The 2000 act of Radio and Television (the act on the Organizations to Assign Radio-frequency Spectrum and to Regulate the Broadcasting, Television Broadcasting and Telecommunication Services) was then enacted in 2000 under the 1997 constitution. This law stipulated the establishment of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to supervise the broadcasting business, and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to supervise telecommunications. The NTC was duly set up in 2004 but negotiations between administrative organizations and the broadcasting industry broke down over the selection of commission members for the NBC and, in the end, it never was established. Instead, the NTC supervised broadcasting on a temporary basis. The new national constitution was then enacted in 2007, leading to the introduction of the new act of Radio and Television in 2010. This law stipulated establishment of the NBTC, which was launched in September, 2011 (Miyata 2012:54-55).
Apart from this, another reform was implemented. The Thai Public Broadcasting Agency Law was passed by parliament in October, 2007 and approved for implementation by King Bhumibol in January, 2008. This law established Thailand’s first public broadcasting station, Thai PBS, which is the sole public broadcasting station under this law. The Public Broadcasting Agency Law lays down that advertising should be forbidden on Thai PBS to ensure its neutrality from both the government and the private sector. Accordingly, Thai PBS is funded by the alcohol and tobacco taxes up to a maximum of 2 billion Bahts (about 4.8 billion yen) annually (Miyata 2012:54-55).
1－2 Background to the Establishment of NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission)
The 2010 act of Radio and Television specifying establishment of the independent NBTC to supervise the telecommunications and broadcasting industries was promulgated in December, 2010. The law’s full title is the Act on Organization to Assign Radio Frequency and to Regulate the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Services. This 2010 act of Radio and Television was based on Section 47 of the 2007 constitution, which stated, ‘Transmission frequencies for radio or television broadcasting and telecommunication are national communication resources for public interest,’ and laid down that, “There shall be an independent regulatory body having the duty to distribute the frequencie and supervise radio or television broadcasting and telecommunication businesses” (Miyata 2012:54).
The work of selecting the 11 members of the NBTC commenced following the enactment of the 2010 act of Radio and Television. First, a list of 44 candidate commissioners was drawn up to consist of members from the fields of radio, television, telecommunications, law, economics, consumer protection, civil rights and liberties, and social development. The 11 commissioners were then selected by secret ballot in the Senate. These commissioners were duly recommended to King Bhumibol by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and, with their appointment, the NBTC was formally established in September, 2011 (Miyata 2012:54).
By background, the NBTC’s 11 commissioners consisted of 1 member from radio, 1 from television, 2 from telecommunications, 2 from law, 2 from economics, 1 from consumer protection, 1 from civil rights and liberties, and one from social development. The commission was appointed for a 6-year term. Five of the 11 commissioners, selected from the fields of radio, television, telecommunications and social development, had military backgrounds, and 2 commissioners from the field of law had a police background. A 5-member audit commission, consisting of the runners-up in the selection ballot in the fields of radio, television, telecommunications, consumer protection, and civil rights and liberties, was also established to evaluate the NBTC’s activities (Miyata 2012:54).
（2）The Outline of Thailand’s Terrestrial Analogue Broadcasting Services (1955 – March, 2014)
The terrestrial analogue broadcasting stations immediately prior to the start of digital broadcasting in 2014 were: ① the state-run broadcaster, NBT ② Channel 9 ③ Channel 5, owned and operated by government agencies ④ Channel 3, and ⑤ Channel 7, a commercial TV station. There was also ⑥ Thai PBS (Miyata 2014:54).
① NBT (the National Broadcasting Service of Thailand / abbreviated as So Tho Tho in Thai / Channel 11) grew out of the state-run radio station established in 1930 and commenced TV broadcasts in 1985 as a wing of the government’s Public Relations Department. Nationwide broadcasting commenced in 1988. The service chiefly provided news, coverage of national and religious events etc.
② Channel 9 (Modernine TV) became Thailand’s first television broadcasting station with its establishment as Thai Television in 1955. It became the broadcasting station of the state-run Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT) when MCOT was established in 1977. MCOT was subsequently privatized as a public company in 2004 but the Ministry of Finance and Government Savings Bank continue to hold 66% and 12% of MCOT’s shares, respectively.
③ Channel 5 (Royal Thai Army Television) started out in 1958 as Channel 7, the army TV channel, and became Channel 5 in 1977. It was owned and operated by the army and broadcast high proportions of information, magazine and game-show programs.
④ Channel 3 (Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd.) was established as a commercial channel in 1967 by the Maleenont family led by Vichai Maleenont. It acquired broadcasting rights from Thai Television and started broadcasting on Channel 3 in 1970. Bangkok Entertainment then acquired broadcasting rights from MCOT when MCOT was established in 1977 to continue its service as Channel 3. The service also continued after the privatization of MCOT in 2004. It carried high proportions of drama and information and magazine shows.
⑤ Channel 7（Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co. Ltd.）was a commercial channel established jointly in 1967 by Chuan Ratanarak of the Ratanarak family, a major shareholder in the Bank of Ayudhya who also had close ties with the army commander, together with the Kannasut family. Channel 7 was the army’s color TV channel and received its broadcasting rights from the army. It broadcast high proportions of drama and sport and enjoyed strong audience ratings (Miyata 2014:54).
⑥ Thai PBS（Thai Public Broadcasting Service）was established under the Public Broadcasting Agency Law of January, 2008, and remains Thailand’s sole public broadcaster. Thai PBS was separate from governmental control and also, unlike the commercial channels, also could not broadcast commercial advertisements. It broadcast news, documentaries, educational programs etc. The channel was funded by 1.5% of alcohol and tobacco tax revenues up to a maximum of 2 billion Bahts (about 9 billion yen at the 2025 conversion rate). Thai PBS was established in January, 2008, following the closure of TITV (Thailand Independent Television), which was operated by the Prime Minister’s Office. TITV was itself the successor station to iTV, a station requisitioned by the Prime Minister’s Office after its broadcasting rights were rescinded in March, 2007 (Miyata 2010:52).
In detail, iTV was founded in 1995 as a commercial broadcaster following the political turmoil of Black May (Prutsapha Tamin) in May, 1992, as a station intended to be free from political interference. iTV agreed to pay the Prime Minister’s Office a high annual broadcasting concession fee of 300 million Bahts (about 1.17 billion yen by the exchange rate of the time), with a plan to increase the fee to 1 billion Bahts within a decade. This contract stipulated that news would constitute about 70% of the content, even though such a strong focus on news was going to make it harder for the station to attract advertising revenue. Then came the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and operations had to be restructured. This happened in 2000 with capital participation by Shin Corporation, the telecommunications conglomerate run by Dr.Thaksin Shinawatra the politician and leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party, (Miyata 2010:52-53).
In fact, iTV’s financial situation did not improve. Thaksin became prime minister in 2001 and, in 2002, iTV appealed to the Prime Minister’s Office for changes to the broadcasting contract. Arbitration led, in 2004, to a reduction of the broadcasting concession fee and the ratio of iTV’s news to entertainment programs was changed from 7:3 to 5:5. The Prime Minister’s Office challenged this decision in the Central Administrative Court, however, which ruled the revisions of 2004 invalid. iTV appealed that decision to the Supreme Administrative Court but the court ruled against it in December, 2012 and ordered iTV to pay both the 2.2 billion Bahts (about 8.6 billion yen) it had saved by the concession fee reduction and a penalty of 98 billion Bahts (about 383 billion yen) by 6th March, 2007. In the end, iTV was unable to meet the payment deadline and its broadcasting rights were revoked. The Prime Minister’s Office then requisitioned iTV and turned it into TITV (Miyata 2010:52-53).
（3）The Launch and Content of Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting in Thailand (Since April, 2014)
3－1 The Start of Digital Broadcasting
NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission) decided in 2012 to use the European DVB-T2 digital broadcasting system and convened auctions for terrestrial digital broadcasting concessions in 2013. Auctions were held on 26th December, 2013, for 7 variety channels in high-definition (HD) and 7 variety channels in standard definition (SD), and again on 27th December, 2013 for 7 news channels and 3 children’s channels, making 24 channels in all. Sixteen operators made successful bids, amounting to a combined sum of 50.86 billion Bahts (for 15 operating years). Nine operators bid in the auction for HD variety channels, of which 7 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 23.7 billion Bahts. Sixteen operators bid in the auction for SD variety channels, of which 7 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 15.95 billion Bahts. Ten operators bid in the news channel auction on 27th December, 2013, of which 7 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 9.238 billion Bahts. Six operators bid in the auction for children’s channels, of which 3 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 1.974 billion Bahts. NBTC licensed the winning operators on 24th January, 2014. Channel numbers were assigned in the order of the sizes of the winning bids from high to low and announced by NBTC on 27th January (Miyata 2015:52-53).
Twenty-eight channels (4 public broadcasting channels and the 24 channels allocated through auction) commenced terrestrial digital broadcasts in April, 2014. The transfer from terrestrial analogue to terrestrial digital broadcasting continued from this time and 5 of the 6 pre-existing analogue channels had ceased broadcasting by mid-2018. Channel 3 only continued in the analogue format until March, 2020. NBTC distributed set-top box (a necessary device for receiving terrestrial digital broadcasts) purchase coupons worth 690 bahts each to about 22 million households nationwide from October, 2024 to expand the digital audience (Miyata 2016:52).
3－2 The Cessation of Broadcasting by Several Terrestrial Digital Operators
Terrestrial digital broadcasting commenced in April, 2014, but TV advertising revenues fell sharply below anticipated levels following the coup d’etat of May, 2014 and with the diffusion of smartphones etc., causing financial problems for several stations. In May, 2015, Thai TV, the managing company of LOCA, one of the terrestrial digital children’s channels, and Thai TV(THV), refused to pay the second instalment of 268 million Bahts (about 900 million yen at the 2015 rate) of its terrestrial digital broadcasting concession fee to NBTC on grounds of financial difficulty. In June, Thai TV filed suits against NBTC in the Central Administrative Court claiming that NBTC had acted too slowly to promote the diffusion of terrestrial digital broadcasting. In July, the Central Administrative Court proposed a mediated settlement. Thai TV linked up with a new program content production company, MVTV, and agreed to search for new investment partners by the end of October of the same year. In the end, however, Thai TV was unable to pay the second installment of its terrestrial digital broadcasting concession fee. NBTC revoked Thai TV’s concessions for the two channels on 1st December, 2015 (Miyata 2016:52-53) (Miyata 2017:52).
The business environment for terrestrial digital broadcasting continued to worsen due to the reduced advertising revenues. Prime Minister Prayut Chanocha responded in May, 2018, by invoking the sweeping powers granted him in Section 44 of the provisional constitution of July, 2014, which was introduced in the wake of the coup d’etat of May, 2014. In practice, Section 44 of this provisional constitution enabled Prime Minister Prayut, the military leader of the coup d’etat, to issue any legislative, executive and judicial order which he judged necessary for the maintenance of public order. The new constitution of 2017, too, retained Section 44 of the provisional constitution. In May, 2018, Prime Minister Prayut used these powers to defer the payment of terrestrial digital concession fees for three years and discount digital network usage fees by 50% for 2 years (Miyata 2019:49).
Further, on 11th April, 2019, Prime Minster Prayut used his extraordinary powers under Section 44 of the provisional constitution of 2014 to permit the surrender of terrestrial digital broadcasting concessions. Accordingly, 7 commercial children’s, news and variety channels applied on 10th May to NBTC to surrender their broadcasting concessions. NBTC agreed on 11th July and the channels duly halted their broadcasts: Spring News (Ch. 19), Bright TV (Ch. 20) and Spring (Ch. 26) on 15th August; Voice TV (Ch. 21) on 31st August; MCOT Family (Ch. 14) on 15th September; and Channel 3 Family (Ch. 13) and Channel 3 SD (Ch. 28) on 30th September.
The Channel 3 HD (Ch. 33) variety channel was merged with the former Channel 3 Family and Channel 3 SD channels as they had the same parent company. Together with the surrender of these concessions, NBTC returned a portion of the terrestrial digital concession fees it had already received for these 7 channels amounting to a combined sum of 2.761 billion Bahts (about 9.4 billion yen) (Miyata 2020:49). As of January, 2025, the terrestrial digital channels listed in Table 1 were or had been operating in Thailand.
As described above, the broadcasting services of 2 terrestrial digital broadcasting channels were suspended in 2015, and 7 in 2019. This happened in the context of the entry in 2014 of a large number of operators to terrestrial digital broadcasting, which produced intense competition, together with the concurrent expansion of cable and satellite services. Even more than these, smartphone diffusion and the increase of internet video distribution attracted a higher proportion of advertising revenues to the internet, and TV advertising revenues fell. The drop in advertising revenues pushed terrestrial digital operators with low audience ratings into financial difficulty. The result, from 2015 to 2019, was that 9 terrestrial digital broadcasting channels were closed. The decline in TV advertising revenues has also continued since 2019. Table 2 shows the changes in advertising revenues by platform from 2021 to the anticipated values for 2024. Overall advertising revenues are thought to have increased by 12.5% in this period, from 101.8 billion Bahts in 2021 to an estimated 114.5 billion Bahts in 2024. The total amount spent on television advertising, however, is estimated to have decreased by 5.8% in these 4 years (Media Agency Association of Thailand 2024). As a proportion of all advertising spending by platform, as we see in Table 2, TV advertising revenues have dropped from 55.5% in 2021 to an estimated 46.5% in 2024. This decline in TV advertising revenues has clearly worsened the economic environment for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
References
In Thai
Thailand enjoyed rapid economic growth from the Plaza Accord of 1985 to the mid-1990’s, partly through an increase in direct investment from Japan. This was also, however, a period of political turmoil, including a coup d’etat in 1991 and Black May (Prutsapha Tamin) in 1992. Seeking to exclude military influence from politics and promote political reform, and in the midst of Asian Financial Crisis (Tom Yam Kun Crisis), a new democratic constitution was enacted in 1997. Under this constitution, discussion of reform of the broadcasting administration began in the early 2000’s with the aim of making broadcasts neutral and independent of political and business interests. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) was established in 2011 under the 2007 constitution (Miyata 2013:92). Subsequently, NBTC held auctions for terrestrial digital broadcasting concessions, and the new terrestrial digital broadcasting service commenced in 2014 for the replacement of analogue broadcasting.
This paper examines the changes that have occurred in Thailand’s broadcasting administration and broadcasting industry. First, it outlines broadcasting law and administration in Thailand, including NBTC’s establishment and its organizational character. Second, it reviews Thailand’s terrestrial analogue service, which continued from 1955 until March, 2024. Third, it examines the introduction and subsequent transformations of terrestrial digital broadcasting since April, 2014.
（1）Broadcasting Law and Administration in Thailand and the Establishment of NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission)
1－1 The Outline of Thai Broadcasting Law and Administration
Since 2011, Thailand’s radio and TV broadcasting industries have been placed under the jurisdiction of NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission), an independent body separate from both governmental ministries and the private sector. Thailand’s Radio and Television Broadcasting Law was enacted in 1955 (Ubonrat 1999:148). The 2000 act of Radio and Television (the act on the Organizations to Assign Radio-frequency Spectrum and to Regulate the Broadcasting, Television Broadcasting and Telecommunication Services) was then enacted in 2000 under the 1997 constitution. This law stipulated the establishment of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to supervise the broadcasting business, and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to supervise telecommunications. The NTC was duly set up in 2004 but negotiations between administrative organizations and the broadcasting industry broke down over the selection of commission members for the NBC and, in the end, it never was established. Instead, the NTC supervised broadcasting on a temporary basis. The new national constitution was then enacted in 2007, leading to the introduction of the new act of Radio and Television in 2010. This law stipulated establishment of the NBTC, which was launched in September, 2011 (Miyata 2012:54-55).
Apart from this, another reform was implemented. The Thai Public Broadcasting Agency Law was passed by parliament in October, 2007 and approved for implementation by King Bhumibol in January, 2008. This law established Thailand’s first public broadcasting station, Thai PBS, which is the sole public broadcasting station under this law. The Public Broadcasting Agency Law lays down that advertising should be forbidden on Thai PBS to ensure its neutrality from both the government and the private sector. Accordingly, Thai PBS is funded by the alcohol and tobacco taxes up to a maximum of 2 billion Bahts (about 4.8 billion yen) annually (Miyata 2012:54-55).
1－2 Background to the Establishment of NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission)
The 2010 act of Radio and Television specifying establishment of the independent NBTC to supervise the telecommunications and broadcasting industries was promulgated in December, 2010. The law’s full title is the Act on Organization to Assign Radio Frequency and to Regulate the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Services. This 2010 act of Radio and Television was based on Section 47 of the 2007 constitution, which stated, ‘Transmission frequencies for radio or television broadcasting and telecommunication are national communication resources for public interest,’ and laid down that, “There shall be an independent regulatory body having the duty to distribute the frequencie and supervise radio or television broadcasting and telecommunication businesses” (Miyata 2012:54).
The work of selecting the 11 members of the NBTC commenced following the enactment of the 2010 act of Radio and Television. First, a list of 44 candidate commissioners was drawn up to consist of members from the fields of radio, television, telecommunications, law, economics, consumer protection, civil rights and liberties, and social development. The 11 commissioners were then selected by secret ballot in the Senate. These commissioners were duly recommended to King Bhumibol by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and, with their appointment, the NBTC was formally established in September, 2011 (Miyata 2012:54).
By background, the NBTC’s 11 commissioners consisted of 1 member from radio, 1 from television, 2 from telecommunications, 2 from law, 2 from economics, 1 from consumer protection, 1 from civil rights and liberties, and one from social development. The commission was appointed for a 6-year term. Five of the 11 commissioners, selected from the fields of radio, television, telecommunications and social development, had military backgrounds, and 2 commissioners from the field of law had a police background. A 5-member audit commission, consisting of the runners-up in the selection ballot in the fields of radio, television, telecommunications, consumer protection, and civil rights and liberties, was also established to evaluate the NBTC’s activities (Miyata 2012:54).
（2）The Outline of Thailand’s Terrestrial Analogue Broadcasting Services (1955 – March, 2014)
The terrestrial analogue broadcasting stations immediately prior to the start of digital broadcasting in 2014 were: ① the state-run broadcaster, NBT ② Channel 9 ③ Channel 5, owned and operated by government agencies ④ Channel 3, and ⑤ Channel 7, a commercial TV station. There was also ⑥ Thai PBS (Miyata 2014:54).
① NBT (the National Broadcasting Service of Thailand / abbreviated as So Tho Tho in Thai / Channel 11) grew out of the state-run radio station established in 1930 and commenced TV broadcasts in 1985 as a wing of the government’s Public Relations Department. Nationwide broadcasting commenced in 1988. The service chiefly provided news, coverage of national and religious events etc.
② Channel 9 (Modernine TV) became Thailand’s first television broadcasting station with its establishment as Thai Television in 1955. It became the broadcasting station of the state-run Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT) when MCOT was established in 1977. MCOT was subsequently privatized as a public company in 2004 but the Ministry of Finance and Government Savings Bank continue to hold 66% and 12% of MCOT’s shares, respectively.
③ Channel 5 (Royal Thai Army Television) started out in 1958 as Channel 7, the army TV channel, and became Channel 5 in 1977. It was owned and operated by the army and broadcast high proportions of information, magazine and game-show programs.
④ Channel 3 (Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd.) was established as a commercial channel in 1967 by the Maleenont family led by Vichai Maleenont. It acquired broadcasting rights from Thai Television and started broadcasting on Channel 3 in 1970. Bangkok Entertainment then acquired broadcasting rights from MCOT when MCOT was established in 1977 to continue its service as Channel 3. The service also continued after the privatization of MCOT in 2004. It carried high proportions of drama and information and magazine shows.
⑤ Channel 7（Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co. Ltd.）was a commercial channel established jointly in 1967 by Chuan Ratanarak of the Ratanarak family, a major shareholder in the Bank of Ayudhya who also had close ties with the army commander, together with the Kannasut family. Channel 7 was the army’s color TV channel and received its broadcasting rights from the army. It broadcast high proportions of drama and sport and enjoyed strong audience ratings (Miyata 2014:54).
⑥ Thai PBS（Thai Public Broadcasting Service）was established under the Public Broadcasting Agency Law of January, 2008, and remains Thailand’s sole public broadcaster. Thai PBS was separate from governmental control and also, unlike the commercial channels, also could not broadcast commercial advertisements. It broadcast news, documentaries, educational programs etc. The channel was funded by 1.5% of alcohol and tobacco tax revenues up to a maximum of 2 billion Bahts (about 9 billion yen at the 2025 conversion rate). Thai PBS was established in January, 2008, following the closure of TITV (Thailand Independent Television), which was operated by the Prime Minister’s Office. TITV was itself the successor station to iTV, a station requisitioned by the Prime Minister’s Office after its broadcasting rights were rescinded in March, 2007 (Miyata 2010:52).
In detail, iTV was founded in 1995 as a commercial broadcaster following the political turmoil of Black May (Prutsapha Tamin) in May, 1992, as a station intended to be free from political interference. iTV agreed to pay the Prime Minister’s Office a high annual broadcasting concession fee of 300 million Bahts (about 1.17 billion yen by the exchange rate of the time), with a plan to increase the fee to 1 billion Bahts within a decade. This contract stipulated that news would constitute about 70% of the content, even though such a strong focus on news was going to make it harder for the station to attract advertising revenue. Then came the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and operations had to be restructured. This happened in 2000 with capital participation by Shin Corporation, the telecommunications conglomerate run by Dr.Thaksin Shinawatra the politician and leader of the Thai Rak Thai Party, (Miyata 2010:52-53).
In fact, iTV’s financial situation did not improve. Thaksin became prime minister in 2001 and, in 2002, iTV appealed to the Prime Minister’s Office for changes to the broadcasting contract. Arbitration led, in 2004, to a reduction of the broadcasting concession fee and the ratio of iTV’s news to entertainment programs was changed from 7:3 to 5:5. The Prime Minister’s Office challenged this decision in the Central Administrative Court, however, which ruled the revisions of 2004 invalid. iTV appealed that decision to the Supreme Administrative Court but the court ruled against it in December, 2012 and ordered iTV to pay both the 2.2 billion Bahts (about 8.6 billion yen) it had saved by the concession fee reduction and a penalty of 98 billion Bahts (about 383 billion yen) by 6th March, 2007. In the end, iTV was unable to meet the payment deadline and its broadcasting rights were revoked. The Prime Minister’s Office then requisitioned iTV and turned it into TITV (Miyata 2010:52-53).
（3）The Launch and Content of Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting in Thailand (Since April, 2014)
3－1 The Start of Digital Broadcasting
NBTC (the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission) decided in 2012 to use the European DVB-T2 digital broadcasting system and convened auctions for terrestrial digital broadcasting concessions in 2013. Auctions were held on 26th December, 2013, for 7 variety channels in high-definition (HD) and 7 variety channels in standard definition (SD), and again on 27th December, 2013 for 7 news channels and 3 children’s channels, making 24 channels in all. Sixteen operators made successful bids, amounting to a combined sum of 50.86 billion Bahts (for 15 operating years). Nine operators bid in the auction for HD variety channels, of which 7 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 23.7 billion Bahts. Sixteen operators bid in the auction for SD variety channels, of which 7 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 15.95 billion Bahts. Ten operators bid in the news channel auction on 27th December, 2013, of which 7 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 9.238 billion Bahts. Six operators bid in the auction for children’s channels, of which 3 were successful, and the combined winning bids amounted to 1.974 billion Bahts. NBTC licensed the winning operators on 24th January, 2014. Channel numbers were assigned in the order of the sizes of the winning bids from high to low and announced by NBTC on 27th January (Miyata 2015:52-53).
Twenty-eight channels (4 public broadcasting channels and the 24 channels allocated through auction) commenced terrestrial digital broadcasts in April, 2014. The transfer from terrestrial analogue to terrestrial digital broadcasting continued from this time and 5 of the 6 pre-existing analogue channels had ceased broadcasting by mid-2018. Channel 3 only continued in the analogue format until March, 2020. NBTC distributed set-top box (a necessary device for receiving terrestrial digital broadcasts) purchase coupons worth 690 bahts each to about 22 million households nationwide from October, 2024 to expand the digital audience (Miyata 2016:52).
3－2 The Cessation of Broadcasting by Several Terrestrial Digital Operators
Terrestrial digital broadcasting commenced in April, 2014, but TV advertising revenues fell sharply below anticipated levels following the coup d’etat of May, 2014 and with the diffusion of smartphones etc., causing financial problems for several stations. In May, 2015, Thai TV, the managing company of LOCA, one of the terrestrial digital children’s channels, and Thai TV(THV), refused to pay the second instalment of 268 million Bahts (about 900 million yen at the 2015 rate) of its terrestrial digital broadcasting concession fee to NBTC on grounds of financial difficulty. In June, Thai TV filed suits against NBTC in the Central Administrative Court claiming that NBTC had acted too slowly to promote the diffusion of terrestrial digital broadcasting. In July, the Central Administrative Court proposed a mediated settlement. Thai TV linked up with a new program content production company, MVTV, and agreed to search for new investment partners by the end of October of the same year. In the end, however, Thai TV was unable to pay the second installment of its terrestrial digital broadcasting concession fee. NBTC revoked Thai TV’s concessions for the two channels on 1st December, 2015 (Miyata 2016:52-53) (Miyata 2017:52).
The business environment for terrestrial digital broadcasting continued to worsen due to the reduced advertising revenues. Prime Minister Prayut Chanocha responded in May, 2018, by invoking the sweeping powers granted him in Section 44 of the provisional constitution of July, 2014, which was introduced in the wake of the coup d’etat of May, 2014. In practice, Section 44 of this provisional constitution enabled Prime Minister Prayut, the military leader of the coup d’etat, to issue any legislative, executive and judicial order which he judged necessary for the maintenance of public order. The new constitution of 2017, too, retained Section 44 of the provisional constitution. In May, 2018, Prime Minister Prayut used these powers to defer the payment of terrestrial digital concession fees for three years and discount digital network usage fees by 50% for 2 years (Miyata 2019:49).
Further, on 11th April, 2019, Prime Minster Prayut used his extraordinary powers under Section 44 of the provisional constitution of 2014 to permit the surrender of terrestrial digital broadcasting concessions. Accordingly, 7 commercial children’s, news and variety channels applied on 10th May to NBTC to surrender their broadcasting concessions. NBTC agreed on 11th July and the channels duly halted their broadcasts: Spring News (Ch. 19), Bright TV (Ch. 20) and Spring (Ch. 26) on 15th August; Voice TV (Ch. 21) on 31st August; MCOT Family (Ch. 14) on 15th September; and Channel 3 Family (Ch. 13) and Channel 3 SD (Ch. 28) on 30th September.
The Channel 3 HD (Ch. 33) variety channel was merged with the former Channel 3 Family and Channel 3 SD channels as they had the same parent company. Together with the surrender of these concessions, NBTC returned a portion of the terrestrial digital concession fees it had already received for these 7 channels amounting to a combined sum of 2.761 billion Bahts (about 9.4 billion yen) (Miyata 2020:49). As of January, 2025, the terrestrial digital channels listed in Table 1 were or had been operating in Thailand.
Table 1: Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting Channels in Thailand as of January, 2025
Sources: Miyata (2015:53), Miyata (2017:53), Miyata (2019:50), Miyata (2020:50).
Notes: (1) Switched from Ch. 1 to Ch. 5 in 2021. (2) Suspended in 2019. (3) Suspended in 2019.
(4) Suspended in 2015. Operating company owned by TV Pool Magazine. (5) Suspended in 2015. Operating company owned by TV Pool Magazine. (6) Formerly owned by Daily News. (7) Suspended in 2019. (8) Suspended in 2019.
(9) Suspended in 2019. (10) Suspended in 2019. (11) Suspended in 2019. (12) Operating company owned by Jasmine International. (13) Operating company owned by Thai Rath. (14) Merged with Channel 3 Family (Ch. 13) and Channel 3 SD (Ch. 28) in 2019. (15) Operating company owned by Bangkok Airways.
As described above, the broadcasting services of 2 terrestrial digital broadcasting channels were suspended in 2015, and 7 in 2019. This happened in the context of the entry in 2014 of a large number of operators to terrestrial digital broadcasting, which produced intense competition, together with the concurrent expansion of cable and satellite services. Even more than these, smartphone diffusion and the increase of internet video distribution attracted a higher proportion of advertising revenues to the internet, and TV advertising revenues fell. The drop in advertising revenues pushed terrestrial digital operators with low audience ratings into financial difficulty. The result, from 2015 to 2019, was that 9 terrestrial digital broadcasting channels were closed. The decline in TV advertising revenues has also continued since 2019. Table 2 shows the changes in advertising revenues by platform from 2021 to the anticipated values for 2024. Overall advertising revenues are thought to have increased by 12.5% in this period, from 101.8 billion Bahts in 2021 to an estimated 114.5 billion Bahts in 2024. The total amount spent on television advertising, however, is estimated to have decreased by 5.8% in these 4 years (Media Agency Association of Thailand 2024). As a proportion of all advertising spending by platform, as we see in Table 2, TV advertising revenues have dropped from 55.5% in 2021 to an estimated 46.5% in 2024. This decline in TV advertising revenues has clearly worsened the economic environment for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
Table 2 Proportional Shifts in Thai Advertising Revenues by Platform from 2021 to 2024 (estimated)
Source: The Media Agency Association of Thailand (2024).
Concluding Remark
While advertising spending on the Internet is rising, advertising spending on television is on the decline. This trend is expected to make the economic environment for terrestrial digital broadcasters progressively more difficult. Under this severe business condition for terrestrial digital broadcasting, NBTC should reconsider to flexibly adjust the broadcasting license fees. Furthermore, NBTC is required to implement the support measures that will enable the terrestrial digital broadcasters to actively invest funds in improving the quality of their program contents.
References
In Thai
- อบลรัตน์ ศิริยุวศักดิ์, ระบบวิทยุและโทรทัศน์ไทย : โครงสร้างทางเศรษฐกิจการเมืองและผลกระทบต่อสิทธิเสรีภาพ, สำนักพิมพ์จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, 1999.
（Ubonrat Siriyuvasak The Broadcasting System in Thailand: Political and Economic Structures and their Impact on Freedom-related Rights, Chulalongkorn University Press, 1999.
- Suansook, Supatrasit, “Digital Terrestrial Television in Thailand: Technical Aspects,” Technical Review, October-December 2015, pp.30-32. (Last viewed on 25th December, 2024)<https://broadcast.nbtc.go.th/data/academic/file/591200000001.pdf>
- Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Report on the Preliminary Survey of the Plan to Establish Channel 11: a Public Service Educational Channel in the Kingdom of Thailand, JICA, 1986.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2010, pp.51-54.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2012, pp.53-57.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “The Reform of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Administration in Emerging Asian Economies: The Establishment of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) and Prospects for the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Industries of Thailand,” Research Report of the Telecommunications Advancement Foundation, No. 28, 2013, pp91-98.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2014, pp.52-56.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2015, pp.52-55.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2016, pp.52-55.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2017, pp.52-55.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2019, pp.49-52.
- Miyata, Toshiyuki, “Thailand,” NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute(ed.) the NHK Data Book: Broadcasting in the World, 2020, pp.49-52.
- Media Agency Association of Thailand, “Media Industry Spending 2024,” Media Industry Update Emerging of OOH Commerce, Wednesday 21st, February 2024. (Last viewed on 25th December, 2024)https://mediaagencythai.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-Spending-and-Inflation_20240221.pdf
Dr. Toshiyuki Miyata
Professor, Graduate School of Global Studies / School of International and Area Studies Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
After completing his Bachelor’s degree at the Waseda University School of Law and Master’s degree at the Graduate School of Economics, Miyata studied at Thammasat University and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and continued on to the Kyoto University doctoral course of the Division of Southeast Asian Area Studies in the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies . His doctorate is in Area Studies (Kyoto University).
Publications:
“The Reform of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Administration in Emerging Asian Economies: The Establishment of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) and Prospects for the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Industries of Thailand,” Research Report of the Telecommunications Advancement Foundation, No. 28 (2013)
“U.S. Economic Assistance to Thailand: Assistance and Autonomy in the Rice Strain Improvement Project,” in ed. Shoichi Watanabe, International Development Assistance for Asia in the Cold War Transformation Period: Examining the 1960’s, Minerva Shobo (2017).
“The Thai Economy and Land Law: The Impact of the Land Title Deed Act of 1901”, in ed. Shigeru Akita, Overcoming the Great Divergence: Reconsidering the 19th Century from Asian Perspectives, Minerva Shobo (2018) etc.
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