Hong Kong, 22 January, 2008 – The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia today released its “Thailand in View” market report for CASBAA members, providing an up-to-date overview of the pay-TV industry in Thailand, as well as the opportunities and challenges in terms of regulatory and political factors.
Thailand in View provides an in-depth study of the country’s pay-TV environment, plus a regulatory and stakeholder analysis, along with key contacts of Thailand cable TV industry and a draft of the Broadcasting Bill 2007.
According to the report, Thailand’s pay-TV penetration remains relatively low compared with other Asian markets, with just 14.3% of 18.7 million Thai TV households.
Meanwhile, according to CASBAA, there are several issues in the Thai market that need to be addressed before further substantial growth can be achieved, including widespread signal theft and a regulatory environment that permits unlicensed operators in the provinces.
There is also room for significant pay-TV advertising growth. As of now, the Thai government has only given tacit approval for pass-through, non domestic pay-TV advertising, while privately owned pay-TV operators at this time cannot carry any domestic advertising at all, which has suppressed the willingness of industry players to further invest in this sector. The industry hopes that recently-passed broadcasting legislation will unambiguously pave the way for lifting the advertising ban.
“Thailand should have a far more robust pay-TV market given its population, GDP, level of entertainment consumption and the maturity of the advertising industry,” said CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies. “The pay-TV industry is optimistic on progress towards giving Thailand a modern regulatory system. With the Broadcasting Bill 2007 now passed by the National Legislative Assembly, we look forward to having a licensing regime established for all pay-TV operators and further development of the market in Thailand.”
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The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) is an industry-based advocacy group dedicated to the promotion of multi-channel TV via cable, satellite, broadband and wireless video networks across the Asia-Pacific. CASBAA represents some 128 Asia-based corporations, which in turn serve more than three billion people. Members include Asia Broadcast Satellite, AsiaSat, Astro, Australia Network, Bloomberg Television, Chello Zone, Chunghwa Telecom, Discovery Networks Asia, Genesis Networks, Granada International/ITV Worldwide, HBO Asia, Intelsat, Macquarie Group, MediaFLO Technologies, Motorola, MTV Networks Asia Pacific, Nokia, now TV, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SES NEW SKIES, Sony Pictures Television International, STAR Group, Sun Microsystems, TrueVisions, Turner International Asia Pacific, Walt Disney Television International, Al Jazeera, Amarchand Mangaldas, Asian Food Channel, BBC Global Channels Asia-Pacific, Celestial Movies, Deutsche Welle, ESPN STAR Sports, Hallmark Channel, GMA Network Inc., GroupM, Hong Kong Cable TV, INX Network, Irdeto, KDB Skylife, Lovells, Measat, MGM Networks, Microsoft Corporation, Minter Ellison, National Geographic, Network18, Paul Weiss, Playboy TV, ProtoStar, Providence Equity, PT Direct Vision, SAT-GE, Spectrum Value Partners, Tandberg Television, Tata Sky, TBN, Ten Sports, TFN Media, TimeWarner, TV5MONDE, Viaccess and Zee TV.
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