Thairath TV’s move signals trend of early retirement

More digital TV operators are likely to offer early retirement packages as they seek to cut costs and stay alive amid fierce competition.

According to media experts, the trend is getting clearer after Triple V Broadcast, the operator of Thairath TV, announced on Wednesday that it would offer early retirement packages to employees with service time of less than one year and up to three years.

The move marks the second round of staff redundancy in the broadcasting industry. Last year, Nation Multimedia Group, which runs the digital channels Nation TV and Now 26, and Thai PBS offered early retirement packages to staff.

Mana Treelayapewat, dean of the School of Communication Arts at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said it was no surprise to see Thairath TV offer early retirement in an effort to cut operating costs.

This year, the local economy is expected to improve and big players like Channel 7, Channel 3, Workpoint TV, Mono 29 and Channel 8 are tipped to perform better.

According to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, 53% of the TV audience watched via the digital system in December 2016, up from 39% in January of that year, and the momentum is set to continue this year.

“Even though the overall digital TV industry looks better, it doesn’t mean that digital TV operators won’t adjust,” Mr Mana said. “They will do more to save costs in the future.”

Thairath TV, owned by the broadcasting arm of Thai Rath newspaper, is no exception to the trend. Executives said the offer of early retirement should help the company reduce staff expense and operate the channel more smoothly, without financial difficulties.

Mr Mana said Thairath TV opted for voluntary redundancy because it wanted to slash operating costs after pouring a few billion baht into content production and equipment over the past three years.

“It’s a big burden for digital TV channels to shoulder a high staff expense, as many of them hunted too much talent to work for them three years ago,” he said. “Now it’s time to cut some to become leaner.”

Apart from business difficulties, changing audience behaviour means TV watching takes different forms, with traditional TV — the so-called first screen — losing popularity to mobile devices.

The younger generation prefers to watch TV on smartphones or tablets. Social media also vies for youthful attention spans.

Mr Mana expects competition in the digital TV business to intensify in the second half of the year. Channels with interesting content and clear positioning will be in the best position to survive.

According to Nielsen Thailand, the top five digital TV channels in April were BBTV’s Channel 7, BEC World’s Channel 3, Workpoint TV, Mono 29 and Channel 8 by RS Plc.

Despite backup from Thai Rath newspaper, Thairath TV came 10th in the rankings of TV ratings nationwide.

For its part, the advertising sector anticipates a clear recovery this year, with a 10% rise in total ad spending to 144 billion baht, said Triluj Navamara, chairman of the Media Agency Association of Thailand.

Reasons include the improving economy and stepped-up investment in infrastructure projects.

Nielsen Thailand said ad spending on digital TV surged by 6.3% to 7.35 billion baht in the first four months of 2017.