Myanmar opening its airwaves to more voices
Myanmar is bringing the tide of democratisation to its airwaves, adding new freeto-air channels and opening the country to more news and entertainment choices.
Starting as early as next year, five new digital channels will broadcast free-to-air programmes by using the facilities belonging to the state-owned broadcaster Myanmar Radio and Television, or MRTV.
The channels’ content providers, so called because they lack their own broadcasting equipment, will control the makeup of their own programming. Under the country’s previous military rule, independent TV news was rare.
Two state networks, MRTV, under the Information Ministry, and military-run Myawaddy, used to command the country’s airwaves. Commercial broadcasting began in the 2000s, with Skynet, under the local conglomerate Shwe Than Lwin group, and the media company Forever Group launching channels in partnership with MRTV.
The addition of five new channels will help bring Myanmar a more diverse choice of media, the bedrock of democracy. The government received 42 responses when it began accepting applicants for content providers late last year, and whittled the list down to five finalists in April. Those five run the gamut from online media and big-business-affiliated enterprises to communication equipment companies.
One of those chosen was DVB Multimedia Group, which began as the broadcaster known as the Democratic Voice of Burma. Headquartered in Norway, the organisation, involving Burmese people who had fled military rule, criticised the government by airing programmes via satellite or over the internet.
“This is [the] first-ever [editorial] independence” being allowed to broadcasters, said Toe Zaw Latt, the Myanmar bureau chief of DVB. He hopes this marks the beginning of freedom of the broadcast press here.
Viewers can already enjoy a variety of sports and entertainment programmes on commercial channels today, but independent news programmes are still rare.
“As you know, news [broadcasting] is very risky. That is why only state-owned [broadcasters] can do it,” Toe Zaw Latt said. But now he intends to develop news programmes and other shows that present and debate social issues.
The Kaung Myanmar Aung (KMA) group, a conglomerate that counts banks and aviation companies in its stable of businesses, is another newcomer to broadcasting. Thadoe Kyaw, managing director of its newly established subsidiary Alliance Myanmar Broad Casting Group, intends to focus on original content, using resources from the group’s movie and music production businesses. The company is also considering other types of programming, such as TV shopping, which it aims to link to its e-commerce business.
“People are [really] expecting to see a fashion channel,” too, Thadoe Kyaw said.
Developing original content can cost four to five times as much as purchasing foreign shows, said the head of the broadcasting unit. But providing a range of local content is one of the conditions demanded by the government.
Finding qualified employees is also an issue, but the KMA unit plans to establish in Yangon as soon as this year a school for teaching interviewing, editing and other skills needed to produce TV programmes.
Straightforward journalism appears not to be the only brand of news coming in as freedom of the press grows. Another chosen content provider is Mizzima Media. The magazine publisher lists ”infotainment” as one of its strengths, according to managing director Soe Myint.
The company has produced Woman
in Myanmar Society about the expanded roles of women in the country, and a travel information programme called Tasty Trip.
It plans to introduce programmes about young people and farming, as well as content created in collaboration with counterparts in other Asean countries.
The new content providers plan to keep building programming of interest to consumers. The range of programmes is expected to expand over time, potentially including lifestyle, educational and travel shows.
These content creators all face some hurdles, including uncertainty over advertising revenue. The new channels are digital-only, while most of Myanmar’s people currently view only analogue TV broadcasts, limiting the appeal for advertisers. The first two years will be tough commercially, Soe Myint predicts.
“Five content providers will not survive commercially [for] two years. If we don’t have someone [to cover the investment] or donor[s] to [support us], none of us will survive,” he said. “We [also] need a level playing field with the current players such as Skynet and Forever.”
The new channels are digital-only, in a country where most households receive only analogue TV broadcasts, limiting the appeal for advertisers and making commercial success difficult