TrueVisions adjusts picture

TrueVisions, Thailand’s leading pay-TV operator, is set to expand its premium subscriber base to compensate for the loss of mass subscribers who have been hit by the economic slowdown.

The company’s churn rate is 2.5%, driven by the economically sensitive mass segment.

Premium subscribers thus remain the key group for increasing subscription revenue. Moreover, the rise of digital TV, a new rival to cable and satellite, has intensified market competition.

Premium subscribers represent 12% of TrueVisions’ total but contribute more than 50% of revenue and net profit.

“We are facing another tough time in the pay-TV market,” said Birathon Kasemsri Na Ayudhya, head of commercial and business development at TrueVisions.

The pay-TV operator is maintaining its target of 3 million subscribers this year, up from 2.4 million in 2014. It turned in a fair first-half showing with 200,000 new subscribers.

TrueVisions has set aside 1 billion baht for its latest campaign, offering discounts for premium and mid-tier packages installed at more than one viewing point.

For instance, subscribers of the 2,155baht Platinum package can install the second point for a 159-baht charge and get free installation for the third and fourth.

The promotion also applies to Gold, Super Family, Sport Family, Smart Family and Happy Family packages.

Mr Birathon said premium subscribers will account for 17% of the total once the campaign wraps up at the end of July.

In other news, a group of 200 local cable operators yesterday submitted a letter of protest against the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s must-carry rule, calling for a reconsideration.

Nawamongkol Koosakul, a lawyer for the Thailand Cable TV Association, said the must-carry rule had hurt business for many cable channels.

Some 90% of cable operators are running via the analogue system, whose capacity is insufficient to carry all 24 digital channels.