Published on June 24, 2005

Operators give cautious nod to proposal, but UBC says move won’t cut power usage. Cable and terrestrial television operators have said they are willing to stop broadcasting after midnight if the government makes it compulsory for all channels. This comes with a warning that the energy-saving measure will probably not work.

Channel 3 and Channel 7, which both have a nationwide audience, have said they are ready to follow the measure if it is implemented.

However, cable-TV operator UBC (United Broadcasting Corp) urged the government to consider the measure carefully before implementing it. It said the midnight blackout would just force viewers to turn to other energy-consuming forms of entertainment.

On Wednesday, the Energy Policy and Planning Office made its recommendations for additional voluntary measures to lower energy consumption. One of the measures is to stop all TV and radio broadcasts after midnight.

The government also threatened to make the measures compulsory if energy consumption is not reduced by 10 per cent in three months from June.

BBTV Productions, the operator of Channel 7, said it was willing to cooperate with the curfew measure but said the authorities should be sure about enforcing a rule that will affect the entire public.

“Free TV is considered the cheapest entertainment, particularly for lower-income people. Most people start watching television in the evening after they come home from work. Limiting television viewing will just limit their right to this free entertainment,” said BBTV chairman Charlotte Donavanik.

Sompan Charumilinda, UBC chief executive officer, said the measure would be impractical and it would not ultimately reduce energy consumption.

“The curfew would force TV viewers to seek other forms of entertainment, such as watching DVD movies or surfing the Internet, which would consume more energy,” Sompan said.

He added that television, especially free TV, was the cheapest form of entertainment available to consumers. Depriving them of the service after midnight does not mean people would go to sleep earlier.

Instead of imposing the curfew, he said, the government should maximise mass media outlets to educate the public about how to save energy.

“We [UBC] are happy to promote tips and guides on how to save energy and we are willing to broadcast them on our channels,” he said.

He said the government should focus on other energy-saving measures such as introducing lower speed limits on the roads. d Thailand has traffic laws but there is no actual enforcement, so people can still drive over the speed limit, he added.

As a pay-TV operator, UBC is supposed to broadcast 24 hours a day. The company has already witnessed a negative impact on its business since the cost of fuel began to rise, with 1.3 per cent of subscribers ending their subscriptions in 2004 and 1.4 per cent fewer expected in the first quarter.

Chatchai Tiemthong, director for finance at BEC World Plc – operator of TV Channel 3 – said the measure would have a negative impact on the advertising industry, which has shown meagre growth of just 2 per cent in the first half of the year.

“While the manufacturers of essential consumer products have tightened their belts in terms of advertising budget, the manufacturers and distributors of many luxury items will hesitate to spend money to advertise their products,” Chatchai said.

Parames Rachjaibun, honorary chairman of the Advertising Association of Thailand, said the plan to stop broadcasts at midnight was more of a psychological ploy to get consumers to save energy, rather than a way to actually cut consumption. But TV stations will be hit hard if such a measure comes into effect, due to the lower advertising revenue.

“Most TV commercials broadcast on free TV after midnight are premium ads that cannot be screened during prime time,” Parames said.

Those commercials are mainly from alcohol manufacturers and distributors who cannot advertise their products before 10pm.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation

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