The Thai Time news agency will broadcast its final bulletin on the FM94 Mhz (Open Radio) on Wednesday, as owner GMM Media Plc has decided to focus the station on entertainment rather than news.

Thai Time director Piroon Chatwanichkul spoke to The Nation's Sucheera Pinijparakarn about the cancellation of Thai Time news on FM94.

Did you think Thai Time would be cancelled after just five months?

Piroon: No. Nobody who does business thinks their business will end.

What led to the failure of Thai Time?

It came down to marketing ability. GMM showed that while it was skilled at promoting entertainment, it wasn't skilled about [news] programmes. If FM 94 is an entertainment station, then the closure of [news] programmes will happen.

During a press conference last Thursday, GMM said that Open Radio's income had failed to meet its target since opening in January. But Thai Time didn't fail [the target]; we made a profit within two months. However, we have to think now what we will do with our news agency once we have left FM94.

How was Thai Time formed?

Grammy Plc chairman Paiboon Damrongchaitham asked me about a news agency after he got FM94. He intended to do a news station and I was interested in the station too. Yet I didn't know about the marketing. It is a Grammy business. We only operate our news, while GMM seeks commercial spots of airtime. At the time, I thought that we had a channel and that we would receive a certain income from GMM Media.

So, the cancellation stems only from a marketing failure? Or were there other factors involved?

I can assure you that that nobody ordered me to shut down our programme. The political situation affected the marketing after the House was dissolved. No one could have known the political situation would change like that. Several agencies had slowed down their spending in the media business. And GMM was affected too. Finally, they had to announce the end of the news station to ensure their survival.

But the GMM president is your close friend. Surely he could have helped you?

We have to separate our relationship from business. I want to explain that Thai Time was not GMM. We just reported the news for Open Radio. Paiboon is not our benefactor.

Perhaps the agency was affected indirectly as it wasn't as pro-government as expected? Paiboon has a close relationship with caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

I don't know if [the cancellation] is because of this. You'll have to ask Paiboon.

What will you do with Thai Time now?

We are looking for a new radio station to air our news programmes. We are open to every channel. While we are waiting [for a new station] we will provide news via our website.

At a press conference you mentioned that any potential investor who wants to be part of your team must be generous. But wasn't GMM generous?

I just want any [investor] to have an ability to [help run] a news station because GMM has showed that they are not skilled in this field.

Have you spoken with Paiboon since the announcement that the programme would be shut down?

Yes, we talked. He said the radio situation nowadays was not really good. I understand it is a business. I am a simple person. When a customer cancels our news, we can't force them (to continue).

What will you say if GMM offers you a station in the future?

It's impossible. In my view, they probably won't do any news stations in the future.