Embattled iTV staff, led by Traiphop Limpraphat and reporter Jom Petchpradab, urge the government to keep their channel on air.

ITV's producers have condemned the government's apparent intention to close the television station for a month, saying the closure will cripple the broadcaster's ratings and drive advertisers to other channels.

Traiphop Limpraphat, the representative of all 130 producers associated with the station, said yesterday that closure would jeopardise every producer's income.

He said: "It has taken iTV 10 years to reach third place in terms of ratings. If the station is closed for a month, the closure period could then be extended. And when the station reopens, will advertisers return?

"Would we remain in third place? This closure would destroy everything, and this could affect the 15,000 jobs that depend on the station," he said.

Traiphop, as the owner of Born Corporation, said his company had stocked up tapes to be broadcast throughout March and advertisers had booked commercial airtime.

Yuwadee Boonkrong, managing director of Asia Television and Media, a production house that makes programmes for iTV, also said the month-long closure would destroy advertisers' confidence.

She said: "They would switch their ads to other channels and if iTV reopened, it would need at least six months to promote its programmes and regain the confidence of advertisers. That would be a devastating period for the channel and every producer."

Yuwadee added that MCOT should run iTV on the condition that there was a separate board of directors and presidents from competitor Channel 9, as both channels vie for the same ad revenue.

Channels 7 and 3 stand to benefit from iTV's closure.

Chatchai Thiamtong, vice president of BEC World, which operates Channel 3, said the station's ad revenue grew by more than 20 per cent year-on-year during January and February. He attributed the growth to problems at MCOT and iTV.

He said: "iTV's ad revenue has slumped in the past three months as advertisers have lost confidence in the channel.

" Running television ads requires a huge budget and advertisers expect maximum returns from their investment. As there are other choices, they will not take the risk if they lack confidence," Chatchai said.

Bangkok Broadcasting and TV, which runs Channel 7, has also witnessed an increase in ad revenue since late last year. Its ad airtime in the past two months was sold out and the March slots are fully booked, according to a company source.

"Channel 7 has long been the market leader but the problems at iTV have led to further gains for Channels 7 and 3. Once iTV falls under MCOT's control, it could further hurt advertisers' confidence," the source said.

 "Thus, the expectation of the Prime Minister's Office that iTV's revenue this year would reach Bt2 billion may be too optimistic. Its ad revenue is unlikely to exceed Bt1 billion this year," the source added.

According to Nielsen Media Research group, the combined revenue of iTV's producers totalled Bt9.24 billion and in March the channel's income was estimated to reach Bt766 million.