With the constitution drafting process expected to finish within a few months and a general election either late this year or early next, political activities will surge, BEC vice president for finance Chatchai Tiamthong said yesterday. This will translate into an advertising boon for all television channels, he said.

The station expects double-digit revenue growth this year, but whether growth reaches 20 per cent depends on the overall political and economic situation, he said.

It will be difficult for the station to achieve 20-per-cent growth because it already has a wide market base, he added.

BEC last year saw sales revenues rise 8 per cent to Bt6.78 billion. Advertising income accounted for 90 per cent. The rest came from copyright fees, services and concerts.

Its operating costs fell 9 per cent and net profit rose 86 per cent.

Falling operating costs were mainly due to a decision to rerun old soap operas in the afternoon instead of creating new ones. It also reduced the number of soap operas during prime time from three to two.

Advertising revenues rose 23 per cent to Bt6.11 billion.

Chatchai said that although major advertisers such as Unilever had temporarily cut spending, television channels saw an increased variety of advertisers among the top spenders, such as makers of vitamins and supplementary foods. Moreover, Unilever has boosted its monthly spending to Bt400 million from Bt200 million last November, he said.

Advertising spending at Channel 3 rose 7.6 per cent in January, which was higher than at other channels. Modernine, which saw advertising income decline 16.7 per cent, was the only channel to see negative growth, said AGB Nielsen Media Research.

Channel 3 continued to lead the airwaves in terms of advertising growth last month, with a 10.7-per-cent rise.

Modernine continued to be the only channel to see negative growth. It saw advertising revenues slip 8.3 per cent last month.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation