TITV also urged the government to focus on solving the financial problems involved in its operations, which could lead to a disruption in broadcasting in the very near future.

Since last month, the channel has been living on its "editorial fund" of Bt800,000 and public donations

of Bt700,000. Only Bt300,000 remains, which is enough to operate for a week. Its employees have not yet received their salary since March, while reporting allowances have been cut to save money.

Assistant executive editor Jom Phetpradap yesterday said TITV had been born out of iTV, which existed for 10 years under a free-business structure. As such, it would be difficult to adjust itself to working under state control if it were transformed into a public television station.

"We're not protesting against the transformation, but in these days of social division, it's not the right timing. A public TV station could be created with mutual social understanding. Today, we're still hungry but have nothing to feed our stomachs. We don't even know what will happen next month. This is an urgent issue that the government should consider," Jom said.

He also noted that the TITV brand was strong due to its personnel and facilities and questioned whether those strengths would remain after the transformation.

Born Corp owner Traiphop Limpraphat today will host a press conference to reveal the opinions on the transformation from the 120 producers.

"Through the Cabinet's resolution on Wednesday, the government showed no concern for producers and their employees. We want fairness. We want the government to be aware it should not proceed without a contingency plan to help the more than 10,000 people involved in producing programmes for TITV," he said.

The Cabinet yesterday resolved to transform TITV into a public television station within six months. It also approved a fixed budget of Bt1.7 billion a year to finance operations in return for a ban on all advertising.

TITV assistant news director Kitti Singhapat said his 20 years of experience in television had taught him it was a money-consuming industry. Under the new structure, there was a question of who would be able to approve an extra budget if the Bt1.7 billion could not cover the operating costs.

"With fixed budgets, producers would also reduce the quality to match the lower pay. Then the number of viewers would drop. Staff would come under social pressure, since the station would be operating on tax money. There would be questions from this and that group that could not get their requests onscreen," he said.

TITV sales and marketing director Anusorn Yuktanan noted that since coming under government control, TITV was already facing financial difficulties.

Advertising revenues immediately dropped from Bt120 million last month to Bt80 million this month.

Producers are also concerned about the Cabinet's resolution, and several have approached the channel for programme withdrawals, Anusorn said.

Poly Plus has already cancelled its weekend soap opera, which will be replaced by a South Korean series. A few more are negotiating to return the allocated air time, due to financial problems.

Having no money, TITV must strike time-sharing contracts with two producers, in order to share its advertising revenues with them.

"My question is: how many quality documentaries like those on National Geographic and Discovery Channel could be bought with a budget of Bt1.7 billion a year? Without advertising, about 100 personnel in my department will also be fired. About 39 have already resigned, due mainly to difficulties in selling ads after the broadcasting licence was revoked on March 6," he said.

Since March 6, TITV has transferred Bt80 million to the Public Relations Department. But in using the money, it must undergo the bureaucratic reimbursement process. As a result, not a single baht has been reimbursed, Anusorn said.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation