Wasan Phaileeklee, MCOT's new president, said Modernine was the only free-TV station with a similar programming position to TITV (formerly iTV) and stood to enjoy advertising benefits from TITV's conversion to public television by the end of the year. The move will result in agencies shifting advertising budgets to other free-TV stations.

"I was with iTV as its news director for two years and seven months. In that time, iTV enjoyed huge revenues from its news programmes - more than Bt1 billion a year," said Wasan, adding that news was capable of generating up to 60 per cent of the station's total advertising revenues.

"I believe a significant amount of those advertising budgets [from the former iTV] will be shifted to Modernine, which enjoys a positioning very close to [the former] iTV. However, we need to adjust ourselves to meet this opportunity," he said.

Modernine's news programmes currently contribute about Bt300 million a year in advertising revenues, or only 30 per cent of total advertising revenues, so there is room for news programmes to generate higher growth for MCOT.

"My priority as MCOT's new president is to reshuffle our programmes in the prime-time slots to promote higher revenues," Wasan said, adding that prime-time programmes currently generated 70 per cent of the station's total advertising revenues.

Modernine will launch its new programming line-up on July 1, with improved prime-time slots, amid hopes its news programmes can generate 25 per cent more revenues this year.

"Our programme content in the prime-time slots should be strong enough to compete commercially with other free-TV channels," he said.

MCOT will focus on increasing both the production of its own programmes and those provided under time-sharing contracts with independent producers.

Meanwhile, MCOT holds the licences of 62 operating radio stations but runs only 14 of them itself. The company intends to bring all of the radio stations back under MCOT management within the next two to three years.

MCOT yesterday reported a significant drop of 11 per cent in its first-quarter revenues, to Bt841 million. It posted a big 22-per-cent decline in television revenues, to Bt453 million, and a 3-per-cent fall in radio revenues. The company's net profit declined 27 per cent in the first quarter.

Finance and accounting vice president Soontree Keawkorn said the decline in television revenues followed the launch of new programming in January and the withdrawal of advertising-generated programmes, including Khui Khui Khao and Thueng Luk Thueng Khon.

"We've been in the process of selecting of our new president since the end of last year, and this has created uncertainty in the station's policy and caused many agencies to delay decisions about putting their advertising budgets with the station," she said. "The government sector cut its advertising spending in the first quarter, and that also affected the station's advertising revenues."

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

 The Nation