Media of Medias sets optimistic target

The company is a leading provider of television content.

CEO Charlotte Donavanik said the growth would be driven by two new news programmes on Channel 7: "Praden Det Jet Si", which started last month; and "Chao Ni ... Thi Morchit" (This Morning … at Morchit), which began this month.

"Praden Det Jet Si" airs from 10.30-11pm on Monday to Friday (except Tuesday), while "Chao Ni ... Thi Morchit" runs from 6-7.30am on weekdays.

Charlotte said Media of Medias supplied only one news programme to Channel 7 last year, "Joh Koh Dit", which began last June and airs from 1-2am on Monday to Thursday.

"We expect to increase the revenue contribution of our news programmes from only a single digit last year to 20 per cent this year. We expect the ad revenue from them to reach Bt200 million this year," said Charlotte.

She said the company expected to surpass Bt1 billion in combined ad revenue this year, up 14-16 per cent from last year.

"Our strategy is in line with Channel 7's: promote revenue during non-prime time periods," Charlotte said.

"We also want to shape the news-consumption behaviour of local viewers, who normally place importance on well-known moderators. We want to create news programmes that focus on providing quality content, to be their new choice."

She said the strategy had already proved to be successful, with "Praden Det Jet Si" achieving a rating as high as 5 each day on average and up to 8.8 on some days.

Supapan Wisaruetapa, deputy managing director for finance and accounting, said Media of Medias' first-quarter ad revenue dropped 15 per cent year on year drop to Bt157 million. However, its net profit declined a steep 95 per cent, to Bt1.6 million.

"The significant drop in our ad revenue and net profit in the first quarter was due to the end of our two-hour variety programme 'Jet Krarat', which Channel 7 stopped showing last July. The removal of "Jet Krarat', together with the overall slowdown in the ad industry, what with vendors cutting back on their spending, affected our first- and second-quarter performances," said Supapan.

However, she said the company's performance would show a dramatic improvement in the third quarter. Media of Medias posted 9-per-cent growth in ad revenue last year to Bt800 million, but its net profit fell 17 per cent to Bt105 million.

Meanwhile, the company, in cooperation with Advance Aviation, a leading provider of helicopter charter services, yesterday launched its new Media Flying Team, which will be responsible for all sky news reports. The team will help facilitate the "bird's-eye view" reports on Media of Medias' three news programmes broadcast on Channel 7.