RS subsidiary beaming country music into Laos

A survey by the company found that Sabaidee TV was the most popular satellite channel in Laos.

Soopachai said this was a great opportunity for the company to offer extra packages for major advertisers that export products and services to Laos. Meanwhile, the company was able to create marketing activities and events related to its clients' products and services in that market.

"This will enable the company to enjoy further growth in the future as well as to raise its advert fees," he said.

The company is seeking business partners in Laos to provide digital downloading services for Thai country music in a bid to combat piracy as well as increase revenue.

The company will soon add more satellite channels to provide classic country music for people over 40 years old to create a new target audience. It is expected to use about Bt40 million for operational costs. The new service will be screened via the C-Band network.

Soopachai said the company expected a 25-per-cent surge to Bt704 million in revenue from last year's Bt560 million. This will be a 10 per cent higher than its previous projection at Bt640 million.

However, in the first half of this year, R Siam enjoyed Bt325 million in revenue, higher than the previous estimate of Bt288 million. Of that, 32 per cent |came from physical products including audio and video |compact discs, 24 per cent |from Sabaidee TV and 21 per |cent from music downloads, while the remainder was other business such as event organising, show business and artist management.

Soopachai said the overall country-music market in Thailand was worth about Bt1.5 billion annually, of which R Siam accounted for 45 per cent.