The rival stations Peace TV and Fah Won Mai have adopted different strategies to make up for lost earnings.

Peace TV, the “red shirt” satellite television station, holds fundraising events regularly in which organisers call for donations from supporters in a bid to ease the channel’s financial problems. The fundraisers are held every weekend at the Lat Phrao branch of Imperial World shopping mall, which houses Peace TV’s head office.

Jatuporn Promphan, a key red-shirt leader and executive of Peace TV, said last Sunday during a fundraising event that revenues had declined recently as many businesses were withdrawing their advertisements. He said ads were being pulled even though the station was politically orientated with top ratings. Jatuporn, who is also chairman of the red-shirt United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), claimed the station did not receive financial aid from any political party, including Pheu Thai.

Despite the financial problems, the station’s main host has pledged not to lay off employees.

Peace TV has about 100 staff members, according to the station’s human resources director Thana Chindakan. He said it had no plans to cut staff although other TV stations had laid off employees to cut costs.

In addition to fundraising, the red-shirt station also sells products such as toiletries, T-shirts and trousers via its programmes.

Meanwhile, Fah Won Mai, a pro-Democrat Party satellite TV station, has employed a direct-marketing strategy to sell a wide range of products and tour packages to finance its operations.

It has not asked for donations from supporters yet.

Fah Won Mai director Takerng Somsup said the station had branched out its business in addition to relying on advertising revenue in order to survive its financial problems.

The station ran out of financial reserves after the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) imposed a three-month ban on satellite stations following the coup in May 2014, he said.

“During those three months we did not get income but we still had operational costs to pay,” Takerng said.

Since a number of digital TV stations have been founded that sell advertising for the same price as or cheaper than satellite TV, advertisers have shifted to the different medium, the station director said.

Peace TV and Fah Won Mai changed their names and depoliticised their content after the NCPO ban in 2014, which alleged they had caused public misunderstanding and political divisions.

Peace TV changed its name from UDD TV while Fah Won Mai was formerly known as Blue Sky Channel.