“Broadcasting regulations have to be changed in accordance with the changing media landscape and technology,” Kematat Paladesh, president of Bangkok Media and Broadcasting – the operator of PPTV digitalTV channel – said yesterday.

Advertisingbased revenue will be no longer play a key role for broadcasters after audiences move to digital screens, such as videoondemand service, therefore they should offer their content across media platforms, she said.

“The new revenue stream for broadcasters in the near future will be from revenuesharing with owners of online media platforms,” he explained.

Broadcasting regulations need to be revised, therefore, in order to enable digitalTV operators to do this.

Kematat made these comments at a public forum, “Two years of digital terrestrial TV broadcasting in Thailand: How to move forward”, held yesterday by the Journalism and Mass Communications faculty of Thammasat University.

Chatchai Tawantarong, executive of Triple V Broadcast – the operator of digital channel Thairath TV – supported the idea of revising the broadcasting laws.

Others at the forum also expressed the opinion that law revision would be one solution to unlocking the problems faced by financially struggling TV broadcasters.

Media scholar Time Chuastapanasiri said the birth of digitalTV broadcasting had resulted in an oversupply crisis in the industry, and predicted that this would worsen this year due to fierce competition.

In parallel, consumer viewing behaviour is shifting from traditional channels like TV screens to streaming content service via online platforms, he said.

From the perspective of the media and advertising industry, a representative of the Media Advertising Association of Thailand told the forum that among the 24 commercial digitalTV channels, there were only 10 “topchoice” channels into which brands and advertisers preferred to pour their budgets.

Meanwhile, news programmes are the most popular shows among advertisers, followed by dramas and variety and game shows.

Lowranked TV operators might face difficulties in their business operations as a result of these trends, the representative said.

In response, Supinya Klangnarong, a member of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said that although the planned publicrelations campaign for the digitalTV sector was still behind schedule, the NBTC’s Broadcasting Committee was keen to do what it could to support the industry.

“To help reduce operating costs for digitalTV operators, the committee can provide remedial measures, such as reducing the network leasing fee,” she added.