For the first three months, Nielsen Thailand reported that overall advertising expenditure had dropped by 8.58 per cent to Bt26.73 billion from Bt29.24 billion in the same period last year as a result of spending cuts by major companies via mainstream media channels, such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines.

BEC World, the parent company of Channel 3 analogue TV and two digital-TV channels, posted a 20-per-cent drop in revenue to Bt3.26 billion from Bt4.08 billion in the same period last year, suggesting this was by far the lowest point for media firms for many years.

MCOT, a state-owned media enterprise operating Modernine TV, followed the same pattern as its fellow analogue-TV operators, with a year-on-year drop of 20 per cent in revenue to Bt721 million in the first three months.

Although Nielsen found that overall ad expenditure at the country’s digital-TV networks had declined 9.45 per cent in the first quarter, Workpoint Entertainment – the operator of Workpoint TV – was able to achieve 28-per-cent growth, while Channel 8 operator RS saw a 51.1-per-cent increase |and Mono Technology, which runs Mono 29, enjoyed 3.68-per-cent growth.

While GMM Grammy’s digital-TV business from its One 31 and GMM 25 channels saw tremendous growth in terms of ratings and ad revenue, the company’s first-quarter revenue was 35.5 per cent below what it had achieved in the same period last year.

Group chief executive officer Boosaba Daorueng said yesterday that total first-quarter income had come in at Bt1.99 billion.

GMM Grammy made a net loss of Bt144 million in the period, more than 60 per cent better than the loss reported a year ago, she said.

“One 31 is now in the top 5 among all digital-TV channels. After updating the programming earlier this year with quality content such as the dramas ‘Ruen Roi Rak’ and ‘Nang Baap’, and the singing contest ‘Suk Wan Duan Pleng’, the channel’s ratings in the first quarter rocketed by 37 per cent and led to revenue growth [for the channel] of more than 127 per cent, year on year,” she added.

GMM 25, meanwhile, moved into the top 10 in terms of digital-TV rankings, following a positive response to its content variation, the CEO said.

Those bourse-listed companies that are highly involved with printed media faced a similar situation in the first quarter.

Amarin Printing and Publishing posted a revenue drop of 7.6 per cent to Bt371.65 million, while revenue at Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) fell by 12 per cent year on year.

NMG chief executive officer Duangkamol Chotana said recently that in the period ending March 31, the group had achieved Bt681.2 million in overall revenue, below the Bt777.6 million posted in the same quarter last year.

“Our weaker performance was caused by a big slowdown in the economy, which was reflected in a huge decline in our advertising revenue, which dropped 8 per cent in the first quarter. Meanwhile, our sales revenue for printed media and pocket books also dropped, by 23 per cent year on year,” she said.

Brighter news for other segments

Out-of-home media and the film industry appeared to be on the rise during the first quarter.

Plan B Media, a leading out-of-home media company, posted a 34-per-cent year-on-year revenue increase to Bt554 million, while Major Cineplex Group – the country’s largest movie-theatre operator – enjoyed an 11-per-cent rise to Bt1.936 billion.

Vicha Poolvaralux, chairman of the executive committee and CEO of Major Cineplex Group, said the company’s first-quarter revenue was in line with its projection, while full-year revenue was expected to grow by at least 10 per cent, mainly driven by top blockbuster films.