Saithip Montrikul na Ayudhaya, chief executive officer of GMM Channel Digital TV, the operator of GMM 25 digital TV station, said entertainment content should be differentiated from rival offerings and be meaningful for audiences.
She pointed to “Club Friday The Series” as a good example. This drama series is based on true stories told by listeners of Green Wave, a radio |station run by GMM Grammy, the |parent company of GMM 25.
She discussed this issue at a forum called “Let’s Go! Thai Entertainment Industry” held yesterday by managers of the Media Appreciation and Product Service Strategies Programme at Dhurakij Pundit University.
“When we entered the digital terrestrial TV business almost two years ago, we acknowledged that our station could not compete with the incumbents such as Channel 7 and Channel 3,” Saithip said. “Therefore, we set our target audience as people aged 15 to 34 and offered unique content that suited this target group.
“We strongly believe that different ideas can help spread word-of-mouth messages and build trust for the content. This is a way to create TV programme as a brand,” she stressed.
Because of the uniqueness of content based on true stories, “Club Friday The Series” offered a different viewing experience for audiences from traditional soap operas, which were available widely at rival stations targeting mass audiences.
Saithip said she aimed to build GMM 25 as a “living brand” that has a strong relationship with its audiences.
Puwanart Kunpalin, director of the news department of GMM 25, said that once this unique content was well accepted by the mass audience, the brand of the programme and GMM 25 channel would benefit.