“In the first nine months, Channel 3 had been facing difficulties,” Surin Krittayaphongphun, executive vice president of Bangkok Entertainment Co, the operator of Channel 3, said last week.

“For instance, we lost famous TV news host Sorrayuth Sutthassnachinda from morning news early this year, which has resulted in the programme’s revenue plunging 30 per cent so far,” he said. Sorrayuth had been with the station for 13 years.

Although his news team had been trying hard to maintain audience ratings by efforts such as introducing some fresh-face news anchors, the result did not meet expectations.

To maintain its billing rate at Bt220,000 per minute, Channel 3 decided to trim “Rueng Lao Chao Nee” from three-and-a-half hours (6-9.30am) to two hours and 20 minutes (6-8.20am).

The long-running “Woman to Woman” talk show has been slotted in from 8.20-9.30am.

Happier picture for One31

Channel 3 is also suffering from a 30-40-per-cent drop in late-night (after 10.20pm) revenue after moving some top-rated programmes to weekend afternoon to reach a larger audience.

BEC expects to see a 9-10-per-cent decline in revenue this year.

In the first eight months, Channel 3’s rating fell by 23 per cent from the same period last year, according to Nielsen Thailand’s data based on a nationwide survey of viewers aged 15 and above.

This was a different story for the One31 digital channel, which enjoyed the highest growth of almost 100 per cent in ratings.

Dew Waratangtragoon, deputy chief executive officer |of One 31, said fresh and quality dramas including the |phenomenal 17-episode “Pit Sawart” (Poisonous Affections), which hit the highest rating at 5.33 points for its final |episode, had proved very successful.

“We want to keep this momentum up and become a top 3 by the end of this year or early next year by strengthening our prime-time slot from 6.20pm to 10pm,” Dew said.

One 31 is also expanding its target viewership from women to families and men with contents such as situation comedies and sports.