RS steps ahead in digital TV competition, aiming to be among top 3 in 3 years. Two billion baht will be invested for new dramas, variety shows, news programmes and talk-of-the-town sports content to prepare for fierce competition. The slogan is "Your Friend Everywhere, TV for Everyone", target all ages. Timetable has been adjusted and new programmes are being introduced in 18 hours' air time. The company is confident that it will be successful after it has made Channel 8 the all time champion of satellite TV.
Mrs. Pornpan Techarungchaikul, Chief Operating Officer of RS Public Company Limited, operator of Channel 8, said that the company is building on the success of Channel 8, which has been tremendously successful and enjoyed number one rating in satellite TV, by airing it on digital TV platform on channel 27 for digital TV set top box and channel 8 and 37 on satellite TV box, starting April 25, 2014. The company therefore is ahead of the game in digital TV competition. Recently, it has changed its slogan to "Your Friend Everywhere, TV for Everyone" to keep in line with its positioning, as Channel 8 targets all ages and genders. It will become a channel that can be viewed on every platform on the way to becoming the most complete digital SD TV channel in Thailand.
The company will invest 2 billion baht in the first three years to strengthen the channel in terms of content, human resources and broadcasting system. It is aimed to be among top 3 in three years and will break even within the first year. The factor that contributes to Channel 8's success is that the company has invested since three years ago before anyone else in building good and accessible content. The channel has the largest market share among satellite TV. Now that it has become a digital TV channel, it is even more accessible. In the past month, the viewership grew by 30%, signifying the increase of viewers after its timetable rearrangement earlier in March. The strength of RS is that it can produce 95% of the programmes in house, which helps control production budget. The teams are all professional, and the content is very important in this competition. RS offers diverse content that matches the lifestyle of every group, such as TV dramas, variety shows, news programmes, and sports content, as well as has strong financial background.
"At present, every channel has already unveiled its timetable, but we have mentioned before that this competition is long-term. Therefore, planning for in-house content production to meet the growing rating and advertising revenue is crucial. After this, we will see many new commercials of products that have never been advertised on TV before, and these new players will make the advertising industry grow beyond the GDP growth. From the look of it, new operators' content is more diverse, and most of them target urban viewers, and that will be the most competitive market. This group has a lot of content to choose from, so it will be quite difficult to win their attention. In the initial stage, it is very important to make the channel memorable, and a lot of money will have to be invested to create this awareness. Channel 8 has an advantage over many other channels because we've passed that stage already. Today, we can focus on building attractive content and boosting our rating. Only in a month after the digital TV has been launched, and after the channel rearrangement for analog TV, we have seen significant changes in the advertising industry. The landscape change in this industry will be interesting to watch," she said.
Dr.Ong-art Singlumpong, . Executive Vice President of Television Station, RS Public Company Limited, said that to build Channel 8 as a digital TV channel in variety category following the NBTC's criteria, the content must include variety shows at 50%, dramas and news at 25% each. Therefore, since April 25, 2014, Channel 8 has revamped its timetable to meet that criteria and to add more flavours to keep up with the fierce competition in the industry. At present, new content is aired 18 hours a day, and rerun programs six hours a day, from formerly 12 hours of each.
Also, dramas will increase from three hours to four hours daily. Five new dramas will be introduced, inclyding Dong Dok Ngew, Pua Chua Krao, Ching Rak Hak Sawad, Mia Tuen, and Mae Luek Kerd Dai. News programmes will increase to six hours a day, from formerly four hours, done under the concept of news talk to make the content easier to digest. The news programmes are produced by over 100 professional news experts. Morning news show is Kui Kao Chong 8. Midday news show is Kao Tiang Chong 8. Evening news show is Kao Yen Chong 8. Late night news show is Hong Kao Chong 8. Midnight news show is Krob Kao Chong 8.
Meanwhile, variety shows have been produced for teenagers and children, and sport content is increased to expand its viewership base to children and men, as the current major viewer is women. The highlight programs include Ung Tung Siaw which will air in June, Check In World Cup which has recently launched, and will be successful like other programmes in this channel. Pak Pong airs Monday to Friday at 10:30-11:30. Kao Banterng 108 airs daily at 9:00-10:30. Siang Sawan Pichit Fan airs Monday to Friday at 12:30-13L30. Dara Ma Laew airs every Monday at 15:50-16:50.