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ITV (Thailand)
Encyclopedia
iTV was a television station
in Thailand
, owned by ITV Public Company Limited , a unit of Shin Corporation
. Thailand's first UHF channel, the station was started in 1995 when the company was granted a 30-year concession by the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to operate a free-to-air television
station in the Ultra High Frequency
(UHF) spectrum at 510-790 MHz. After a lengthy dispute over unpaid concession fees to the Prime Minister's Office, iTV was taken in 2007 over by the government's Public Relations Department and its name was changed to Thai Independent Television (TITV). Following a previously unannounced order of Thailand's Public Relations Department delivered the same day, the station closed down operations at midnight on 14 January 2008. In accordance with the Public Broadcasting Service Act, the channel's frequency was assigned to the Thai Public Broadcasting Service
, or Thai PBS.
, the Crown Property Bureau (the investment company of King Bhumibol Adulyadej), and the Nation Multimedia Group. Siam Infotainment won a 30 year concession to run a commercial television station, after offering only 120 million baht in royalties. A rival company offered royalties of 625 million baht. This irregularity was subject to a government investigation in 996. The results of the investigation were never made public.
Established as an independent television station (all other TV stations in Thailand are government controlled), the company barred any one shareholder from having more than a 10% stake. Beholden to no major shareholders and with journalists feeling unencumbered, the station quickly distinguished itself for its in-depth public affairs programs and investigative journalism
.
The East Asian financial crisis
of 1997 led to heavy losses by the station. One factor for the losses was the high cost of concession fees (25.2 billion baht to be paid over 25 years) imposed by the Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, which granted the iTV concession. In 2000, it lost 775 million THB (USD $18 million) — and the Democrat
government worried that if it collapsed, it could adversely affect shareholders like Siam Commercial Bank
and the Crown Property Bureau. In order to attract outside capital, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai lifted the 10% limit on ownership in the station. Shin Corporation
, owned by future Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
, was requested to purchase a large portion of the company's shares, which he did for USD $60 million. At the time, this was considered a high price for the ailing company.
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Under new ownership, iTV's news programming became less hard hitting. Journalists said they were pressured to downplay negative news about Shin Corporation's then-owner, Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra
, and his Thai Rak Thai
party. Twenty-one journalist
s were fired for speaking out. They later won a court case against iTV and were awarded several years of back pay.
Originally, iTV's news-to-entertainment ratio was about 70:30. In the station's latter years, iTV increased its entertainment-based programming so that about 50% of its shows were entertainment. Among its popular programs was the Thailand version of the Big Brother
reality TV
show.
In 2004, iTV was granted permission by an arbitration panel that it could increase the amount of entertainment programming and pay the government 230 million baht in annual licensing fees, an amount that was drastically reduced from the 1 billion baht the station had agreed to pay.
In June 2006, as a result of iTV's changes in programming, Thailand's Central Administrative Court invalidated the arbitration panel's ruling, saying the news-to-entertainment ratio must be returned to 70:30 and that broadcaster must pay 76 billion baht in fines. iTV contested the court's decision.
Media-reform activists in Thailand, such as Supinya Klangnarong
and Jon Ungpakorn
had suggested that the station model itself as a public broadcaster, similar to the BBC
, PBS
, NHK
or the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
, which the activists say would allow it to better achieve its original mission as an independent public network free of political intervention and business interests.
"The goal of founding iTV back in 1995 was to provide a public service via a truly independent network. That ideal should continue to be supported as we shouldn't forget that this network was set up following the 'dark age' of information which led to the Bloody May
events of 1992," Jon Ungpakorn told The Nation
.
, the investment company of the Singapore
an government. Thai media activists strongly criticized the sale. After the 2006 military coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's interim civilian government voiced intentions to take over iTV if it failed to pay 2.8 billion dollars in fines. In February 2007, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont
appointed a new executive board consisting exclusively of civil servants. The station was renamed "Thai Independent Television" (TITV).
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont
announced that it intended to take over the station and let it be operated by the Public Relations Department, which already ran TVT Channel 11. Surayud promised that the station would not be taken off the air no matter what happened regarding its concession controversy.
PM's Office Minister Dhipawadee Meksawan announced that the station would be taken off the air on midnight on 6 March 2007, following the Cabinet's revocation of iTV's concession in early March 2007. Surayud apologized for not keeping his word.
Then on 7 March 2007, Surayud reversed his decision yet again and ordered that iTV continue broadcasting after the deadline had passed.
Other junta controlled television stations like MCOT were expected to reap windfall gains due to the situation at iTV.
or Thai PBS.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, owned by ITV Public Company Limited , a unit of Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation is one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand.- History :It was founded in 1983 as Shinawatra Computer by Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, and took on its current name in 1999, by using the first four letters of his last name...
. Thailand's first UHF channel, the station was started in 1995 when the company was granted a 30-year concession by the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to operate a free-to-air television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
station in the Ultra High Frequency
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
(UHF) spectrum at 510-790 MHz. After a lengthy dispute over unpaid concession fees to the Prime Minister's Office, iTV was taken in 2007 over by the government's Public Relations Department and its name was changed to Thai Independent Television (TITV). Following a previously unannounced order of Thailand's Public Relations Department delivered the same day, the station closed down operations at midnight on 14 January 2008. In accordance with the Public Broadcasting Service Act, the channel's frequency was assigned to the Thai Public Broadcasting Service
Thai Public Broadcasting Service
The Thai Public Broadcasting Service , or, in brief, TPBS , is a public broadcasting service in Thailand. It is established by the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act, BE 2551 , which came into force as from January 15, 2008...
, or Thai PBS.
Early years
The original name of iTV's holding company was Siam Infotainment Company Limited. Its major shareholders were Siam Commercial BankSiam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank is a bank from Thailand, based in Bangkok.- History :Established by Royal Charter in 1907, Siam Commercial Bank PCL was Thailand's first bank. At the time of its establishment, the only banks in the country were branch offices of foreign banks...
, the Crown Property Bureau (the investment company of King Bhumibol Adulyadej), and the Nation Multimedia Group. Siam Infotainment won a 30 year concession to run a commercial television station, after offering only 120 million baht in royalties. A rival company offered royalties of 625 million baht. This irregularity was subject to a government investigation in 996. The results of the investigation were never made public.
Established as an independent television station (all other TV stations in Thailand are government controlled), the company barred any one shareholder from having more than a 10% stake. Beholden to no major shareholders and with journalists feeling unencumbered, the station quickly distinguished itself for its in-depth public affairs programs and investigative journalism
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
.
The East Asian financial crisis
East Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of Asia beginning in July 1997, and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion....
of 1997 led to heavy losses by the station. One factor for the losses was the high cost of concession fees (25.2 billion baht to be paid over 25 years) imposed by the Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, which granted the iTV concession. In 2000, it lost 775 million THB (USD $18 million) — and the Democrat
Democrat Party (Thailand)
The Democrat Party is Thailand's oldest political party and was the main coalition government party of the 23rd House of Representatives of Thailand. The Democrat Party's current leader is Abhisit Vejjajiva, incumbent opposition leader and former Prime Minister. The party upholds a conservative...
government worried that if it collapsed, it could adversely affect shareholders like Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank is a bank from Thailand, based in Bangkok.- History :Established by Royal Charter in 1907, Siam Commercial Bank PCL was Thailand's first bank. At the time of its establishment, the only banks in the country were branch offices of foreign banks...
and the Crown Property Bureau. In order to attract outside capital, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai lifted the 10% limit on ownership in the station. Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation is one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand.- History :It was founded in 1983 as Shinawatra Computer by Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, and took on its current name in 1999, by using the first four letters of his last name...
, owned by future Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
, was requested to purchase a large portion of the company's shares, which he did for USD $60 million. At the time, this was considered a high price for the ailing company.
Under the Shin Corporation
Prime Minister of Thailand
The Prime Minister of Thailand is the head of government of Thailand. The Prime Minister is also the chairman of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Revolution of 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy....
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
, and his Thai Rak Thai
Thai Rak Thai
The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party that was officially banned on May 30, 2007, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand due to violations of electoral laws during the 2006 legislative elections. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under Prime Minister and its founder Thaksin...
party. Twenty-one journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s were fired for speaking out. They later won a court case against iTV and were awarded several years of back pay.
Originally, iTV's news-to-entertainment ratio was about 70:30. In the station's latter years, iTV increased its entertainment-based programming so that about 50% of its shows were entertainment. Among its popular programs was the Thailand version of the Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...
reality TV
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show.
In 2004, iTV was granted permission by an arbitration panel that it could increase the amount of entertainment programming and pay the government 230 million baht in annual licensing fees, an amount that was drastically reduced from the 1 billion baht the station had agreed to pay.
In June 2006, as a result of iTV's changes in programming, Thailand's Central Administrative Court invalidated the arbitration panel's ruling, saying the news-to-entertainment ratio must be returned to 70:30 and that broadcaster must pay 76 billion baht in fines. iTV contested the court's decision.
Media-reform activists in Thailand, such as Supinya Klangnarong
Supinya Klangnarong
Supinya Klangnarong is a Thai media rights advocate and current vice-chair of the . A graduate of Chulalongkorn University, she holds a BA from the Faculty of Communication Arts, a MA from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Thammasat University and a MA in Communication Policy...
and Jon Ungpakorn
Jon Ungpakorn
Jon Ungpakorn is a London-born Thai non-governmental organization executive and member of the Senate of Thailand. He is an older brother of Peter Ungpakorn and Ji Ungpakorn, and is of Chinese-Thai and British parentage...
had suggested that the station model itself as a public broadcaster, similar to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
or the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, which the activists say would allow it to better achieve its original mission as an independent public network free of political intervention and business interests.
"The goal of founding iTV back in 1995 was to provide a public service via a truly independent network. That ideal should continue to be supported as we shouldn't forget that this network was set up following the 'dark age' of information which led to the Bloody May
Black May
Black May is a common name for the 17–20 May 1992 popular protest in Bangkok against the government of General Suchinda Kraprayoon and the bloody military crackdown that followed. Up to 200,000 people demonstrated in central Bangkok at the height of the protests...
events of 1992," Jon Ungpakorn told The Nation
The Nation (Thailand)
The Nation is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper founded in 1971 and published in Bangkok, Thailand, and is owned by the Nation Multimedia Group.The Nation is a member of the Asia News Network...
.
Thai Independent Television (TITV)
In 2006, Shin Corporation, iTV's majority shareholder, was acquired by Temasek HoldingsTemasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the government of Singapore. With an international staff of 380 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$193 billion at end of March 2011, focused primarily in Asia...
, the investment company of the Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
an government. Thai media activists strongly criticized the sale. After the 2006 military coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's interim civilian government voiced intentions to take over iTV if it failed to pay 2.8 billion dollars in fines. In February 2007, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont
Surayud Chulanont
General Surayud Chulanont is a Thai political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's Interim Government between 2006 and 2008...
appointed a new executive board consisting exclusively of civil servants. The station was renamed "Thai Independent Television" (TITV).
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont
Surayud Chulanont
General Surayud Chulanont is a Thai political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's Interim Government between 2006 and 2008...
announced that it intended to take over the station and let it be operated by the Public Relations Department, which already ran TVT Channel 11. Surayud promised that the station would not be taken off the air no matter what happened regarding its concession controversy.
PM's Office Minister Dhipawadee Meksawan announced that the station would be taken off the air on midnight on 6 March 2007, following the Cabinet's revocation of iTV's concession in early March 2007. Surayud apologized for not keeping his word.
Then on 7 March 2007, Surayud reversed his decision yet again and ordered that iTV continue broadcasting after the deadline had passed.
Other junta controlled television stations like MCOT were expected to reap windfall gains due to the situation at iTV.
see also
- WITBN
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- BBC Alba
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- Te Reo (TV)Te Reo (TV)Te Reo is a New Zealand TV station broadcasting programmes exclusively in the Māori language with no advertising or subtitles. It also broadcasts special tribal programming and offers particular focus on new programming for the fluent audience....
- NRK Sámi RadioNRK Sámi RadioNRK Sápmi is a Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation unit that produces radio, television, and Internet news and other programs for the Sámi people. The first radio news program in Sami language started in 1946 in Tromsø with Katrine Johnsen as the host...
- SABC
- PTSTaiwan Public Television Service FoundationTaiwan Public Television Service Foundation is the first independent public broadcasting institution in Taiwan, which broadcasts the Public Television Service Taiwan...
- APTNAboriginal Peoples Television NetworkAboriginal Peoples Television Network is a Canadian broadcast and cable television network. APTN airs and produces programs made by, for and about Aboriginal Peoples...
- NITV
Transformation into Thai PBS
On 14 January 2008, Thailand's Government Public Relations Department delivered a non-negotiable letter ordering closure of the station at midnight that day. The station complied, and immediately after midnight, TITV became history and, in accordance with the Public Broadcasting Service Act, the station was transformed into the Thai Public Broadcasting ServiceThai Public Broadcasting Service
The Thai Public Broadcasting Service , or, in brief, TPBS , is a public broadcasting service in Thailand. It is established by the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act, BE 2551 , which came into force as from January 15, 2008...
or Thai PBS.
See also
- List of television stations in Thailand
- Media of ThailandMedia of ThailandThailand has a well-developed media sector, especially by Southeast Asian standards. Compared to other countries in the region, the Thai media have historically been relatively free, although the government has always exercised considerable control, especially over broadcast media...
- Shin CorporationShin CorporationShin Corporation is one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand.- History :It was founded in 1983 as Shinawatra Computer by Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, and took on its current name in 1999, by using the first four letters of his last name...
- Thai Public Broadcasting ServiceThai Public Broadcasting ServiceThe Thai Public Broadcasting Service , or, in brief, TPBS , is a public broadcasting service in Thailand. It is established by the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act, BE 2551 , which came into force as from January 15, 2008...
(Now ITV and TITV was called TVTHAI)
External links
- Official Website
- Big Brother iTV Thailand
- The Nation, The iTV saga timeline, 7 November 2006