RS Plc, the country's second-largest entertainment company, forged a partnership with PSI Holdings, the No.1 satellite dish provider, to enhance the capacity of its new set-top boxes for high-definition (HD) signals.
Mr Surachai (left), CEO of RS, shakes hands with Mr Somporn, CEO of PSI Holdings.
Called PSI O2 Digital, the new set-top box will support HD channels and cost 2,490 baht for new subscribers and 1,690 baht for its 14 million existing PSI customers. There is no monthly fee.
Somporn Teerarochanapong, the chief executive of PSI Holdings, said it plans to distribute at least 1 million HD boxes within one year of the launch. PSI will migrate from standard-definition (SD) to HD boxes over the next three or four years.
About 70% of HD box customers in the first year are expected to be PSI's existing customers.
The HD boxes will have seven exclusive channels _ its own PSI channel, Workpoint TV (from Workpoint Entertainment), the Shop at Home Channel, Channel 8, Channel 6, the Sun Channel and the World Cup Channel (from RS). Moreover, the boxes offer over 200 free SD channels.
"The satellite TV business has changed a lot to meet consumer demand. Mere set-top boxes with good content are not enough any more. We need good content partners such as RS and Workpoint," said Mr Somporn.
He is confident the box will be successful thanks to quality hardware and software, popular content from its partners, a strong nationwide distribution network and lower pricing.
Surachai Chetchotisak, the chief executive of RS, added the Sun Channel will broadcast 380 La Liga football matches during the 2013-14 season, while its World Cup Channel will air 64 live matches from the 2014 Fifa World Cup starting on June 1.
PSI and RS will share revenue from PSI O2 box sales.
Meanwhile, RS said it already sold 300,000 Sunbox set-top boxes and will continue marketing these SD boxes. Sunbox was launched to serve La Liga football broadcasts last year.
"Were not a specialist establishing a satellite platform but rather a content provider, and our mission is to become a multimedia content specialist," said Mr Surachai.
Pornpan Techarungchaikul, RS's chief operating officer, said La Liga broadcast rights for the 2012-15 seasons will generate 1 billion baht in revenue for RS, with 200 million earned in the first year.
The Sun Channel will be available on all platforms that support pay-per-view (PPV) for a monthly fee of 99 baht except for TrueVisions, which subleased the channel from RS.
The World Cup Channel will also broadcast on every platform that supports PPV, but a price has not been set. RS expects the World Cup Channel will generate 700 million baht in revenue next year.
The must-have rule of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission requires RS to air all 64 World Cup matches on free TV, but RS has refused to do so thus far. The case is undergoing a hearing at the Administrative Court.
Shares of RS closed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 8.80 baht yesterday, unchanged, in trade worth 31.4 million baht.