ENTERTAINMENT
TrueVisions to lure Premier League fans with new offer
- By: CHADAMAS CHINMANEEVONG
- Published: 9/01/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Business
TrueVisions, a subsidiary of SET-listed True Corporation, expects to increase its subscriber total to two million this year, up from 1.3 million in the third quarter of 2008 with a focus on middle- and low-income customers.
Thiti Nantapatsiri, managing director of TrueVisions, said the company saw room to grow in the cable TV business, especially in the middle- and lower-income brackets, even though the economy was slowing down. It believes more channels and low prices are an irresistible combination for the mass market.
Mr Thiti, who was appointed in early December, said the main policies of TrueVisions remained unchanged but the company would concentrate more on customisation.
Consequently, quality programmes or channels will be launched this year but the new managing director declined to give more details.
Yesterday, TrueVisions launched four sports channels featuring the English Premier League around the clock throughout the season. They aim to attract both new and existing customers, particularly those of the True Live Free Reviews package who make up more than a half of the total subscribers.
The channels debut tomorrow and bring the total number of sports channels to 10. They are: TrueSport Club Channel A (channel 110), C (channel 109), L (channel 107), and M (channel 106). The channel names represent the initials of the four popular football clubs: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, which will be their highlights.
The fees are 129 baht daily, 199 baht weekly, 399 baht monthly, and 2,699 baht per season. However, the channels will not air big matches, which are reserved for Gold and Platinum packages.
Mr Thiti expects the company to sell Live Free Reviews packages to 105,000 subscribers this year.
''We are launching four sports channels and charging various reasonable subscription fees ranging from daily to yearly. This will attract new customers, especially students,'' he said.
TrueVisions posted a net profit of 204 million baht in the first nine months of last year on revenue of 2.6 billion, compared with a net profit of 338 million baht and revenue of 2.5 billion baht in the same period of 2007.
True Corp reported a net loss of 1.8 billion baht on revenue of 46.5 billion baht in the first nine months of 2008, compared with a net profit of 950 million baht on revenue of 45.7 billion baht in the same period of 2007.
True Corp shares closed yesterday on the SET at 1.84 baht, up six satang.
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