The pro-Democrat Party television channel, Bluesky, is considering temporarily closing down after two months of broadcast suspension ordered by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), a company executive said yesterday.
Takerng Somsup, channel director, said Bluesky executives discussed the move after realising it lacks the money it needs to sustain operations if it must remain off-air for a long period of time. The budget shortage was the main reason for the possible closure because Bluesky TV was still operating, although its programmes could not be broadcast, he said.
"We've reduced the monthly expenses from around 7-8 million baht to 3-5 million baht since the broadcast suspension began in late May, but the cut did not help much. So we are considering shutting down temporarily and using the remaining budget to compensate our staff," Mr Takerng said. He said Bluesky has paid all staff regularly although it had no income from broadcasts.
The final decision is likely to be made next week, when the NCPO was expected to invoke a provisional charter, the Bluesky director said. He said he expects the junta to ease its satellite TV broadcast ban by then.
"We understand the NCPO on this matter but if the suspension continues, we can not survive,'' he said.
Mr Takerng said Bluesky has never asked the NCPO to allow it to resume broadcasting. He said he was formally informed by the NCPO during a recent meeting that the military needed more time to regulate the satellite and cable TV channels linked to political groups.
Bluesky is among 14 satellite, cable and digital TV stations which were taken off the air by the coup-makers, who argued some of their content stoked conflict and might affect peace and order.