'Daily News' spends B5bn on TV debut

'Daily News' spends B5bn on TV debut

Daily News, Thailand's second-largest daily newspaper, is set to invest 5 billion baht in its digital channel New TV in a bid to become a top-five digital player in three years.

"After our five decades of the Daily News newspaper, it’s time to expand our print business and jump on the digital TV bandwagon with a new brand and a new target group," said Prapa Hetrakul Srinualnad, publisher of the Thai-language newspaper.

DN Broadcast Co, the broadcasting arm of Daily News, has secured a 15-year digital TV licence for the news category at a cost of 1.31 billion baht.

Ms Prapa said New TV will differ from the Daily News brand by targeting new customers, focusing on urban mass viewers, particularly families and the new generation who are a new power to grow the country sustainably and need good media.

New TV will deliver news, edutainment and entertainment content as well as global current affairs with the aim of strengthening viewers' understanding of the world and society. Half the channel's content will be news.

"With the rapid change of the media landscape, Daily News will aim at being a convergence media provider that includes the newspaper, TV and online media, in line with today's consumer behaviour," Ms Prapa said.

Paravadee Hetrakul Srinualnad, executive director of DN Broadcast Co, said the company would spend 5 billion baht on New TV, with 800 million allocated in the first year for facilities such as studios, licence fees and content development.

It is the biggest investment by Daily News in a decade since it bought new printing machinery in 2004.

The network expects to achieve 300 million baht in revenue in the first year of operation after delays in launching the channel.

It estimates it will make a net profit in the third year and break even in seven years.

DN Broadcast has set an average airtime rate for advertising at 30,000 to 50,000 baht a minute, while the prime-time rate is 150,000 to 200,000 baht a minute.

It has secured founder sponsors for the news channel.

"As print media is facing declining advertising revenue, we hope our digital TV service will turn to be a core business within six years, representing 60% of the group's total revenue, while the remaining revenue will come from the newspaper," said Ms Paravadee.

DN Broadcast will aggressively build its brand and create awareness among TV viewers by launching a free tabloid newspaper called New 108 with a claimed daily circulation of 400,000 copies distributed in the capital.

It will use a multiscreen strategy to strengthen its digital TV channel by allowing viewers to watch New TV on smartphones and tablets.

Ms Paravadee said New TV gained a high rating, ranking in the top five among 24 digital channels, after its soft launch last month.

Documentaries are seen as the most attractive content, while news is being followed by many viewers.

New TV will officially launch on Aug 1 on Channel 18 of the digital terrestrial TV system.

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