The digital TV industry will see intense competition this year, especially among operators who survived the hard times in 2015, says the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
But the overall industry is improving as digital TV gains an audience and ad spending rises gradually, the regulator said.
According to Nielsen Co (Thailand), the new digital channels had a 38% share of the total audience at the end of 2015, up from 18% the year before.
Meanwhile, the six analogue channels, which have a simulcast broadcast, had a 62% share, down from 82%.
Col Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the NBTC's broadcasting committee, said the figures showed higher digital TV penetration among viewers.
"This could imply that watching digital TV channels has become more popular, especially the channels that have strong positioning," he said.
Big channels in the top tier of the ratings, such as Channel 7, Channel 3, WorkPoint TV, Channel 8, Mono 29 and One Channel, are moving forward to gain more viewership.
"They are competing head-on by enhancing their content and building awareness to secure higher ratings and advertising revenue," Col Natee said.
Ad spending for digital TV rose by 144% to 20 billion baht last year despite the economic slowdown, according to Nielsen.
At the same time, ad spending on the six analogue channels fell by 9.8% to 57 billion baht.
In Col Natee's view, 24 digital channels is not too many and the surviving channels will play a vital role in driving the entire industry to a new level.
Many factors will affect channel performance, for better or worse, depending on the business strategy and efficiency of operations.
"Digital TV is a sensitive business and takes more than five years to break even," Col Natee said.
"Having the right content for the right target group is still the main factor to make every digital TV operator successful in running the channel when competition is heavy."
In the future, if any channel operator can no longer run its business, the NBTC will take back the frequency, and it will not re-auction the seized licences until the 15-year licences of all 24 channels expire.
Nonetheless, the NBTC will support channel operators who face financial problems as long as they follow the rules and regulations, Col Natee said.
The regulator wants the television industry to proceed with completing the transition to digital TV and to serve the people with quantity and quality of channels.
