Bangkok Broadcasting and Television Co (BBTV), the operator of Channel 7, has filed a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), accusing three broadcasting commissioners of abuse of power in their handling of the Channel 3 dispute.
In the complaint, BBTV claims the abuse of power led to damages at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The three broadcasting commissioners are Lt Gen Peerapong Manakij, Thawatchai Chitrapanun and Supinya Klangnarong.
The move follows the broadcasting dispute between Channel 3 and the NBTC that ended in October with Channel 3 agreeing to do a simulcast and bring its analogue content to air digitally on its Channel 33 HD. The Central Administrative Court helped to mediate the dispute.
The NBTC approved the move even though BEC World, the operator of Channel 3, uses two different entities to hold the analogue TV concession (Bangkok Entertainment Co) and digital TV licences (BEC Multimedia Co).
Channel 3 faced the threat of a blackout on Sept 1 after the NBTC amended its must-carry rule on Feb 3, ordering platform operators to drop analogue channels that did not do simulcasts and migrate digitally.
A BBTV source said the NBTC approval for Channel 3 to do a simulcast using different entities violates broadcasting regulations, costing the state 3 billion baht in revenue from licence fees because both entities should pay for licences.
Channels 7 and 9 did simulcasts with the same entity holding both the analogue concession and digital TV licence. Under the Broadcasting Act and the Frequency Allocation Act, a TV licence is exclusive to the granted licence holder, which must run the channel on its own without transferring the rights.
BBTV believes this means the NBTC approval violated two laws and created unfair competition in the digital TV industry. At the latest NACC meeting, the board agreed to accept the BBTV complaint.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier that even though each element of the two companies were the same, they were different entities by law.
BBTV also filed a lawsuit about clearer annual fee payments in the Central Administrative Court earlier.