6 Thai Market Analysis This section examines the market situation of Pay TV and OTT TV, service formats, technologies, revenue-generating formats, and market and service trends. After that, it discusses the cooperation between OTT TV providers, Telcos, Pay TV providers and Broadcasters, as well as analysis of their impact in many aspects such as competition with other platforms (DTT, Cable and Satellite), service fee and its impact on consumers. The last section touches on governing laws that may be relevant to OTT TV in Thailand, such as Computer Crime Act B.E. 2007 and Patent Act B.E. 2015, to name a few. The section analyses and studies topics related to international studies from the previous section and compares the study results of these two sections. 6.1 Thailand’s Pay TV Market and Service Analysis Pay TV Providers in Thailand must obtain a licence of non-spectrum usage for radio or television broadcasting. In Thailand, these providers are divided into three types according to their service formats 225 , as follows: 1) Pay TV Provider via Satellite Television 2) Pay TV Provider via Cable Television 3) Pay TV Provider via both Satellite and Cable Television The above providers must obtain non-spectrum usage radio or television broadcasting. There are three main components namely Pay TV Service Provider, Network Provider, and User (Residential and Business or Service Operator) in all of the three service formats above. In most cases, Service Provider gathers broadcasting contents, broadcasting schedule and channels, prior to sending to Network Provider for broadcasting. 225 This study does not include Pay TV via Internet network (IP Television), since there are limited users, not well received, and decreasing in number. Informal translation provided for members of P. 1 The Network Provider will broadcast the content from Pay TV Service Provider to users. However, the User must have a signal receptor for cable network or satellite network or IPTV installed at their end and use the service in accordance with the conditions stated with the Pay TV Service Provider. Depending on the service format, there may be a monthly fee as well. As of May 2016, there are 369 licensed Pay TV Service Providers 226 in Thailand’s retail market, 354 (95.93%) of which provide service via cable network, 13 (3.52%) of which provide service via satellite, and 2 (0.55%) of which provide service via both channels. It was found that during 2015–2016, 27 Cable Pay TV Service Providers terminated or were in the process of terminating their service.227 This is a 7.08% decrease compared to the same period in the previous year (August 2015).228 Similarly, satellite Pay TV service providers also decreased by 23.53% from 17 Providers to 13 Providers.229 As for Pay TV service providers who provide service via both cable and satellite network, there were two of them, namely True Visions and CTH, but as of June 2016, True Visions is the only service provider in this category, since CTH officially terminated their service in August 2016,230 as shown in Figure 6-1. 226 227 228 229 230 Source: Operator Database, May 2016 Source: NBTC Database, May 2016, random sample from 100 operators from 217 licensed operators that did not pay an annual fee or paid zero THB annual fees, and data from operator interviews as of May 2016 Source: NBTC Self-Regulation in Broadcasting, Television Broadcasting Competition Status Report (January–July 2015), Page 39, 2015 Source: NBTC Database as of May 2016 Source: http://isranews.org/investigative/investigate-news-person/item/47764-report05_47764.html (2 August 2559) Informal translation provided for members of P. 2 Figure 6-1: Pay TV Service Providers in Thailand as of August 2016 The termination of service by Pay TV providers in those three categories was caused by similar reasons such as technological changes, high cost of content production, slimmer revenue margin, to name a few. Additionally, it is also possible to categorise the 369 Pay TV Providers by how they charge their customers. In this regard, 358 (97.01%) of them231 charge their customers monthly in accordance with the packages they provide with different numbers of channels their users chose to register. They may or may not charge an installation fee, and there are only 1–2 players whose total market share makes up more than 80% of the total market. Secondly, there are 11 (2.99%) licensed Pay TV Providers who do not charge a monthly fee.232 These providers are likely to charge a receiver installation fee that already includes their profit margin. They emphasise a variety of channels, which are mostly Free-to-Air type of channels. Lastly, as of now, there is no Pay TV Provider that charges based on Pay-Per-View or pay to view certain channels during certain periods of time (such as live broadcast), which could be another way to generate additional revenue for Pay TV Providers in both categories. 231 232 Source: 2014 Revenue Report disclosed by Licensed Providers under Section 2 in NS.02 Source: Information from interviewing providers in May 2016 Informal translation provided for members of P. 3 Competition among Pay TV Providers is very tight due to the effect of Must-Carry regulation and the sequencing of channel numbers. The Providers have to assign their channels in the most efficient way while also facing a bottleneck problem in providing service. This is because users who live in vertical residences such as condominiums, townhouses, or apartments are sometimes limited to only one provider, since that provider might have an agreement with the condominium or apartment manager to provide cable wire to the whole complex, and therefore, the residents in such buildings are left with no choice but to subscribe to that provider. Mostly, providers such as True Visions of True Corp Group also provide additional services apart from Pay TV, such as Internet and mobile phone service. 233 Apart from this, there is also competition between Pay TV Providers and providers on other platforms such as digital TV and OTT. The rise of digital TV in 2014 gave users an additional means to watch 28 channels on free TV, and also many OTT TV Providers entered the market in 2013, both with or without monthly fees. This report will discuss in detail OTT TV Providers in the next section. 6.2 Thailand’s OTT TV Market and Service Analysis The market situation of OTT TV in Thailand is still in its initial stage. This is because basic infrastructure such as Internet, especially home Internet, is still somewhat limited, with low connection speed, and still high service fee compared with mobile Internet. Additionally, mobile Internet has recently started playing a more important role in consumer behaviour after the official launch of 3G service in 2013 and a decrease in smartphones and their peripherals. The most notable change in user behaviour are the viewing hours via mobile application234, be it streaming 235 which is a technology that provides access to music, video, and animated information via Internet on a real-time basis. There is no need for a user to download all data before watching, but they can watch the content along with the data-processing procedure. Due to consumer habits and technological advances, OTT TV Providers in Thailand 233 234 235 Source: http://positioningmag.com/?p=26042 Source: Electronic Transaction Development Agency (ETDA) 2015 Source: Movie Streaming Market Survey in Thailand http://goo.gl/qCrP4v Informal translation provided for members of P. 4 are very varied. Some of which are television providers, some are in related industries, and some are just newcomers. We have gathered and analysed the market and service situation of OTT TV Providers by categorising them according to type of provider like in the previous section. However, each segment also has different competition, service format, and revenue generation. Some notable providers are as follows: Independent OTT TV Providers New OTT Providers in Thailand have different organisational structures, types of service, and revenue-generating methods. Some are local Tech Start-Ups, some are Tech Start-Ups from overseas, and some are well-known OTT TV Providers. Notable Providers are as follows: Hollywood HD Hollywood HD is one of the top OTT TV Providers in Thailand.236 It was developed by Fly Digital Media. This team is the same team of Plenchit Media Co., Ltd., who created the AIS Mobile English Premier League system. Hollywood HD started providing service in the first quarter of 2014.237 The company collects monthly fees from users, and they are known for good movie categorisation. Hollywood HD provides Thai movies more than foreign movies, and they are focused on providing unlimited content. Viewers can watch new movies by using points which come from continuing their unlimited package, or they can also purchase by cash in case of insufficient points. According to the information we have collected, Hollywood HD OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows: - Emphasis on popular movies or awarded movies in Hollywood. They are the only provider in Thailand that provides movies from five major film studios – Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Paramount and NBC Universal. The company is also the only provider in Asia that provides Disney On Demand service, and therefore, their viewers can 236 237 Source ะ http://goo.gl/qCrP4v Source: https://www.blognone.com/node/54620 Informal translation provided for members of P. 5 watch rare movies or IMDb movies. Hollywood HD also provides Chinese, Korean and Thai movies on demand. - Uses Adaptive Bitrate technology 238 to transfer data so viewers can adjust the movie resolution according to their Internet connection speed. It is also possible to watch HD movies with 2MB Internet speed. This technology also allows viewers to continue watching from where they left off last time, as well as watch from a portable device, computer or television. Up to three devices can be connected. - Monthly fee of 199 Baht is charged, payable by E-Banking, ATM, or various payment services. Hollywood HD also sells prepaid cards at well-known retailers such as B2S, Boomerang Mangpong, Tops Supermarket, and video-rental stores with the Hollywood HD logo all over the country. Primetime Primetime is a new OTT TV Provider. They are focused on new Hollywood movies shown within the past 2–3 months and television series from overseas. They officially launched their service in Thailand on 26 February 2015239. Primetime actually is a spin-off of Hollywood HD, and they are licensed with six major film studios namely Walt Disney, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Paramount, MBC Universal, and Sony Pictures. The company also provides unlimited viewing of classic movies as well as popular American television series for their members. Some series can be viewed at the same time as the US, and thus it really covers what viewers want the most. According to the information we have collected, Primetime OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows: - The first provider to use DTS Surround 5.1 in their movie streaming. Users can listen to surround sound system even via normal headphones. Their SmartTV application allows maximum 4K streaming either via computer browser or portable devices on iOS and Android platforms. It also supports Apple TV and Chromecast which enable Smart Device to Airplay the content to television in real time. Primetime will also support 238 239 Adaptive Bitrate means a technique that matches video quality with Internet speed used to download the data as well as screen size. Source: https://www.beartai.com/news/it-thai-news/42685 Informal translation provided for members of P. 6 ZipTV in the future. Informal translation provided for members of P. 7 ‐ Primetime provides the following packages for their users: Packages 1) Movie Buffet 2) TV Series Buffet 3) New Rental Movies + Movie Buffet Service Fees 199 THB/month 299 THB/month 4) Combo Buffet 549 THB/month 299 THB/month 4,788THB/year (Approximately THB/month) Table 6-1: Primetime Packages as of August 2016 5) Combo Buffet Details Unlimited movie viewing Unlimited series viewing Unlimited movie viewing, rental of 2 new movies Includes everything and rental of 2 new movies Includes everything 399 rental of 2 new movies and Primetime also provides Primetime box service which is an Android-based receiver. They collect a one-time payment of 3,900 THB. No monthly fee is required, but viewers can pay for additional patented movies or cartoons. Viewers can pay via payment services at DNA, iStudio by ComSeven, and Banana IT, to name a few. Additionally, in 2015, the company also partnered with other players such as DTAC, Samsung smartphone dealers, and K Bank240, to create more service channels. DOONEE DOONEE is another new OTT TV Provider who offers packages for viewing HD Hollywood movies via Internet on a Subscription Video on Demand (SVoD) basis. Viewers can watch popular TV series unlimitedly anytime and anywhere through various devices such as computer, smartphone, tablet, iPod, iPad, iPhone (iOS/Android) as well as smart TV. In Thailand, DOONEE provides licensed Hollywood series, and they have the highest number of series for viewers to enjoy compared to other providers. The company officially launched their service on 27 January 2015241 , and they operate in Thailand only. According to the data we have collected, DOONEE OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows: 240 241 Source: https://www.beartai.com/news/promotion news/72195, https://mobil.edista.com/archives/86762u, and http://www.kasikornbank.com/spedal/KMobil.eBankingRewardPLUS/Pages/Privil.ege-Primetime .html. Source: https://www.facebook.com/DOONEEFANPAGE/photos/?tab=album&al.bumJd=5748363426523 55 Informal translation provided for members of P. 8 Informal translation provided for members of P. 9 - DOONEE distinguishes itself by providing the highest number of Hollywood series in Thailand.242 There are up to 1,500 episodes of HD-quality series, and they provide the newest series within 12 hours after they are aired overseas. - Viewers can watch unlimitedly according to their preferences anytime. The company also provides Smart Player system, which allows users to pause-and-play to continue watching where they left off the last time, so they do not have to start watching from the beginning. - DOONEE provides Multi-Bitrate function, which allows viewers to adjust the Internet connection and Wi-Fi speed for uninterrupted viewing experience. - DOONEE offers two packages: 1) Monthly Package at 150 THB/month and 2) Annual Package at 1,500 THB/year. They also use various payment channels such as credit card, payment services, ATM, Bank, iBanking, TermOne card, money transfer and PayPal. MONOMaxxx MONOMaxxx243 is an online movie application (originally launched in 2011 as Doonung)244 under Mono Flim Co., Ltd. in Mono Group. The company has various revenue schemes245 such as daily, monthly, timely and TermOne card. MONOMaxxx is interested in live-streaming events in the future, and they have also been purchasing more licences of overseas movies, Thai movies, series and sports. 246 - MONOMaxxx provides various contents, especially Asia series (Action-Supernatural) and cartoons. The company also offers awarded movies and out-of-trend movies247 248 with Thai soundtrack and subtitles. MONOMaxxx also uses an auto bitrates system, so viewers can view the content uninterruptedly and from up to three devices at the same time. 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 Source: https://www.marketingoops.com/digitaH.ife/doonee-tv/ Source: http://www.mono.co.th/lnvestor-Relations/pdf/AR_MONO_2015_EN.aspx Source: http://www.56-l.com/reports/MONO/MONO_13F561_th.pdf Source: http://www.monomaxxx.com/review/detail/AndroidNews แล!; https//www.monomaxxx.com/card/joinnow/ Source: http://www.dcs-digital.com/setweb/downloads/2558q4/20160304_mono.pdf However, content procurement cost is considered total cost of MONO Source: http://tech.mthai.com/mobile-tablet/56353.html Informal translation provided for members of P. 10 - Service charge starts from 129 THB/month with unlimited viewing. Service charge varies according to length of application starting from 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Informal translation provided for members of P. 11 iflix iflix is a new OTT TV Provider in Thailand. It is one of the subsidiaries of Catcha Group that provides various services such as Ensogo, One2Car, and Think of Living in Thailand. iflix has been successfully providing online movie and series services in the Philippines and Malaysia with as many as 10,000 users within only two months of launch.249 Thailand is the third country where iflix officially launched their service, in August 2015250, with a vision of growing in the ASEAN region via affordable pricing, reliable system and varied content for viewers to choose from. According to the data we have collected, iflix OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows: - iflix signed contracts with 35 world-class studios such as Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, BBC, Starz, Redbull TV and KBS, to name a few. They offer variety shows and series that easily meet the demand of Thai viewers. iflix successfully attracts various users by providing popular movies and series from America, Korea, China, as well as cartoons for kids, which take up to 20% of their total contents.251 iflix also tailor their contents in each country in accordance with the viewing habits of their subscribers. - iflix’s unique feature is that they are more regional than other competitors in the market. This enables them to provide more offers to the customers at a cheaper price. In the near future, iflix plans to do original production as well. - iflix charges 100 THB/month with unlimited viewing and unlimited content access without additional charge. Subscribers can view from five different devices and up to two devices at the same time. The company also provides 30-day free trial and after that, they charge via credit card, money transfer, or payment via counter. Netflix Netflix is the number 1 OTT TV Provider in the US and also the largest OTT TV Provider in the world. Netflix provides service in 190 countries 252 worldwide and officially 249 250 251 252 Source: http://www.whatphone.net/news/iflix-will-official-launches-in-thailand-this-august/ Source: http://thumbsup.in.th/2015/07/iflix-will-be-launched-in-thailand-au§ust/ Source:http://thumbsup.in.th//07/2015iflix-will-be-launched-in-thailand-au§ust/ Source: http//thumbsup.in.th//07/2015iflix-will-be-launched-in-thailand-au§ust/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 12 launched in Thailand on 6 January 2016.253 The company is the pioneer in licensed video streaming on the Internet where viewers pay a monthly service fee in exchange for on-demand movie viewing anywhere and anytime. According to the data we have collected, Netflix’s OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows; - Netflix puts emphasis on picture quality and continuity in viewing experience. Viewers need to install the Netflix application that comes with 4K or Blu-ray player to watch 4K or UHD movies. Netflix also uses Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround in their service for superb audio quality. - Netflix provides three packages: 1) 280 THB/month for movies and series with SD quality on one device 2) 350 THB/month for movies and series with HD quality on two devices and 3) 420 THB/month254 for movies and series with UHD quality on four devices. All of which can be subscribed to via credit/debit card or PayPal. Initially, Netflix did not provide Thai content, and the variety of movies and series was still limited in Thailand compared to other countries. They introduced Thai subtitles and soundtracks for certain movies255 later on, in the second quarter of 2016. HOOQ HOOD is the largest OTT TV Provider in Asia. The company was created by three world-class companies namely SingTel, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, unlike other online movie service providers. HOOQ was first launched in the Philippines, and Thailand was the second country where they officially launched their service, on 27 April 2015.256 The company has the highest number of movies and series in Asia, totalling up to 10,000 options to choose from.257 According to the information we have collected, HOOQ’s OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows: 253 254 255 256 257 Source: http://www.siampod.com//07/01/2016netflix-available-in-thailand/ Source: http://www.siampod.com/2016/01/07/netflix-available-in-thailand/ Source: http://www.macthai.com/2016/07/21/netflix-support-thai-subtitle-and-audio/ Source: https://www.beartai.com/lifestyle/46595 Source: https://www.blognone.com/node/67978 Informal translation provided for members of P. 13 - The HOOQ website interface design is totally different from other providers. They use a blog design which puts emphasis on large images as a main component. HOOQ cooperates with large alliance such as Advance Info Service (AIS) to bring both Thai and foreign movies and series on demand to AIS PLAYBOX (as well as AIS Play), which is a Set-Top Box based on the Android operating system through AIS Fibre network. Customers of AIS Fibre network also get one month HOOQ free trial. - HOOQ charges 119 THB/month. One account can run on five devices and simultaneously on two devices, and it is possible to download content to watch offline as well.258 Subscribers can pay via credit/debit card. LINE TV LINE TV is another new OTT TV Provider that offers soap operas, variety shows, and special shows from content producers. At present, there are over 33 million LINE users in Thailand, which makes the country a large and important market.259 LINE Thailand has been continuously developing new services and content presentations in response to the lifestyle of LINE users. LINE TV officially launched on 6 February 2014, and Thailand is the first country in the world that provides LINE TV service.260 LINE TV is an application that provides a variety of entertainment contents under the “Free Fresh Fast” concept. They cooperate with several content producers in Thailand such as GMM Grammy Plc. Co., Ltd., The One Enterprise Co., Ltd., MCOT Plc. Co., Ltd., and Woody World Co., Ltd., to name a few. LINE TV users can view content online before others and can also share content with their friends via LINE application. Since launching their service one year ago, they have been enjoying continuously increasing views. In the third quarter this year, their views grew as much as 118% from the previous quarter. More than 60% of LINE TV viewers are around 18–22 years old, and they watch LINE TV 1.5 hours/day on average.261 According to the information we have collected, LINE TV’s OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows; - LINE TV offers a different service from YouTube, in which they do not allow users to upload content by themselves. The contents in LINE TV come from cooperation 258 259 260 261 Source : http://goo.gl/sYljOR Source : http://thumbsup.in.th/2014/12/line-tv-launches-in-thailand/12wมา : https://www.beartai.com/lifestyle/46595 Source : http://www.iphone-droid.net/line-tv/ Source : https://linecorp.com/th/pr/news/th/1216/2015 Informal translation provided for members of P. 14 with content producers. The company distinguishes itself by providing exclusive contents that can only be viewed via LINE TV. They collaborate with famous content producers in Thailand such as GMM, Workpoint, Vithita, Thai Rath TV, True Vision and True Music, as well as freelance producers such as SuaRongHai and Parry Pie, to create exclusive LINE TV content. The company also provides special content from Korea such as behind-the-scenes of popular Korean stars, variety shows featuring these stars, as well as many music videos. - LINE TV provides appealing contents categorised into: 1) Recommended Videos – trending videos with the highest number of views 2) Drama – a variety of dramas that can be sorted by number of viewers, latest, or most liked 3) Entertainment – variety shows and cartoons 4) Music – music shows and music videos. LINE TV runs advertisement videos before playing content since this is one of the ways the company generates revenue. - Content providers can advertise in video format via LINE TV. They can create more viewers to watch their advertisement to promote their products and services, creating more awareness quickly. There are two kinds of advertisements, namely: 1) Skip View – viewers can choose to watch the entire advertisement or skip it entirely. Length of advertisement is no longer than 60 seconds, and they charge an advertising fee based on cost per thousand (CPM) 2) Non-Skip View – viewers have to watch the entire advertisement before watching the video, since unlike the Skip View, there is no Skip Ad for viewers to click on. LINE TV also charges based on CPM, and maximum length of advertisement must be within 30 seconds only. 262 Apart from the above, LINE TV users can use this service without any fees. They can use the same LINE account to log on to LINE TV on multiple devices, and the same device can also be used with another LINE account. YouTube YouTube Thailand was officially launched in May 2014.263 While YouTube users in Thailand have been accessing, viewing, and uploading videos like they used to before YouTube Thailand was launched, this gives content owners, producers, or television broadcasters more business opportunities since they are now able to commercially generate advertising revenue via the Google advertising system. In 2015, YouTube announced that Thailand was ranked among 10 countries with the 262 263 Source: http://smejump.com/advertising-line-tv/ Source: http//www.it24hrs.com/2014/youtube-thailand-launch/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 15 highest number of YouTube views and in the same year, YouTube added offline service, in which viewers can download video clips or their favourite shows and store on their device for 48 hours. 264 Apart from this, the company also created a Content Creators community that emphasises collaboration between television programme producers, music programme producers, show producers, and marketers to create their own YouTube. Data from Socialbaker 265 shows information of YouTube viewing based on subscribers and viewers in Table 6-2 below. Subscriber (Million) 7.6 Subscribers) Viewer (Million views) 7,768 Ginierock 5.5 4,504 RsiamMusic 5.0 3,892 rsfriends 4.0 2,838 TV3official 1.9 2,607 welovekamikaze 3.0 2,017 3.2 1,688 WorkpointOfficial 3.6 1,650 GMM GRAMMY GOLD OFFICIAL 1.6 1,382 VRZOchannel 3.6 Channel GMM GRAMMY OFFICIAL Channel One 1,271 Table 6-2: YouTube viewing statistics in Thailand as of August 2016 Telecommunication service providers also place importance on their partnership with YouTube as can be seen in their mobile phone promotion of AIS266 DTAC267 and TRUE268 during 2015 to 2016. From the above information, we can conclude that during 2015 to 2016, the new OTT TV Providers in Thailand were domestic, regional and international. There are two revenue-generating methods, namely advertisement fee and monthly subscription fee. 264 265 266 267 268 Source: http://www.whatphone.net/news/youtube-offline-now-available-in-thailand/ Source: https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/youtube/channels/thailand/ Source: http://www.mxphone.net/160616-ais-launch-zeed-sim-4g-youtube/ Source: http://www.mxphone.net/100815-dtac-happy-youtube-and-line-tv-package/ Source: http://xn-o3chnhib8mb8e.com/category/tv-youtube/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 16 Informal translation provided for members of P. 17 OTT TV from Content Producers From studying services of OTT TV from Content Providers, we found that there are still no movie or TV show producers that provide OTT TV service. This is because most television producers have clear contracts in producing contents and programmes for free TV broadcasters, or they are companies within the broadcasting company themselves. For this reason, OTT TV service channel is the same as the free TV service channel, for example Exact Co., Ltd., Sinerio Co., Ltd. and Poly Plus Entertainment Co., Ltd. OTT TV from Free TV Providers According to AGB Nielsen’s digital TV ratings from May–July 2016, the top five most popular channels are Channel 7, Channel 3, WORKPOINT, MONO, ONE and Channel 8, respectively.269 These channels provide OTT TV for viewers as well, which gives viewers more choice while also maintaining viewers and creating followers for their channels. After the digital TV auction in 2013, free TV channels increased from 6 to 24 channels and they were sequenced according to National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC)’s announcement. Details of those channels are as follows: Channel 7 The Royal Thai Army Television Channel 7 was launched in 1967.270 It has 37 substations all over the country 271 and with popular programs such as drama, sports and live sports broadcasts. Channel 7 has long been the most popular television channel, and with additional free TV channels, they provide content via OTT TV with the following formats: ‐ Viewing live programmes and aired programmes via the CH.7 website live. Viewers can watch on smartphones or portable devices. Viewing quality is dependent on the Internet connection speed. They started providing this service in 2008.272 269 270 271 272 Source: http://bit.ly/ldOZ49e Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/Research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapld=5825138 Source: http://www.ch7.com/about_us Source: http//www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/703198 Informal translation provided for members of P. 18 ‐ Viewing every aired television programme via website and Internet TV programme called Bugaboo. TV, which was developed by Channel 7 themselves. Viewers can download the application and watch on smartphone or portable devices. The channels are categorised as Drama, Series, News, Sports, Variety Show, Music and Entertainment. This service was launched in 2012273 , and since July 2013, viewers can view Bugaboo TV on Smart TV as well.274 ‐ Viewing drama and other programmes via Do 7HD application. This application applies Gamification strategy which uses prices and awards as incentives to Chick-in via Channel 7, including answering questions and collecting points to exchange for awards. This service was launched in August 2014.275 Apart from the above, Channel 7 is also present on other online channels such as Facebook and YouTube. Channel 3 Thailand Color Television Channel 3 is run by BEC World Plc. Co., Ltd. As of 31 December 2015, BEC World group consists of BEC World Plc. Co., Ltd. which operates 24 subsidiary companies and two joint companies. As for terrestrial Digital TV Broadcasting Service Provider business, BEC Multimedia Co., Ltd. (BECM) which is a subsidiary of BEC World, is in charge. BECM obtained three licences from NBTC, namely 1) General HD Content “CH 3HD Channel33” 2) General SD Content “CH 3SD Channel 28”, and 3) Children, Youth and Family “CH 3Family Channel 13”. All three licences are effective for 15 years starting from 25 April 2015 to 24 April 2029.276 Since Channel 3 was one of the analogue TV broadcasters, they are ranked second in popularity next to Channel 7. According to the data we have collected, Channel 3’s OTT TV’s services can be concluded as follows: ‐ Viewing live and aired television programmes via website and Ch. 3 live application viewable on smartphones or portable devices. Picture quality is 273 274 275 276 Ibid. 14 Source:7J Source: http://www.samsmg.com/th/artide/kpop-concert Source: http://www.manager.co.th/Drama/ViewNews.aspx?NewslD=9570000098853 Source: http://bit.ly/2bJ7CU Informal translation provided for members of P. 19 dependent on the Internet connection speed. Informal translation provided for members of P. 20 ‐ Viewing certain types of aired programmes online via Internet TV programme called Thai TV3 downloadable on smartphones or portable devices. ‐ Viewing dramas and other programmes via Channel 3’s application. These dramas and television programmes are also presented via other online platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. Despite the increase in competition among television service providers, the BEC World Group is, nevertheless, interested in providing subscription service and also looking for other broadcasting channels to domestic and international viewers. So far, the group has tried broadcasting to Japan and the US already, and now they are in the process of finding additional co-hosts in other countries. Apart from this, the BEC World Group is also interested in new media business, which is now being run by its subsidiary to explore satellite TV business as well.277 WORKPOINT WORKPOINT is one of the Digital Television Broadcasting Network Providers in the general category at SD quality under Thai Broadcasting Co., Ltd. The company started broadcasting officially in the second quarter of 2014, producing television content as well as purchasing television content licence for broadcasting on their own channel. WORKPOINT generates revenue by selling advertising airtime and product promotions during their broadcast. Prior to obtaining digital TV licence, WORKPOINT Channel used to hold a satellite TV licence since 2012, so they have been continuously broadcasting ever since. According to the information we have collected, WORKPOINT’s OTT TV’s service can be concluded as follows: ‐ In the second quarter of 2015,278WORKPOINT launched an application called WorkpointTV, which enables users to view live broadcasts as well as aired programmes via smartphones or portable devices (both iOS and Android). No fee is charged, and picture quality depends on Internet speed. 277 278 Ibid. 13 Source: http//workpointtv.com/download-workpointtv-app/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 21 ‐ Live broadcasts and aired programmes can be viewed on WORKPOINT LIVE TV ONLINE website. Apart from this, WORKPOINT is also present on other online channels such as Facebook and YouTube. Mono MONO is one of the Digital Television Broadcasting Network Providers. The company is part of Mono Technology Plc. Co., Ltd. group, and they launched their digital television service in April 2014279, featuring news and entertainment such as movies and series from overseas. According to the data we have collected, MONO’s OTT TV service can be concluded as follows: ‐ 24-hour live broadcasts and aired programmes via MONO29 application, dual soundtrack for selected items, able to manually adjust picture quality. The company features interactions with viewers via Facebook and Twitter applications for them to express their opinions or participate in certain contents. MONO29 also provides notification service when the viewer’s favourite programme is about to be broadcasted as well as sends news and updates. ‐ Mono provides live broadcasts and all kinds of aired programmes via their website called Mthai, which was developed from their existing website. ONE ONE is one of the HD Digital Television Broadcasting Network Providers. The company is part of GMM Grammy Plc. Co., Ltd. group, and they launched their digital television service in April 2014, featuring their previously existing programmes and also started developing new content since around the end of 2014. According to the data we have collected, ONE’s OTT TV service can be concluded as follows: ‐ 279 Live TV broadcasting and 24 hours of playback via ONE application and updates Source: http://www.mana§er.co.th/DramaA/iewNews.aspx?NewslD=9570000047252 Informal translation provided for members of P. 22 on changes in broadcasting schedule. This service was launched in 2014.280 280 Source: http://§rammy.listedcompany.com/misc/AR/20150331-grammy-ar2014-th-02.pdf Page 81 Informal translation provided for members of P. 23 ‐ ONE provides live broadcasts and playback of every programme via their website as well as social networks such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.281 CH.8 Channel 8 is a Digital Television Broadcasting Network Provider in the variety category. The company is under RS Plc. Co., Ltd., and it features new dramas and a variety of programmes. CH8 first went on air in 2014. According to the data we have collected, CH8’s OTT TV service can be concluded as follows: ‐ 24-hour live broadcasts and aired programmes via CH.8 application and updates on changes in broadcasting schedule. This service was launched in 2011. 282 ‐ CH.8 channel provides live broadcasts and all kinds of aired programmes via www.thaich8.com and social networks such as Facebook, 283 YouTube and Instagram. They started their service in May 2010.284 OTT TV from Pay TV Providers TrueVisions TrueVisions is the leader of Pay TV in Thailand. Its main source of income are the monthly subscription fees, and it provides both local and overseas contents via satellite, optical cable and coaxial cable. TrueVisions was created by the merging of IBC and YouTV back in 1998. In 2015, TrueVisions enjoyed high growth in income from both “True4U” digital TV and True Digital HD receiver. There were approximately 600,000 net new subscribers, and the average revenue per subscriber was 523 THB. Music entertainment, advertisement, 281 Source: http://www.onehd.net/howtowatch Source: http//grammy.listedcompany.com/misc/AR/20150331 grammyar2014th02.pdf 283 Source: http://www.rsfriends.com/%E0%B8%8A%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87-8-appUcation/ 284 Source: https://www.facebook.com/thaich8 282 Informal translation provided for members of P. 24 and subscription – especially from higher number of subscribers since the second quarter of 2015 due to higher demand in convergent packages285. TrueVisions provides various packages with different pricing based on number of channels and contents. As of 2016, there are five packages as follows:286 - Happy Family HD 299 THB/month - Smart Family HD 343 THB/month - Sport Family HD 413 THB/month - Super Family HD 629 THB/month - Gold HD 1,568 THB/month - Platinum HD 2,155 THB/month In 2013, TrueVisions started to provide online viewing via portable devices and smartphones for TrueVisions and TruemoveH subscribers. This application is called TrueAnywhere, and it runs on both iOS and Android operating systems. It offers various channels, and viewers can check the TV Guide seven days ahead as well as mark their favourite channels. The application also provides two-hour time-shift and two-day catch-up as well as Video on Demand.287 PSI PSI is a large satellite Pay TV provider in Thailand based on the number of receiver boxes as of 2015. PSI has been producing and selling satellite TV equipment for more than 20 years. Thanks to the increase in television broadcasters via digital television auction, other means of content consumption such as YouTube, and the widespread use of smartphones and smart devices, PSI launched their free live broadcast in 2013 on their application using IP streaming technology (Internet Protocol Streaming), which is a technology used to transfer visual and audio data to web browsers via Internet. Viewers can watch on a real-time basis, and viewing continuity depends on Internet connection 285 286 287 Source: http://true.listedcompany.com/mis๙AR/20160318-true-ar2015-th-02.pdf Source: http://truevisionsgroup.truecorp.co.th/packages Source: https://anywhere.truevisions.tv/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 25 speed.288 Service fee depends on type of subscription, size of satellite receiver and receiver box as well as number of receivers. Based on the data we have collected,289 we found that the one-time charge inclusive of installation charge is in the range of 1,000–15,000 THB. PSI also started selling their new PSI O5 hybrid net Android box in the second quarter of 2016. This box allows TV viewing via Internet, provides programme categories, supports air-playing from smartphone to TV screen, and can also boost Wi-Fi signal.290 OTT TV from Telco Providers Telecommunication usage habits have been shifting from voice to non-voice usage between 2014 and 2016. 291 Non-voice usage became twice as popular as voice usage and therefore, telecommunication service providers in each market also have been adjusting their services in accordance with changing habits. Large telecommunication service providers started to add IPTV as their additional or tie service, for example; TOT IPTV TOT had the highest market share in both retail and wholesale markets of landline phones in 2015.292 TOT started providing Internet TV (TOT IPTV) in 2013 in cooperation with Me Television Co., Ltd. to provide tie-in package with Internet TV receiver box through TOT’s high-speed Internet or any other Internet service provider.293 TOT IPTV has two ways of generating revenue, namely 1) No monthly fee and 2) Charging monthly fee, depending on the preferred number of channels of the viewers294. 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 Source: http://vwvw.symphon.net.th/src/misc/news/enjoy/2013/Nol6.pdf 290 Source: http://bit.ly/2bzylCI และ http://bit.ly/2bweRNn Source: http://bit.ly/2bdvQYE Source: Market Value of Telecommunication Market 2015 and Forecast of 2016 (http://bit.Ly/2baRkX0 Source: Telecommunication Market Situation Report, 15F4Q Page 6 and 31 (https://www.nbtcgo.th/wps/wcm/connect/NBTC/4252bf63-26fe-43d3-9a6/ ec3e22c2277c/4_2558.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=4252bf63-26fe-43d3-9a6f-ec3e22c227 7c) Source: http://vwvw.mxphone.net/180113-tot-iptv-internet tv/ Source: http://vwvw.totiptv.com/Product/Channel/ByPackage.aspx Informal translation provided for members of P. 26 AIS IPTV AIS is the first mobile phone service provider in Thailand and has the biggest market share as of 2015.295 The company started providing high-speed fixed-line Internet, called AIS Fibre, in September 2015.296 The highest speed AIS Fibre can provide is up to 1 gbps and, therefore, AIS offers AIS Playbox as a tie-in service for AIS Fibre users to enjoy Ultra-HD 4K quality. As of August 2016, AIE Fibre service covers 24 provinces including Bangkok and Greater Bangkok.297 298 Monthly fee for household use depends on Internet speed and type of customers, but it is in the range of 530–888 THB/month. 298 Viewers can enjoy more than 100 channels of free TV, digital TV, and premium channels as well as buy additional movies and series packages for 119–159 THB/month.299 3BB 3BB is a high-speed landline Internet provider with the second-largest market share after TRUE in 2015. The company has been enjoying constant increase in market share since 2012.300 3BB launched 3BB IPTV for 3BB Internet users with 3BB Cloud IPTV in 2015. This service is free of charge for their existing customers, and it also supports smartphones and smart devices for viewing online TV, cable/Internet TV and movies. General users can view only three channels with lower picture quality than 3BB customers.301 It can be seen that all three IPTV providers provide up to 72 hours of time-shifted service as well as video on demand service. All of them support TVs, smartphones, tablets, and computers. However, due to somewhat low revenue growth, these services are 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 Source: Telecommunication Market Situation Report 15F4Q Page 10 (https://www.nbtc.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/NBTC/4252bf63-26fe-43d3-9a()fec3e22c2277c/4_2558.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=4252bf63-26fe-43d3-9a6f-ec3e22c227 7c) Source: 2015 Annual Report of Advance Info Service Plc. Co., Ltd. (http://advanc.listedcompany.com/misc/ar/20160226-advanc-ar-2015-th-03.pdf) Source: http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/ Source: http://www.ais.co.th/fibre/package_home.html Source: http://www.ais.co.th/playbox/movie.html และ http://www.ais.co.th/pl.aybox/movie.html. Source: Telecommunication Market Situation Report 15F4Q Page 17 (https://www.nbtc.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/NBTC/4252bf63-26fe-43d3-9a6fec3e22c2277c/4_2558.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=4252bf63-26fe-43d3-9a6f-ec3e22c227 7c) Source: http://www.iphoneapptube.com/ios-app/3bb-doud iptv-free tv-online-youtube/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 27 mostly tie-in service to maintain customer base and are limited to the same Internet provider. For this reason, it can be said that these services are not fully OTT TV. Informal translation provided for members of P. 28 AIS Play In the first quarter of 2016, AIS launched AIS Play application, which was developed from the merging of AIS Movie Store and AIS Live TV application 302 (AIE Live TV was launched in 2012). Viewers can watch digital TV, satellite TV, every aired programme within the last seven days, as well as online movies on demand.303 There are four categories, namely News, Entertainment, International, Education and Sports. In the movie category, there are three sub-categories, namely Series, Movie and Cartoons. Most free movies are from GTH studio. AIS Play supports both iOS and Android, and their customers can automatically log in using AIS’s 3G/4G network. Users can also log in using other providers’ Wi-Fi, but they need to log in using the One-Time Password (OTP) system.304 OTT TV from Collaborated Providers In our studies, we found out that OTT TV in Thailand is still in the initial stages and, therefore, OTT TV from the collaboration of existing providers is still not clearly established. Overall view of OTT TV Providers in Thailand can be concluded in Figure 6-2. 302 303 304 Source: http://bit.ly/2c58ghB Source: http//www.it24hrs.com/2016/ais-4g-advanced-launch/ Source: http//vwvw.9tana.com/node/ais-play/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 29 Figure 6-2: Overall OTT TV Providers in Thailand From the information above, we can see that there are two main revenue-generating schemes, which are monthly (SVoD) or timely (TVoD) and advertisement (AVod) as shown in Table 6-3. Type of Service New OTT TV Service Providers Service Provider Features Hollywood HD - Good content Primetime - Emphasis on new categorisation - More Thai movies than international - Pause-and-Play Technology Hollywood movies released in theatres in the last 2–3 months and international series - Audio & Visual quality Informal translation provided for members of Revenue Generation Starting Monthly Fee (if any) Monthly Fee (SVoD) and Pay-per-View (TVoD) 199 THB Monthly Fee (SVoD) and Pay-per-View (TVoD) 199 THB P. 30 Type of Service Service Provider Features Revenue Generation Starting Monthly Fee (if any) - Partnership creates DOONEE MonoMaxxx various service channels. - Most series and Monthly or Hollywood movies Annual Fee in HD quality - Audio & Visual quality - Watch unlimited series 24 hours a day anywhere via various devices - Smart Player technology that enables Pause-and-Play - Launched in 2011 - Various contents, especially Asian series (Action-Supernatura l) and cartoons as well as awarded movies and out-of-trend movies - Technology in visual quality iflix - Belongs to Catcha Group - Affordable price for anyone, system stability, and content variety - Varied content, 20% of which are for children Informal translation provided for members of 150 THB Monthly or Annual Fee (SVoD) 129 THB Monthly or Annual Fee (SVoD) and Pay-per-View (TVoD) 100 THB P. 31 Type of Service Service Provider Netflix HOOQ LINE TV Features - No. 1 OTT TV Provider in the US and the largest OTT TV Provider in the world - Audio & Visual technology - Largest OTT TV Provider in Asia, founded by three world-class companies, namely SingTel, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures - Partnership with Advance Info Service (AIS) - Huge user base - Partnerships with famous content producers YouTube TV OTT TV from Free TV Providers CH.7 CH.3 Revenue Generation Starting Monthly Fee (if any) Monthly or Annual Fee (SVoD) and Pay-per-View (TVoD) 280 THB Monthly or Annual Fee (SVoD) and Pay-per-View (TVoD) 119 THB Revenue from advertisements (AVoD) - Varied content - Offline viewing Revenue from advertisements within 48 hours after (AVoD) download - Appealing contents Revenue from such as television advertisements dramas, sports, and (AVoD) live sport broadcasts - The most popular Free TV for a long time - Varied content - Planning to provide Pay TV service in the future Informal translation provided for members of Revenue from advertisements (AVoD) P. 32 Type of Service Service Provider Revenue Generation WORKPOINT - Game Shows and Variety Shows - MONO - ONE CH.8 OTT TV from Pay TV Providers Features TrueVisions PSI Revenue from advertisement (AVoD) - International movies Revenue from and series advertisement (AVoD) Starting Monthly Fee (if any) - Live TV broadcasts, 24-hour playback, and updates on broadcast schedule immediately - Varied content - Variety shows - Live TV broadcasting, 24-hour playback, and immediate updates on changes in broadcast schedule - The leader of Pay TV in Thailand - Various channels; users can check TV Guide up to seven days in advance and mark favourite channels, two-hour time-shift on live broadcasts - Two-day Catch-Up and Video on Demand - Large Pay TV via satellite network in Thailand - Free live TV broadcasting via IP Informal translation provided for members of Revenue from advertisements (AVoD) Revenue from advertisements (AVoD) Monthly or Annual Fee (AVoD) Additional 299 THB on top of monthly fee Non-Revenue Generating (OTT as a Feature) - P. 33 Type of Service Service Provider Features Revenue Generation Starting Monthly Fee (if any) streaming - Users can watch real-time; viewing quality depends on Internet connection speed. OTT TV from Telco AIS Play - Further developed from the combination of AIS Movie Store and AIS Live TV application - Seven-day playback and online Video on Demand Monthly Fee (SVoD) 119 THB Table 6-3: Overall OTT TV Providers in Thailand and their revenue generation 6.2.1 OTT TV Service Trend in Thailand OTT TV service trend in Thailand depends on many opportunities and challenges that will likely happen and can be concluded as follows: Opportunities Access to High-Speed Internet According to National Broadcasting and Telecommunication’s data centre, there has been a notable increase in number of high-speed Internet subscribers from 2003–2016. It is estimated that there are 6.5 million high-speed Internet subscribers in 2016 as shown in Figure 6-3. Main Internet access devices are 3G mobile phones and portable devices, resulting in increase in Internet and data usage via mobile phones and content consumption in video format to 50% of total usage in 2016 in comparison with only 10% in 2008. Informal translation provided for members of P. 34 Informal translation provided for members of P. 35 Figure 6-3: Increase in High-Speed Internet Users and Data Usage Analysys Mason’ s estimated data in 2015 indicates that within 2019,305 mobile broadband penetration rate and fixed broadband penetration rate will be 120% and 35%, respectively, and smartphone usage will increase to as high as 70–90%. Competition Among SVoD Providers Competition among OTT TV Providers generating revenue from SvoD is led by Hollywood HD. If we look at their revenue in 2015, Hollywood HD recorded 299 million THB of revenue; Primetime, MonoMaxxx, Doonee, iflix and HOOQ recorded 143 million THB, 98 million THB, 73 million THB, 18 million THB and 17 million THB, respectively. Service fee is in the range of 99–200 THB as shown in Figure 6-4. This is similar to the service fee in Malaysia and considerably not high when compared to other case studies. 305 Source: http://vvvvw.gsma.com/spectrum/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Building-Thailands-Digital-1 conomy. Full-Report. I NG.-April2015.pdf Informal translation provided for members of P. 36 Figure 6-4: Competition Among SVoD Providers Nevertheless, total revenue of six new OTT TV Providers, namely Hollywood HD, Primetime, MonoMaxxx, Doonee, iflix and HOOQ in SVoD is only 10% of the total revenue of established OTT TV from Pay TV (calculated against TrueVisions at the end of the second quarter of 2016). In this regard, it can be said that the entry of new OTT TV Providers did not affect the revenue of established OTT TV Providers much in the current market. This is because new OTT TV Providers have been in the market for only 1–2 years, but the contents they provide are not all identical. For example, Hollywood HD is known for Thai movies, Primetime emphasises new and international movies, and iflix allocates up to 20% of their content for children, and these differences might contribute to their competitive advantage and future growth. Competition and Services in AVoD Market Notable OTT TV Providers in AVoD market in Thailand are YouTube, Line TV and OTT TV applications from Free TV Providers. The big player in this market has been YouTube, and in 2015, Line TV started their OTT TV service in this market as well. As can be seen in Figure 6-5, Line TV’s entry into this market did not affect YouTube’s advertising revenue much in the initial stage. YouTube’s advertising revenue makes up 75% , while the Informal translation provided for members of P. 37 total revenue from all other providers combined is only at 25%. However, Line TV makes contents more varied and reaches specific groups of viewers more. Additionally, video advertising trend is likely to grow twice within only 1–5 years, and therefore it can be concluded that OTT TV service in AVoD is still promising for existing providers and newcomers alike. Figure 6-5: Revenue Structure of Video Advertising of OTT TV Providers in AVoD Market Opportunity of Support for OTT TV Providers from draft of Digital Economy Law There are six main structures in Digital Economy, namely Hard Infrastructure, Soft Infrastructure, Service Infrastructure, Digital Economy Promotion, Digital Society and Digital Knowledge and Information. Draft of Digital Economy Law, therefore, supports the growth of OTT TV service, especially new OTT TV Providers who are small, in the form of Tech Start-Up, or various other players in the OTT TV industry. There can be many formats of support such as supporting basic infrastructure to be ready for new digital services, allocating investment or fund to concretely develop content-related projects, as well as supporting and encouraging human resource development to related knowledge to ensure readiness and improve the level of competition among service providers or content providers and make OTT TV service one of the tools of economic and social development in Informal translation provided for members of P. 38 Thailand. Challenges Cost of Licenced Contents and the Problem of Piracy One of the challenges for OTT TV providers is their reliance on content producers or agencies to purchase content licences, especially from international content. The increase in the number of providers forces the providers to develop strategies for securing important and interesting content, such as the way that TrueVisions or MonoMaxxx provide football and basketball programmes, as well as more foreign and Thai movies. According to TrueVisions' financial report in 2015, 26% of the company’s budget—a 7% increase from the portion of the previous year’s budget—had been allocated to international content. This indicates that OTT TV providers carry high costs when securing interesting content and programmes. Providers with limited financial resources may find it difficult to maintain or increase their market share. In addition, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), 79% of the consumption of US content is through illegal videos, DVDs, or online downloads.306,307,308 Local and international content producers, distributors, theatre operators, DVD stores and OTT TV providers have all been negatively affected. It is estimated that the amount of damages is more than $400 million. In 2015, Thailand was still ranked high on the piracy watch list.307,308 Apart from this, OTT TV providers who used to be Pay TV providers are facing the problems of piracy and the hijacking of their broadcast signals. These providers must change their broadcasting, especially for premium users who watch special content, to be more secure via a new kind of signal decoding and the use of the MPEG-4 format. It is obvious that the costs of licencing and piracy strongly affect the competitiveness of OTT TV providers, as well as of local and international content producers. 306 307 308 Source: http://austg.com/include/downloads/PirateProfRe.pdf Source:https://ustr.gov/sites/defaul1/files/2015Special-301-Report-FINAL.pdf Source: http://vwwv.iipawebsite.com/rbc/2016/2016SPEC301THAILAND.PDF Informal translation provided for members of P. 39 Service Fees and Technology The increase in content variety and the number of OTT TV providers forces the existing providers to reduce their service fees in order to maintain and increase their user bases. This can be seen from the Average Revenue per User (ARPU) of TrueVisions, which decreased by 30% in the second quarter of 2016 Y-o-Y, as well as Hollywood HD and PrimeTime, whose revenues also decreased to 33% and 50%, respectively, as shown in Figure 6-6. At the same time, to create user satisfaction, OTT TV providers must invest in technologies, such as better audio and visual quality, better viewing experience (multiple screen view, recommendations, and resumption of viewing from the last time), Digital Rights Management (DRM), which controls access to digital information, such as music and movies, and hardware, such as 360-degree viewing and virtual reality for live sports broadcasting.309 Such investments may be too high for small and new OTT TV providers, who usually start with limited funds and develop their own service platforms. Figure 6-6: Service fees of OTT TV providers and their technologies. 309 Source: http://media2.telecoms.com/e-books/DTVE/magazine/msott16pt5_lo.pdf Informal translation provided for members of P. 40 Relevance of OTT TV Services and Telecommunications Business Act Since OTT TV is a new service that combines media and broadcasting on the internet, it is highly possible that the emergence of OTT TV is relevant to internet and telecommunication services as considered in the current Telecommunications Business Act. It is our opinion that the said Act would not impede OTT TV services, because so far, there has been no hindrance or obstruction of OTT TV on either an individual or a collective basis. On the contrary, telecommunication business providers offer products and services that complement OTT TV. However, if online video viewing time continues to increase, telecommunication business providers fail to manage their bandwidth well enough, and the net neutrality rule is enacted by a government office in charge, telecommunication business providers may be obliged to invest in expanding their networks, as shown in Figure 6-7. Figure 6-7: Relevance of OTT TV Service and Telecommunications Business Act Competition and Control between OTT TV and other TV providers Since OTT TV is a new service in Thailand, where most service providers started offering their services to consumers in 2012, the ambiguous rules and regulations may affect competitive advantage in business, as well as affect the consumer’s right to access the content. This is because the operations of OTT TV providers are different in many aspects, such as business ownership, business type and registration address, to name a Informal translation provided for members of P. 41 few. Service boundaries, content control between OTT TV providers and other TV providers are still not in place, and therefore, the issuing of rules and regulations to manage and control the networks, applications and content in order to ensure fair competition and the ability of consumers to access quality and variety content will be very challenging. Analysis of Notable OTT TV providers 6.2.2 In this section, we conduct a SWOT analysis on 10 notable OTT TV providers in each category. We used information gathered from two sources, which are direct interviews with the providers and research from various media, to conduct the analysis. Providers with Revenues from Subscription Fees MonoMaxxx MonoMaxx is an OTT TV provider under Mono Group Plc. Co., Ltd., whose major shareholder is Mr. Pete Bodharamilk (71.35%).310 In 2015, MonoMaxxx earned 298 million THB from OTT TV subscribers,311 of whom 50% are in the Greater Bangkok area. MonoMaxx's subscription fee starts from 129 THB/month. The company estimated that there would be more than 2 million subscribers in 2016. To create sources of long-term revenue, the company is employing a long tail marketing strategy that focuses on contents such as Asian TV series and dramas that are not in trend, but are well known to most of the subscribers. In 2016, the company put emphasis on providing more interesting content to increase subscriptions, as well as on developing their own software and hardware viewing systems. MonoMaxx uses data analytics to analyse viewer behaviour in order to provide content that meets demand. The company also has the advantage of having a content-sharing policy with other companies in the same group, a move that results in lower costs. MonoMaxx has also expanded their service channels to other telecommunication providers, such as 3BB, TOT, and AIS, as well as Smart TV manufacturers, such as LG312 and Panasonic,313 who install MonoMaxxx to allow 310 311 312 313 Source: http://www.mono.co.th/lnvestorRelations/Shareholder-lnfomation/Major-Shareholders.aspx Source: Business Data Warehouse Ministry of Commerce, Department of Business Development Source: http://ncws.damphonc.com/ncw'> 28417.html. Source: http://bit.ly/2cPy1NN Informal translation provided for members of P. 42 subscribers to watch OTT TV. However, the investments in OTT TV services are still financially limited, since the company must wait for budget allocations from Mono Group Plc. Co., Ltd. The company is still undergoing rebranding from their previous OTT TV name, Doonung. Figure 6-8 shows a business model and SWOT analysis of MonoMaxxx. Figure 6-8: Business model and SWOT analysis of MonoMaxx Primetime Primetime is an OTT TV provider that generates revenue from subscriptions. It is a start-up company under Mr. Kasidit Kolasastraseni, who had spun off from Hollywood HD.314 The company was funded by DNA 2002 Plc., Co., Ltd., which is a company selling home entertainment media products. DNA 2002 holds 75% of shares in Primetime Entertainment Co., Ltd. and 25% in Primetime Solution Co., Ltd.315 Primetime focuses on new movies just released into theatres, as well as on popular movies, Thai and international series, and concerts. The subscription fee starts from 99 THB/month and is higher for unlimited viewing or annual subscriptions. There were about 0.5–1 million subscribers in 2015, and in the third quarter of the same year, there were 1.5 314 315 Source: https://www.blo§none.com/node/63505 Source: http://dna-th.listedcompany.com/business_overview.html Informal translation provided for members of P. 43 million. Most of the new subscribers had simply joined to watch Pongsit Kampee’s concert video.3 1 6 Apart from this, Primetime also provides TV on Demand (TVoD). 316 Viewers can watch a video within 21 days after purchase, and once a viewer starts watching a purchased video, they must finish watching it within 48 hours. In OTT TV, Primetime also features technologies such as DTS Surround and Headphone X. The company is also the first and only provider in Thailand to offer Full HD visual quality.317 Primetime has also entered a joint venture with DTAC to distribute products. The company's long-term business goal is to expand and become an OTT TV provider on both regional and international levels. However, due to the competition amongst television services in Thailand, Primetime is facing many limitations, such as financial limitations, service stability for the increasing number of subscribers, content management and competition with other free TV providers. Free TV is still the most preferred means of viewing television. Figure 6-9: Business model and SWOT analysis of Primetime 316 317 iflix Source: http://www.newplus.co.th/76990 Source: http://th.postupnews.com/2015/02/Primetime-Entertainment-TV-Online-On-Demand.html Informal translation provided for members of P. 44 iflix was created by regional-level investors, Catcha Group and Evolution Media Capital, who want to offer online movie and series services in Southeast Asian countries. iflix aims to grow in this region by providing OTT TV at affordable prices, together with a reliable system and a variety of content.318 iflix was managed by Ms. Artima Suraphongchai, Managing Director, when the service was launched in September 2015. Later in October 2016, Mr. Thinakorn Thianprathum, former General Manager of Me Television Co., Ltd., became appointed as iflix Thailand’s Managing Director whilst Ms. Artima Suraphongchai focused more on marketing strategy319 to achieve the company’s goal of having more than 1 million subscribers in 2016, an increase from less than 500,000 subscribers in 2015.320 iflix offers movies, variety shows and series by contracting with 35 world-class content producers, such as Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., BBC and KBS, to name a few. The company also allocates as much as 20% of their content to children, as well as parental control parameters for parents to control the content access of their children.321 iflix charges 100 THB/month, which is roughly the same price they charge in Malaysia, for unlimited viewing without any conditions or additional fees. Videos can be downloaded for offline viewing 322 and there are various payment methods, such as credit card, money transfer and counter service. Initially, iflix did not provide Thai soundtracks, since it emphasised Thai and English subtitles. However, the company understands that content viewing differs from country to country, so iflix is planning to offer funds to freelance content producers to create local content in order to compete with other OTT TV and with free TV providers. 318 319 320 321 322 Source: http://thumbsup.in.th/2015/07/iflix-will-be-launched-in-thailand-august/ Source: http://www.mumbrella.asia/2016/09/iflix-hires-thinakorn-thianprathum-lead-thailand-operation/ Source: http://www.mediabusinessasia.com/article.php?id=1405 Source: https://www.beartai.com/review/software-review/70614 Source: http://www.tech radar.com/news/video/asian-streaming-service-iflix-now-supports-offline-viewing-1309075 Informal translation provided for members of P. 45 Figure 6-10: Business model and SWOT analysis of iflix HOOQ HOOQ is the largest OTT TV provider in Asia. The company was funded by three world-class companies, namely SingTel, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures, who own 65%, 17.5% and 17.5% of shares, respectively. This funding makes HOOQ the OTT TV provider with the most movies and series to offer in Asia (10,000 items in total). HOOQ’s service strategy is to ally with big telecommunication service providers in each market. 323 HOOQ started their service by entering a joint venture with AIS, the mobile telephone service provider with the largest customer base. HOOQ offers promotional packages for AIS Fibre customers, who can receive AIS Play signals on their AIS Playboxes, as well as applications on their AIS mobile devices. For 119 THB/month, viewers can watch Hollywood movies in Ultra HD 4K quality within six months after theatrical release, as well as watch blockbuster, international and Thai movies with Thai soundtracks and subtitles.324 The HOOQ mobile application also supports offline viewing and subscribers can choose to pay via many payment methods. HOOQ still plans to generate revenue from subscriptions and has no plan to generate additional revenue from advertising. The company understands that piracy is a very difficult problem to solve, but 323 324 Source: http://www.mediabusinessasia.com/article.php?id=1697 Source: http://positiongmag.com/61628 Informal translation provided for members of P. 46 chooses to provide Exclusive Content to their subscribers for viewing convenience, ease of use, and lower fees in order to sustain their competitive advantage in the OTT TV market. 325 Figure 6-11: Business model and SWOT analysis of HOOQ It can be concluded that the features of OTT TV providers who generate revenue from subscription fees are content variety, investment funds and online video viewing technology. The low service fees and the external factors that boost the consumer’s access to the internet, the competition to provide more interesting content will likely increase in severity. There is also competition from OTT TV providers that do not charge viewing fees at all, as well as from free TV providers and piracy. Providers with Revenue from Advertising LINE TV LINE TV is a Thai OTT TV provider managed by the LINE Corporation in Japan with Mr. Ariya Banomyong as the Managing Director in Thailand.326 LINE TV started out as a messenger application for both individual and group chats, as well as for free domestic and international audio and video calls. LINE TV was launched in 2014, and as of 2015, it had more than 33 million users. LINE TV aims to be a portable private TV that values the Source: https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/startups/chromecast-support-now-original-content-coming-hooq-eco 326 Source: http://bit.ly/2efunly 325 Informal translation provided for members of P. 47 culture of its users in each country.327 LINE TV is free of charge, but viewers have to watch commercial videos before or after watching actual content. These commercials are LINE TV's main source of income, which has been increasing so far.328 LINE TV provides various exclusive content329 from collaborations with famous local content makers in the form of co-productions,330 and in accordance with the behaviour of the viewers, who are 18–22 years old on average. LINE TV’s advantages are its huge customer base, the familiarity of its customers with LINE's other products, and exclusive content that is only provided by the company, whose collaboration with other content producers and emphasis on quality have contributed to LINE TV’s popularity.331 However, LINE TV’s revenue is only a part of LINE Thailand’s revenue and is still not its main source of revenue.332 The biggest competitor in the same field is YouTube, who is a larger provider in term of advertising revenue. 327 328 329 330 331 332 Source: https://Unecorp.com/en/company/mission Source: https://Unecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2016/1348 Source: https://brandinside.asia/line-tv-7-days-7-lives/ Source: http://bit.ly/2dFIOxn Source: http://www.telecomasia.net/content/naver-uses-visualon platform-power line Iv-application Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/technology/Line-Corp-lays-out-five-year mission 30282763.html Informal translation provided for members of P. 48 Figure 6-12: Business model and SWOT analysis of LINE TV YouTube YouTube is the OTT TV provider with the largest income from advertising. At present, YouTube is managed by Mr. Ben King, the head of business at Google Thailand Co., Ltd.333,333 In 2015, YouTube’s viewing and uploading rates in Thailand increased by 70% from the rates of the previous year. 334,334 This dramatic increase was due to increases in the access to high-speed internet on mobile devices, ease of access, and content variety, as well as due to the fact that YouTube is an additional access channel for free TV providers to distribute their content to viewers. YouTube provides User Generated Content (UGC),335,335 which is different from LINE TV in that all content comes from professional content producers. Looking at the number of viewers and subscribers of YouTube Thailand, the three most popular Thai channels are in entertainment and music, namely content produced by GMM GRAMMY, Ginierock, and RsiamMusic, respectively. Even though YouTube is a large OTT TV 333 334 335 ที่มา: https://www.marketingoops.com/news/biz-news/ben-king-new-head-of business-google-thailand/ ที่มา: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Google-Thailand-appoints-Ben King-country-head-30275435.html ที่มา: http://positioningmag.com/62750 Informal translation provided for members of P. 49 provider and has been in this market for a long time, the emergence of more providers in 2015 forced YouTube to come up with strategies, such as better viewing experience, production of local content, and an office viewing function that allows viewers to download video clips or their favourite shows for up to 48 hours, to maintain market share.336,336 Figure 6-13: Business model and SWOT analysis of YouTube Bugaboo TV Bugaboo TV was developed by a free TV provider, the Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co., Ltd. (Channel 7), with the business purpose of providing access to viewers on the internet. Viewers can download a Bugaboo TV application and watch entertainment shows, news, as well as aired programmes, on smartphones and other portable devices. The channels of Bugaboo are categorised into drama, news, sports, variety shows, music and entertainment. Since its launch in 2012, Bugaboo developed without collecting fees from viewers. However, even though it has long been a popular free TV channel, Bugaboo was not well received. It has only 31,341 viewers per day and an advertising revenue of 11,220 THB per 336 Source: http://www.whatphone.net/news/youtube-offline now-available-in-thailand/ Informal translation provided for members of P. 50 day337337in comparison with their official YouTube channel, CH7, which has up to 1.1 million subscribers. This is because the viewers live upcountry from Bangkok, and have limited access to high-speed internet or other means of accessing information. Moreover, CH7 already provides viewing access via other social networks. Figure 6-14: SWOT analysis of Bugaboo TV Looking at OTT TV providers who generate revenue from advertising, it can be concluded that these players have somewhat limited funds to provide content. This is because they tend to form alliances with content owners or their contents come from the viewers themselves but the contents are still rich in variety. Investment funds and online video viewing technology vary amongst the providers, and depends on their business models. The largest and most popular provider in 2015 was YouTube. There are new providers, such as LINE TV, that take advantage of their existing communication channels to provide OTT TV providers with advertising fees. Such players need to be careful because their commercial videos may negatively affect the viewing experience and result in lower popularity. Non-revenue-generating OTT TV providers 337 Source: http://www.netvaluator.com/www/bugaboo.tv Informal translation provided for members of P. 51 This section discusses OTT TV providers who do not generate revenue from OTT TV, but offer services as add-on features for telecommunication service providers, such as Pay TV providers and mobile telephone service providers, in order to differentiate themselves from competitors and to maintain their market share. These providers are TrueVisions Anywhere of TrueVision and AIS Play of AIS. Informal translation provided for members of P. 52 TrueVisions Anywhere TrueVision Anywhere is an OTT TV provider developed and marketed by TrueVisions, a large Pay TV provider who aims to be the best provider in Thailand by providing the greatest variety of content.338 This service was developed in response to the change in viewing behaviour from single screen to multi-screen. The company has invested 460 million THB to develop TrueVisions Anywhere and to support cloud services in the future. TrueVision expects approximately 350,000 users in the initial stage.339 TrueVisions Anyway offers up to 50 channels of free TV in various categories, and up to 120 channels of variety shows, sports, cartoons and series. Thai soundtracks and subtitles, as well as HD visual quality, are available. A two-hour time-shift is provided for live broadcasts and a two-day time-shift for other aired videos. The number of available channels depends on subscription packages and the viewer can choose to add more channels by paying additional fees. TrueVision Anywhere's subscription fee is somewhat higher than those of other OTT TV providers due to the higher costs of the contents, which may negatively affect existing customers, as well as potentially new customers who are considering signing up. In addition, piracy and the emergence of new OTT TV providers are still challenging TrueVisions' revenue and customer base. 338 339 ทีมา: http://muenue.com/2013/04/truevisionsanywhere/ ที่มา: http://www.siamsim.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=artide&ld=539657181 Informal translation provided for members of P. 53 Figure 6-15: Business model and SWOT analysis of TrueVisions Anywhere AIS Play AIS Play is an OTT TV application further developed from AIS’s live and movie broadcasts. The application was officially launched in early 2016 for AIS mobile telephone users. The company takes advantage of their huge mobile customer base and their alliance with HOOQ to create more content and better viewing experiences in line with the business goal of being the leader in digital life services. 340 AIS Play offers more Thai and international series and movies, as well as sports, concerts, karaoke and educational programmes than do other providers. Viewers can watch live TV programmes for up to seven days. The picture quality depends on the internet connection speed. AIS Play provides both free and paid TV (depending on the content producer). Since AIS is the largest mobile telephone service provider in the increasingly competitive OTT TV market, customers expect a good viewing experience from AIS Play. Figure 6-16: Business model and SWOT analysis of AIS Play 340 Source: http://investor-th.ais.co.th/what_we_do.html Informal translation provided for members of P. 54 Television Station OTT TV providers Thai TV3 Thai TV3 is an application from the free TV provider, Thai Colour Television Channel 3 under the BEC World Group, whose business vision is to be a market leader and the best provider of TV productions and presentations of the highest quality news, information and entertainment programmes. 341 Thai TV3 provides free TV channels, which are available on Channel 3, and has many content producers in various categories. Viewers can download and watch for free, but on average, there are only 17,426 viewers per day, which is very small in comparison to their Ch.3 Official YouTube channel, which has more than 16.9 million subscribers. This is because most viewers are in the Greater Bangkok area, and therefore, have many choices, such as YouTube and Facebook, for accessing content. Figure 6-17: Business model and SWOT analysis of ThaiTV3 To clearly present an overall view of business models, as well as the advantages of and challenges faced by Thai OTT TV providers, we have scored these providers according to the following seven criteria: 341 Source: http://www.becworld.com/download/en_aboutus_policy_2014.pdf Informal translation provided for members of P. 55 - Number of Subscribers/Viewers - Variety of content - Technology - Platform development - Financial situation - Openness to partnership - Future investment plans within the next two years Each aspect is scored between 1 and 5. A score of 1 means that there is a chance that the OTT TV provider would lose its competitive advantage or not survive in the long run, whilst a score of 5 means that there is a chance that the OTT TV provider would gain a competitive advantage or survive in the long run, as shown in Figure 6-18. Figure 6-18: Criteria in competitive analysis of OTT TV providers From the data and criteria above, our study found that in term of competitive advantage, the top three OTT TV providers are YouTube, LINE TV, and TrueVisions Anywhere. The main components of their competitive advantage are the number of viewers, interesting content and variety, financial situation, and efficiency of the platform for a good viewing experience, as shown in Figure 6-19. Informal translation provided for members of P. 56 Figure 6-19: Competitive scoring results of OTT TV providers. 6.2.2 Analysis of Relevant Laws and Regulations At present, there are five Acts relevant to OTT TV providers in Thailand: 1. Cyber Crime Act B.E. 2550 (2007) – Computer Act 2. Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994) as Amended by Patent Act (No. 2) B.E. 2558 (2015) – Patent Act 3. Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) as Amended by Consumer Protection Act (No. 2) B.E. 2541 (1998) – Consumer Protection Act 4. Organisation to Assign Radio Frequencies and to Regulate Broadcasting and Telecommunications Services Act B.E. 2553 (2010) – Spectrum Allocation Act 5. Broadcasting Business Act B.E. 2551 (2008) – Business Act The laws and regulations relevant to OTT TV services in Thailand can be categorised into two groups. The first group is related to OTT TV service platforms (Computer Act, Spectrum Allocation Act, and Business Act). The second group is related to contents provided on the service platform (Computer Act, Patent Act, Consumer Protection Informal translation provided for members of P. 57 Act, and Business Act). Figure 6-20: Laws and regulations relevant to OTT TV services Cyber Crime Act B.E. 2550 Cyber Crime Act's policy is to prevent and suppress cyber crimes committed on computer networks, including the internet. Since OTT TV is considered to be the viewing of content on the internet via a website or application, it is relevant to the Cyber Act in the following two ways: OTT TV platform According to Section 3 of the Cyber Act, a computer system is any device, or a group of interconnected or related devices, one or more of which is pursuant to a programme, an instruction or anything else that performs the automatic processing of data. Thus, according to Section 3, OTT TV is regarded as a kind of computer system, and is, therefore, protected by the Cyber Act. Section 5 of the Cyber Act states that whoever accesses a computer without permission, for example, hacking or intruding, shall be liable to punishment by law. Such Informal translation provided for members of P. 58 action usually comes with accessing computer data without permission, which shall be liable to punishment by law. Hence, the same person who is punishable under Section 5 is also usually punishable under Section 7. For this reason, hacking into an OTT TV system to view content without permission is punishable by law. Likewise, if an OTT TV subscriber discloses their password to a non-subscribing person, who consequently access OTT TV content without paying any fees, that OTT TV subscriber shall be punishable by law under Section 6 of the Cyber Act. As for computer data interception, Section 8 of Cyber Act states that whoever illegally intercepts by any electronic means the computer data of another person that is being transmitted in a computer system, and if such computer data is not for the benefit of the public or is not available for other persons to utilise shall be punishable by law. In the case of OTT TV, the interception of data transmitted to an OTT TV platform is, therefore, punishable under Section 8 of the Cyber Act. For example: (1) an outside person who intercepts an OTT TV data transmission from an OTT TV provider to an OTT TV user to view content is regarded as illegally intercepting data, and is, therefore, punishable under Section 8 of the Cyber Act; and (2) an outside person who intercepts an OTT TV data transmission from an OTT TV content owner to an OTT TV user for their own use or monetarization is also regarded as illegally intercepting computer data, and is, therefore, punishable under Section 8 of the Cyber Act. Apart from protection against illegal data access and interception, the Cyber Act also protects computer data in Section 9 in that whoever acts in a manner that causes the damage, impairment, deletion, alteration or addition either in whole or in part of the computer data of another person without permission is punishable by law. Hence, whoever damages or alters OTT TV content without permission shall be punishable under Section 9 of the Cyber Act. In addition, Section 10 of Cyber Act protects computer systems from causing the suspension, deceleration, obstruction or interference of the computer system of another person such that the system cannot function normally shall be punishable by law. In the case of OTT TV, whoever causes the suspension of an OTT TV system so that the system cannot function normally shall be punishable under Section 10. Informal translation provided for members of P. 59 Figure 6-21: Cyber Crime Act relevant to OTT TV services. OTT TV Content According to Section 3 of the Cyber Act, the contents of an OTT TV are regarded as computer data, because such contents are in a computer system and can be processed—users can view OTT TV either on a website or with an application. Such contents are also regarded as data communications in computer systems. Section 14 of the Cyber Act prohibits the following data to be input into a computer: (1) Wholly or partially fake or false computer data that is likely to cause damage to another person; (2) False computer data that is likely to undermine national security or cause public panic; (3) Offensive data against national security; (4) Pornographic computer data that is accessible to the public; and (5) Publishing or forwarding computer data with the full knowledge that such computer data is prohibited under items (1)–(4) above. Whoever commits these acts shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding 100,000 THB or both. Hence, whoever uploads such prohibited data on an OTT TV platform, for example, a User Generated Content (UGC) platform, shall be punishable by law. If a user uploads content prohibited under Section 14 of the Cyber Act, not only shall the user be punishable by law, but the OTT TV provider also shall bear the risk of Informal translation provided for members of P. 60 being punishable by law. This is because under Section 15 of the Cyber Act, any service provider who intentionally supports or gives consent to the commission of an offence under Section 14 in a computer system under their control shall be liable to the same penalty stipulated in Section 14. Copyright Act B.E. 2537 (1994) as Amended by Patent Act (No. 2) B.E. 2558 (2015) Contents offered on OTT TV are movies, dramas and television shows with copyrights that are protected by copyright law in accordance with Section 6 of the Copyright Act. Section 28 of the Copyright Act states that whoever reproduces or adapts and publishes for the public an audio-visual or a cinematographic work that is copyrightable by virtue of this Act shall be punishable by law. In this regard, there can be two cases of infringement of copyright as follows: An OTT TV provider broadcasts copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holder. In this case, the OTT TV provider shall be punishable by law for broadcasting copyrighted content without the owner’s permission. Figure 6-22: Intellectual property law relevant to OTT TV services Informal translation provided for members of P. 61 Informal translation provided for members of P. 62 An OTT TV provider reproduces or adapts and broadcasts copyrighted content without permission from the copyright holder. Without the owner’s permission, whoever reproduces or adapts such content shall be punishable by law. In this case, however, the OTT TV provider shall also be punishable by law since Section 31 of the Copyright Act states that whoever sells the infringed copyright work of another person shall be deemed as having infringed the copyright as well. Therefore, if an OTT TV provider knows that broadcasted content has infringed a copyright, the provider shall be deemed to have infringed the copyright as well. Nevertheless, in the case that the OTT TV provider is not the person who controls, initiates or orders such broadcasting to be made, the provider shall not be deemed to have infringed copyright under Section 32/3 of the Copyright Act. Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522 (1979) as Amended by Consumer Protection Act (No. 2) B.E. 2541 (1998) Since OTT TV providers can generate revenue from advertising products or services to OTT TV users, users who have been persuaded to purchase a product or service have the same status as the consumers mentioned in Section 3 of the Consumer Protection Act. Therefore, any advertising on OTT TV must be in accordance with this Act. Informal translation provided for members of P. 63 Figure 6-23: Consumer Protection Law relevant to OTT TV services Section 22 of the Consumer Protection Act states that an advertisement may not contain a statement that is unfair to consumers or may cause an adverse effect to society as a whole. Such statements are those that (1) are false or exaggerated, (2) cause misunderstandings of the essential elements concerning goods or services, (3) directly or indirectly encourages the commission of an unlawful or immoral act, or which adversely affects the national culture, (4) cause disunity or adversely affect the unity of the public, and (5) have been prescribed in the Ministerial Regulation. Moreover, Section 23 of the Consumer Protection Act prohibits advertisements that are effected by a method that may be harmful to health, or cause physical or mental harm, or annoyance to consumers. Therefore, if it is found that an advertisement on OTT TV is deemed to be in violation of Section 22 of the Consumer Protection Act, for example, an advertisement that contains exaggerated statements or an advertisement that adversely effects society as a whole, the Consumer Protection Committee may issue orders to the provider to rectify the statement or method of advertisement under Section 27 of the Consumer Protection Act. Organisation to Assign Radio Frequencies and to Regulate Broadcasting and Telecommunications Services Act B.E. 2553 (2010) An OTT TV service is a service that enables the viewing of television via a website or an application, and may be deemed as a broadcasting business under Section 4 of the Broadcasting and Telecommunication Services Act, which states that a television broadcasting service is a service that provides public news services or programmes for viewing and listening by means of a receiving apparatus via radio frequencies, wires, optical, electromagnetic, or other systems, or a combination thereof, or other similar services prescribed by NBTC as constituting television broadcasting services. Section 27(3) of this Act also empowers NBTC to prescribe the characteristics and categories of sound broadcasting, television broadcasting, and telecommunication services. Therefore, NBTC has the power to determine which business is involved in television broadcasting. From Sections 4 and 27(3) of this Act, it can be seen that NBTC has the authority to determine the character of television broadcasting services. Therefore, should NBTC deem an OTT TV provider as a television broadcasting service in accordance with this Act, that provider shall fall under the purview of the Broadcasting Business Act B.E. 2551 (2008). Informal translation provided for members of P. 64 Figure 6-24: NBTC law relevant to OTT TV services Broadcasting Business Act B.E. 2551 (2008) Section 4 of the Broadcasting Business Act states that a television business means a business that is subject to the law of the organisation that assigns frequencies and regulates radio broadcasting, television and telecommunications businesses. If NBTC deems OTT TV to be television broadcasting under the Organisation to Assign Radio Frequencies and to Regulate Broadcasting and Telecommunications Services Act, then OTT TV is regarded as a broadcasting business under the Act. A broadcasting business operator must comply with Section 7 of the Broadcasting Business Act, which states that any person who operates a sound or television broadcasting business should obtain a license from NBTC. Since OTT TV is deemed to be a broadcasting business, service providers must obtain an operating license in accordance with Section 7, as well as comply with the relevant rules and regulations. Apart from obtaining a license, as stated above, the Broadcasting Business Act also controls the contents broadcast by a television business. As stated in Section 37, if the broadcasting of programmes contains contents that have the purpose of encouraging the overthrow of the current administration under the democratic form of government with the King as the Head of State, have the purpose of adversely affecting the security of the State, Informal translation provided for members of P. 65 public order or the morals of the people, or are of an obscene nature, or cause serious deterioration of the mind or health of the people, such contents shall be prohibited from being broadcasted. It is the responsibility of the licensee to examine and terminate the broadcasting of any such content. The failure to do so may result in the immediate termination of broadcasting by NBTC. Thus, it is also the responsibility of OTT TV providers to examine and terminate the broadcasting of any such content, whilst NBTC reserves the right to immediately terminate any such broadcasting. Informal translation provided for members of P. 66
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