Prasert airs English-language IN Channel

Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, the founder and owner of Bangkok Airways, is spending 150 million baht to open the IN Channel, an English-language satellite TV channel, to cash in on content demand from English-speaking consumers in Asean.

With a concept of inspire, create and live, the channel will officially start broadcasting on TrueVisions on Friday, said M.L. Nandhika Varavarn, the managing director of THN Network, the broadcaster of IN Channel.

Some 30% of content will be news programmes, coordinated by the Spring News Agency, with the remaining 70% for travel, lifestyle and entertainment programmes either produced on its own or imported.

"We hope our content attracts a number of advertisers, particularly consumer products, financial institutions and banks," she said.

The channel hopes to lure ad spending from the Tourism Authority of Thailand and tourism operators. It will develop a website and some marketing events to support the TV operation.

"We'll take two years to establish our TV channel, and we hope to start seeing a profit in the third year," said M.L. Nandhika.

The hope is the English-language content will penetrate the Asean market when the Asean Economic Community commences in 2015.

M.L. Nandhika said 100-120 million baht is being used to buy broadcast equipment for the station and 20-30 million baht to construct a studio on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, slated for completion next April.

Mr Prasert sees the TV channel as supplementing the country's tourism and medical businesses.

The IN Channel will begin a trial broadcast on TrueVisions' high-definition Channel 90, while the normal definition option is Channel 49.

Sourced: bangkokpost