TrueVisions
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| TrueVisions | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Public: (SET:TRUE) |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | 118/1 Tipco Building, Rama XI Road, Sam Sen Nai, Payathai, Bangkok 10400,  Thailand |
| Key people | Soopakij Chearavanont (Chairman) Supachai Chearavanont (CEO) |
| Industry | Pay television |
| Products | digital satellite and cable TV |
| Website | www.truevisionstv.com |
TrueVisions is Thailand's leading cable satellite television operator. Now owned by the True Corporation, the company was formerly known as the United Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), but it was rebranded in February 2007.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Origin of TrueVisions
On April 17, 1989, the Mass Communication Organisation of Thailand (MCOT) and UBC (which was then International Broadcasting Corporation Public Company Limited or IBC) entered a joint venture agreement for the provision of subscription television service that was subsequently amended on May 19, 1994 and April 17, 1998, or the UBC Concession. Under the UBC Concession, UBC is permitted to operate subscription television on behalf of MCOT until September 30, 2014. UBC is entitled to provide subscription television pursuant to the UBC Concession to the whole of Thailand using a satellite to provide direct-to-home service, cable in the provincial areas and MMDS as permitted by the Post and Telegraph Department, and is entitled to use a satellite to provide service to hubs in provincial areas and then, through local cable networks, on to subscribers.
IBC launched South East Asia’s first subscriber-based television network in Bangkok in October 1989 using an MMDS transmission platform. IBC was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on February 3, 1994 with a registered share capital of Baht 180 million. IBC began serving viewers in major cities in all areas of Thailand in 1994 by transmitting programs using Thaicom 1 satellite. The satellite was used to relay signals to MMDS transmitters in the provinces. In 1995, IBC launched its DStv service using Ku-band transmission and MPEGII video compression. This enabled IBC to increase the number of channels being offered, improve sound and picture quality and distribute its service everywhere in Thailand. These services are now transmitted on the newer and more powerful Thaicom 5.
On July 1, 1998, IBC merged with UTV (below) to form UBC.
[edit] Origin of TrueVisions Cable
On November 12, 1993, MCOT and TelecomAsia entered into a memorandum of agreement for a joint venture for the provision of cable television services. Pursuant to its terms, TelecomAsia agreed to set up a public company to operate a cable television business. On June 6, 1994, MCOT and UBC Cable (formerly UTV Cable Network Public Company Limited or UTV) entered into a contract for the joint operation of subscription television services, or the UBC Cable Concession. UBC Cable is permitted to operate subscription television on behalf of MCOT until December 31, 2019. UBC Cable is entitled to provide subscription television pursuant to the UBC Cable Concession in Bangkok and elsewhere.
UTV began providing its CATV service in Bangkok Metropolitan Areas in September 1995. The service was offered on its high quality hybrid fiber coaxial network which it began deploying in 1994. The cable technology allowed for a number of channels to be offered, with high quality sound and picture and allowed for value added services such as pay per view. By 1997 hybrid fiber coaxial cable network passed an estimated 800,000 homes. In 1997 UTV sold the cable infrastructure component of its business to its sister company Asia Multimedia Company Limited allowing UTV to focus on content and subscriber management service delivery. UTV would merge with IBC in 1998.
[edit] Number of Subscribers
As of 1st quarter of 2008: 667,701 subscribers (1,025,509 subscribers including FreeView). [1]
[edit] Number of subscribers[2]
- exclude TrueLife FreeView
| Year | Subscribers |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 301,309 |
| 1999 | 324,537 |
| 2000 | 380,956 |
| 2001 | 406,589 |
| 2002 | 437,845 |
| 2003 | 434,815 |
| 2004 | 457,542 |
| 2005 | 483,816 |
| 2006 | 558,860 |
| 2007 | 618,228 |
[edit] List of channels on TrueVisions
TrueVisions currently runs its own created channels as well as operating regional (either Southeast Asia or Asia Pacific) channels with channel identification number. [3]
| EPG No. | EPG Name | Channel Name | Channel Type | Encryption/Package | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CH-3 | Channel 3 | Free TV | Free-to-air | Owned by MCOT and operated by Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd. |
| 2 | CH-5 | Channel 5 | Free TV | Free-to-air | Owned and operated by the Royal Thai Army |
| 3 | CH-7 | Channel 7 | Free TV | Free-to-air | Owned by the Royal Thai Army and operated by the Bangkok Broadcasting & Television Company (BBTV) under contract |
| 4 | CH-9 | Channel 9 | Free TV | Free-to-air | Owned and operated by MCOT |
| 5 | NBT | NBT (National Broadcasting Services of Thailand) | Free TV | Free-to-air | National Public service broadcaster; owned and operated by the government's Public Relations Department (PRD) |
| 6 | TPBS | TPBS (Thai Public Broadcasting Service) | Free TV | Free-to-air | a public television station in Thailand |
| 7 | TNN | TNN | News | Free-to-air | previously News 24 |
| 8 | TNN2 | TNN 2 | Special | Free-to-air | previously MCOT Democratic News Service Channel |
| 10 | SMES | SMEs Shop Channel | Shopping | Free-to-air | |
| 11 | FL A | True Film Asia | Movies | Every Packages | Full-length Asian movies and series |
| 12 | MOVH | True Movie Hits | Movies | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | Thai-dubbed Hollywood movies (also available in English) |
| 13 | HBO | HBO | Movies | Gold, Platinum | |
| 14 | CINM | Cinemax | Movies | Silver, Gold, Platinum | |
| 15 | STMV | Star Movies | Movies | Gold, Platinum | |
| 16 | HALL | Hallmark Channel | Movies | Gold, Platinum | |
| 17 | HBOS | HBO Signature | Movies | A La Carte (Gold, Platinum) | |
| 18 | HBOF | HBO Family | Movies | A La Carte (Gold, Platinum) | |
| 19 | HBOH | HBO Hits | Movies | A La Carte (Gold, Platinum) | |
| 20 | AF5 | True Academy Fantasia / Reality Channel | Special | Every Packages | |
| 21 | insE | True Inside | Entertainment | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | The "Behind the Scene" channel that offers scenes from the producers or anything related to Thai celebrities. This channel, however, also airs American programs such as Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight and even America's Next Top Model |
| 22 | XZYT | True X-Zyte | Entertainment | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | Miscellaneous programs such as Maximum Exposure, COPS, TV Champion, etc. |
| 23 | SRES | True Series | Series | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | Series and reality shows from around the world. For example; Prison Break, ER, Survivor, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, etc. |
| 24 | CHIC | Chic Channel | Entertainment | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | a local fashion channel affiliated and sponsored by Fashion TV |
| 25 | AXN | AXN | Entertainment | Gold, Platinum | Hong Kong and Thailand |
| 26 | TMUS | True Music | Music | Every Packages | An interactive music channel that plays only most voted videos. A vote is cast by an SMS. |
| 27 | MA | Majung TV | Music | Every Packages | A channel that plays Thai music videos from the 60's - 90's. |
| 28 | LTNG | T Channel | Music | Every Packages | |
| 29 | CH-V | Channel V Thailand | Music | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | |
| 31 | MGM | MGM | Movies | Silver, Platinum | |
| 32 | TCM | TCM | Movies | Silver, Platinum | |
| 33 | E! | E! | Entertainment | Silver, Platinum | |
| 34 | SWLD | Star World | Entertainment | Silver, Platinum | |
| 35 | BBCE | BBC Entertainment | Entertainment | Silver, Platinum | |
| 36 | TVB | TVB Xinghe | Entertainment | Silver, Platinum | |
| 37 | AMAX | Animax | Animation | Silver, Platinum | |
| 38 | NGAV | Nat Geo Adventure | Documentary | Silver, Platinum | formerly known as A1 |
| 39 | STC | STC | Music | Silver, Platinum | |
| 41 | EXP1 | True Explore 1 | Documentary | Every Packages | |
| 42 | EXP2 | True Explore 2 | Documentary | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | |
| 43 | EXP3 | True Explore 3 | Documentary | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | |
| 44 | HIST | The History Channel | Documentary | Silver, Gold, Platinum | formerly known as History Channel Thailand |
| 45 | NGC | National Geographic Channel | Documentary | Gold, Platinum | |
| 46 | DSci | Discovery Science | Documentary | A La Carte (Silver, Gold, Platinum) | |
| 47 | DSCV | Discovery Channel | Documentary | Gold, Platinum | |
| 48 | D RT | Discovery Real Time | Documentary | A La Carte (Silver, Gold, Platinum) | |
| 49 | D TL | Discovery Travel & Living | Documentary | A La Carte (Silver, Gold, Platinum) | |
| 50 | ANPL | Animal Planet | Documentary | Gold, Platinum | |
| 51 | D HH | Discovery Home & Health | Documentary | A La Carte (Silver, Gold, Platinum) | |
| 52 | TCCN | Cartoon Network | Cartoon | Gold, Platinum | A cartoon channel for kids. |
| 53 | SPRK | True Spark | Kids | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | |
| 54 | Disn | Disney Channel | Kids | A La Carte (Silver, Gold, Platinum) | |
| 55 | DisP | Playhouse Disney Channel | Kids | A La Carte (Silver, Gold, Platinum) | |
| 60 | GSQ | G Square | Entertainment | Every Packages | The first Video games and technologies channel in Thailand. Half of the programme is produced locally and another half was imported from G4 |
| 61 | TSP1 | True Sport 1 | Sport | Gold, Platinum | True Visions has decided to rearrange all the programming of all its existing channels to accommodate the demand of subscribers. Those channels are SuperSport, SuperSport Action, True Zoccer and True Sport Plus. True Sport 1 has the same programming as True Zoccer. |
| 62 | TSP2 | True Sport 2 | Sports | Knowledge, Silver, Gold, Platinum | focuses on all kinds of martial arts, wrestling (including WWE shows) and fighting sports. |
| 63 | TSP3 | True Sport 3 | Sport | Gold, Platinum | focuses on extreme sports, water sports, and some ball sports (excluding those air on True Sport 4) |
| 64 | TSP4 | True Sport 4 | Sport | Gold, Platinum | focuses on golf, tennis, billiards, polo, etc. |
| 65 | ESPN | ESPN | Sport | Gold, Platinum | |
| 66 | SPRT | Star Sports | Sport | Gold, Platinum | |
| 67 | RS67 | Pay Per View 1 | Special | ||
| 68 | TSP5 | True Sport 5 | Sport | Gold, Platinum | |
| 69 | TSE1 | True Sport Extra 1 | Sport | Platinum | |
| 70 | TSE2 | True Sport Extra 2 | Sport | Platinum | |
| 71 | CNN | CNN International | News | Gold, Platinum | |
| 72 | BBC | BBC World News | News | Gold, Platinum | |
| 73 | CNBC | CNBC Asia | News | Gold, Platinum | |
| 74 | BMBG | Bloomberg Television | News | Silver, Gold, Platinum | |
| 75 | PPV2 | Pay Per View 2 | Special | ||
| 76 | NHK | NHK World | Special | A La Carte (Gold, Platinum) | |
| 77 | TV5 | TV5 Monde Asie | Special | Knowledge, Gold, Platinum | |
| 78 | CCTV | CCTV 4 | Special | Knowledge, Gold, Platinum | |
| 80 | MONY | Money Channel | News | Free-to-air | Operated by the Stock Exchange of Thailand Trading Company |
| 81-95 | DLTV1-DLTV15 | DLTV 1-15 (Distance Learning Television) | Education | Free-to-air | |
| 96 | ETV | ETV | Education | Free-to-air | Education Television |
| 97 | TGN | TGN (Thai TV Global Network) | Other | Free-to-air | |
| 99 | PREV | TrueVisions Preview | Special | Free-to-air | HD signal, however the current set-top box models are not supported |
| 101 | MCT1 | MCOT 1 | Other | Free-to-air | Documentary Channel |
| 102 | MCT2 | MCOT 2 | Other | Free-to-air | Classic Entertainment Channel |
| 104 | TATV | TATV | Other | Free-to-air | Operated by Tourism Agency of Thailand (TAT) |
| 105 | RATV | Royal TV | Other | Free-to-air | |
| 106 | RS106 | AD HOC 1 (Premier League) | Special | ||
| 107 | RS107 | AD HOC 2 (Premier League) | Special | ||
| 111 | MTV | MTV Thailand | Music | Gold, Platinum |
[edit] Seasonal Channels provided by TrueVisions
- World Series Cricket Channel
- The Tri Nations Channel
- Academy Fantasia Channel or AF Channel (Created and Produced by TrueVisions)
- Big Brother Thailand
[edit] Discontinued channels (as of August 2007)
- MTV Asia due to the establishment of MTV Thailand
- MTV Thailand due to a discontinued contract between UBC and MTV. This results as a discontinuation of VH1 Thailand, Fashion TV Thailand and Nickelodeon Thailand. However only MTV Thailand are expected to return starting May 16, 2008 at Channel 111. The other MTV sister channels yet unannounced.
- Pay Per View 1 and 2 due to presence of True Sports Extra 1 and 2
- HGTV Thailand
- Fashion TV, replaced with Panorama Channel
- Panorama Channel, a channel devoted to locally-produced documentaries
- UBC Movies, replaced with UBC (later True) Inside
- Nation Channel, local round the clock news channel, due to its move to MMDS
[edit] Return/Future Channel[citation needed]
- VH1 Thailand
- Asian Food Channel
- Nickelodeon Thailand
A monthly magazine, which sets out the broadcasting schedules, is sent free to subscribers. Contents such as hi-lights of the month, descriptions and synopsis are presented in Thai but the schedule listing is also available in English.
[edit] Personal Video Recording System
TrueVisions is now selling the new PVR (Personal-Digital Video Recording) System, similar to TiVo. For more information, please go to TrueVisions PVR Website
[edit] High Definition Channels
As of November 12th of 2007, True Visions started to run a commercial between programs on several channels that they operate, stating that they are currently testing high definition (HD) channels and also the new set-top box system that will support both PVR and HD. They plan to launch the test run at Bangkok ICT Expo in November 2007.
Channels that they claim to be under the test run includes Barclay's Premier League HD, Discovery HD, National Geographic Channel HD, History Channel HD, and some HD programs on True Series. Even though AXN has claimed that they have filmed the Amazing Race Asia Season 2 program with High Definition cameras, they however have not broadcasted any of HD programming in South East Asia yet.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- True Website
- True Visions Website
- True Visions English Version Website
- True IPTV Thai Website
- True IPTV English Website
