Responding to media convergence: Regulating multi-screen television services in Thailand

This study examines how Thailand’s convergence regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), regulates digital television’s transition and new audiovisual services. In addition to document analysis, this study interviewed stakeholders (e.g. NBTC policymakers, broadcaster and cable TV operators). The socio-technical analyses show that the NBTC prioritized digital television transition and imposed substantive government/policy support. Comparatively, Internet Protocol television (IPTV) and mobile TV which are driven by the industry/market subsystem have sluggish regulatory advancements. The interview results show that the NBTC is likely to regulate multi-screen TV services’ contents and platforms separately as a result of complexity. Hence, this study recommends a platform-neutral approach to regulate audiovisual media categorized by socio-cultural impact and content production/aggregation model. It suggests that Thailand’s TV-like services which can reach a mass market and produce/aggregate contents/services via a gatekeeping mechanism should be subject to strict content regulations and licensing schemes. However, light-touch regulations in content and licensing are suitable for governing emerging TV-like services which utilize a participatory content model with less socio-cultural impact. Finally, net neutrality is recommended in facilitating cross-platform content innovations and distribution.