GRAMMY UNIT TO BOOST MONEY CHANNEL

       GMM Grammy subsidiary Index Creative Village has been tasked with improving the programming on the Money Channel now that its parent has become a major shareholder in the satellite television network.
       The move is aimed at tapping the mass market.
       Grammy now owns half of Family Know-How, which was founded by the Stock Exchange of Thailand to operate the Money Channel as a source of economic and investment news.
       Grammy has assigned Index to develop content and produce at least 10 shows for the network.
       Index co-CEO Kreingkrai Kanjanapokin said the company would oversee all of the Money Channel's programming and that this would include improving existing programmes and adding new ones targeted at a general audience.
       He said the channel shoul not only focus on stock and invesment news, but also cover finance, banking and money management.
       Index expects to launch the new programmes in November, while its improvements to existing programming will be seen in next year's first quarter.
       The company will also launch two new programmes to air via satellite for TrueVisions in October.
       Index's programme-production arm contributed revenue of Bt17.75 million in the first seven months of the year, Kreingkrai said.
       He said the company expects full-year revenue of Bt25 million from television production, increasing next year to Bt60 million from taking charge of programming at the Money Channel.
       Grammy director Sumeth Damrongchaitham said the company paid Bt25 million for its 50-per-cent stake in Family Know-How and plans to increase airtime to 18 hours a day, from eight now.
       The company expects to turn a profit from the increased airtime.
       Sumeth, who is also the new managing director of Family Know-How, said Grammy wanted to enhance the Money Channel's potential.
       Stock Exchange of Thailand president Patareeya Benjapholchai said the process of increasing Family Know-How's capital would be completed within two months and that the SET would start working with GMM Grammy as quickly as possible.
       Programming will serve two main audience groups: investors and the general public. An SET survey indicated some audience members found if difficult to understand the shows that aired now, due to the technical terms.
       In the future, Grammy will help the SET produce shows aimed at a general audience.
       Regarding Grammy's financial performance, Sumeth said the company's second-half finanacial performance was expected to be similar to last year's in terms of both revenue and net profit, due to the slowing economy and tougher market competition.
       Last year, Grammy achieved revenue of Bt7.83 billion and for a net profit of Bt705 million.