In addition to eight hours of news from 6am to 2pm daily, there will be five-minute news bulletins at the start of every hour, said its director Sura Gaintanasilp. This latest move is the third phase of an ongoing revamp of the channel that began last July when former Toyota PR chief Mingkwan Saengsuwan moved to head the Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand (MCOT). Besides Channel 9, Thailand's largest state-owned media enterprise also operates the Thai News Agency and 62 FM radio stations. The first phase of the revamp saw a new logo and improved news coverage, while the second phase saw a beefing up of entertainment offerings between 6:30pm and midnight. In November last year, the channel went 24-hours. The next phase of the revamp will take place in April 2004, and will address programming on the weekends and during the midnight to 6am slots on weekdays.
Its latest goals will be helped greatly by the MCOT-operated Thai News agency, which has bureaus around Thailand to provide strong national news coverage.
