Thailand’s ITV Faces License Withdrawal

BANGKOK, February 28: Thailand’s ITV is on the verge of
being taken over by the government, which is threatening to withdraw the
free-TV broadcaster’s license if it does not pay a $2.9 billion fine.

In December, ITV lost its battle with the government over
the terms of its TV license. The Thai government accused the network, once controlled
by ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra, of breaching its license by emphasizing
entertainment content over news. ITV was told to shell out 97.8 billion baht,
about $2.9 billion, in retroactive fines and fees, plus interest.

The network is currently controlled by Temasek Holdings of
Singapore, which last year led a takeover of Shinawatra’s family-owned Shin
Corp. that had owned a controlling stake in ITV since 2001.

If ITV is unable to cough up the whopping fine by March
6—and it has already said that it will not be able to afford it—the
Thai government has said it will seize control of the station from Temasek and
relaunch it as a news network.