Bangkok's Daily News Media has gone live with a new editorial system, a month after the launch of its new)108 free newspaper.

The 400,000-circulation daily complements the new)TV television station DNM launched in July in what is reported to be a 5 billion baht (A$200 million) investment.

Now boosted to a 16-page tabloid, new)108 is being produced on the ppi Media/ Digital Collection Content-X editorial system also favoured by English-language daily the Bangkok Post.

Editor-in-chief Joe Klangsombut says the title comes from a Thai expression, '108 and

1009' meaning "a lot of things, stories.

"If I say 'I have 108 things and 1009 issues to solve', it means I'm busy and have a lot on my plate."

The symbol ')' in the title represents the shape of the earth or its sphere: "By watching new)tv, one can gain knowledge about our earth and ourselves. When we decided to have our own publication, new) had to be part of the name," he says.

The new free paper - which focusses on news, entertainment, sport, lifestyle... and of course highlights of new)TV - launched as a 12-page tabloid in December.
It has a dedicated team, which is independent of the editorial board of Daily News, Thailand's second-largest daily newspaper.

Operations director at new)108 Orapin Hetrakul says editorial work is running smoothly following the Content-X implementation, the team quickly picking up on facilities of the system thanks to workshops and support from the vendor.

About 15 people work in IT, design and editorial as well as advertising and administration. Articles and photos that have been selected by the editorial board using the DC-X digital asset management tool are 'dragged and dropped' into Adobe InDesign for layout and further processing.

Focus of the new digital channel and newspaper is younger urban families in a venture said to be DNM's biggest since the upgrade of its printing facilities in 2004. Subsidiary DN Broadcast Co is reported to have paid 1.31 billion baht for the 15-year digital TV news licence.

A multiscreen strategy will allow viewers to watch New)TV on smartphones and tablets.

In a report last year, publisher of the Thai-language newspaper Prapa Hetrakul Srinualnad said the intention was to become a top-five digital player in three years: "

After our five decades of the Daily News newspaper, it's time to expand our print business and jump on the digital TV bandwagon," she told the Bangkok Post.

"As print media is facing declining advertising revenue, we hope our digital TV service will turn to be a core business within six years, representing 60 per cent of the group's total revenue."