| |
SINGAPORE : Singapore is set to make headway internationally, for its high definition (HD) media content.
Next week, the Media Development Authority will be leading 21 companies to MIPTV in Cannes, France.
MIPTV is the world's largest audiovisual and digital content market.
From colourful animation, to insightful documentaries, to heart wrenching television series - Singapore-produced HD content is set to attract eyeballs worldwide.
Two Singapore-produced HD titles are already scheduled for broadcast in France, US and on Discovery Channel Asia, even before being marketed at MIPTV.
Guge - Lost Kingdom of Tibet, produced by Bang Singapore, will be seen on Discovery Channel (Asia) and France 5. And Parkour, about a group of free-runners in Singapore, will be broadcast on VOOM HD Networks (US).
Unlike standard definition, HD offers ultra sharp images and better sound quality.
There is increasing global demand for quality HD content, and this year, Singapore will be presenting to the world a record showcase of over 50 HD animation and television titles at MIPTV in Cannes.
The Media Development Authority (MDA) believes that Singapore could excel in HD content because Singapore companies have the technological know-how.
MediaCorp, for example, will be showcasing an HD catalogue with 35 titles, totalling 44 hours.
These include a slate of documentary programmes focusing on China and India produced by Caldecott Productions International.
Singapore companies produced 100 hours of HD content in 2006, and MDA hopes to double this by end-2007. And for consumers, that means more variety to choose from, very soon.
But it is not just HD content that Singapore hopes to be known for on the global stage
Dr Christopher Chia, CEO, Media Development Authority, said, "From last year, we added a strategy of Interactive and Digital Media. What that means is that it allows us to operate also on the way the content is made, the way the content is reposited or secured, and the way the content is distributed on a digital platform, into the future.
"These are new areas; the whole world is almost at starting base, so it gives Singapore as much an opportunity as everyone else to overcome our smallness in size and our smallness in market. But in that space we are all equal."
The National Research Foundation has allocated S$500 million or about US$330million, over the next five years, to fund the development of a strategic Interactive and Digital Media research programme. - CNA/ms
|
