| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: Singaporeans will be the first in Asia to watch the latest episodes of top television shows from the United States, although the premium they will have to pay for this privilege remains to be seen.
Come September, under its new Season Pass, pay-TV operator SingTel will offer — on-demand and without advertisements — hit series such as Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Gossip Girl, 24 and Prison Break, within 24 hours of their telecast in the US.
This is possible through a deal inked with major studios, Warner Bros International Televison Distribution, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney-ABC International Televison, to bring in more than 50 shows.
SingTel chief executive Allen Lew said: "Our selling point is the volume, quality and the speed we are bringing it in." But, details of how much this will cost are being kept under wraps until the service's launch.
How much of an edge will this give the pay-TV operator, which has been striving to boost its mio TV subscriber base, which currently stands at around 45,000? And what premium would local viewers be willing to pay?
Typically, episodes of US series can take anywhere from six to 12 months to reach viewers here via StarHub Cable TV or free-to-air channels. There have, however, been exceptions. MediaCorp's Channel 5 has in the past shown American Idol and Survivor, among others, "live" as they were shown in the US.
Of mio TV's Season Pass, Ms Claire Phuah, a business development executive, said: "It seems attractive. With my long working hours, being able to catch Prison Break as soon as it's released and at my own leisure is a good reason to sign up."
But StarHub isn't sitting idle. In direct response to SingTel's announcement on Wednesday, head of cable TV services Patrick Lim said StarHub would soon launch its own video-on-demand service, carrying popular TV series "with advanced windows", though he stopped short of specifying same-day telecasts.
However, SingTel has noted that its deal with the three studios include an exclusivity period of six months.
Missing from its Season Pass offerings, however, are popular titles such as Heroes and CSI.
Some viewers TODAY spoke to said they would prefer that the Season Pass be priced as a package of TV shows, rather than having to pay per season of each TV series.
They cited a range of $15 to $45 for a season's worth of episodes of multiple shows. Mr Paul Chan, a managing director, said: "I don't mind paying $30 for it."
In recent months, SingTel has moved to beef up the content and features of its mio TV service which.
It added a range of movie on-demand channels, music channel Trace, as well as infotainment channels. In May, it launched a service allowing its 3G mobile subscribers to watch dramas and channels such as Channel NewsAsia on their phones.
The biggest content coup up till now, however, has been winning the rights to broadcast — including on its mobile platform — the Champions League and Uefa Cup seasons from later this year to 2012.
These efforts have contributed to growing subscriber numbers, from 10,000 last September to 27,000 in March, when the Uefa deal was announced, to 45,000 today.
Hoping to whet viewers' appetites for the Season Pass, SingTel launched an interim offering called Favourites-on-Demand on Wednesday. This lets them watch current and past episodes of 10 popular series, such as Smallville, Nip/Tuck and Without a Trace, for $9.99 a month.
mio TV offers a total of 48 of standard- and high-definition channels ranging from free-to-air channels like MediaCorp's HD5, to infotainment channels from the BBC.
- TODAY/so
|
