`Channel NewsAsia' to go regional in September

By K. Basrie

SINGAPORE (JP): Marking its first anniversary here, Channel NewsAsia of the Singaporean government-linked Media Corporation announced on Wednesday its ambitious multi-million U.S. dollars plan to expand its broadcast to countries all over the Asian continent and Australia beginning September.

MediaCorp chairman Cheng Wai Keung and Shaun Seow, chief operating officer of Mediacorp News, which manages the channel, said that the English language news channel decided to go regional in an attempt to provide news and other information with "an Asian perspective".

"We'll be spending US$100 million to $150 million over the next five years on Channel NewsAsia," Keung told reporters from several Asian countries here.

Seow explained that half of the fund would go to manpower development and the rest would be used to finance technical development, including rental fees for the satellites.

"We're finalizing deals with major cable operators and hotels (in major Asian cities) to relay its signal from either the Apstar or Palapa satellites," Seow said.

Currently, the channel which already has 20 correspondents and crew in nine Asian cities including two in Jakarta, can be viewed only in Singapore.

"We'll try to present the story of Asia in all of its complexity. We're not saying that our perspective is better than the rest. What we want viewers to see is another perspective so that they can make better business decisions," Keung said.

At the moment, he added, the continent is inundated with English language news networks originating from the West.

"Each with its own editorial (slant), depending on who owns it."

"They are doing a very good job in reporting the main news, but they seldom go beyond the Asian headlines. We don't hear enough from Asians," Keung said.

Seow told The Jakarta Post a day earlier that CNA is not attempting to compete with other leading news broadcasts, such as CNN.

"No way," he said.

The channel attempts to offer a value-added service to the viewers with more Pan-Asian voices, faces and programs.

"We'll talk with scholars about social, political and economic issues within Asia. We want more Asian think-tanks and experts talking on issues concerning Asia. We may also cover issues in the West, the U.S., but with an Asian perspective."

Seow firmly believes that launching of the channel in September would grab the attention of at least five million viewers.

"We're hoping to build it (the audience) very, very quickly. We're confident of success because of very good feedback from the cable operators that we're talking with now," he said.

Indonesia

Seow said that people in Indonesia could receive the channel through satellite dishes or from local cable operators, such as Indovision.

"We're still talking with them (TV cable operators in Jakarta) about the contract," he said, hoping that it could be agreed in the next two months.

The launching of the Asian-feed channel, however, won't be available to viewers in Singapore, a country which still bans the use of satellite dishes.

"It's a commercial reason. The cable company (here) will of course want to find a channel that is suitable for Indonesians," Keung explained.

He added that the company would soon open its door for partners to run the project.

"We're looking for joint venture proposals. But in the meantime, we need to set up our infrastructure," he said.

Besides its two crews in Jakarta, the channel's overseas staff are currently working in Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi and Sydney.

It plans to have a crew in Taipei in the middle of this year.

"We also wants to have correspondents in Surabaya and Medan soon," Sewo said.

For certain programs, the channel will broadcast the shows with the sources using their local language, which would be then translated in English subtitles.

Some of the programs will be taken from local television stations or production houses.

The channel's programs cover general news, business, analyses, travel, industry, investment, sports, and lifestyle, with emphasis on Asia.

But many doubters say CNA is an ambitious project for Media Corporation.

Yoshitaka Goto, a correspondent of Tokyo-based Jiji Press in Singapore, said it would be very hard for this one-year-old baby to lure viewers outside Singapore.

"In Japan, for example, the people are already familiar with stations, such as CNN and NHK. So, it'll be very difficult work." he told the Post.