'SCV' programmers told to respect S'pore rules
'SCV' programmers told to respect S'pore rules
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's first cable TV company yesterday set a June 23 launch date for its 30-channel lineup, but warned programmers they risk being switched off if they flouted the island's strict broadcasting rules.
Singapore CableVision (SCV) chairman Khaw Boon Wan said "irresponsible reporting" and excessive sex and violence would not be allowed on the network, being set up at a cost of S$500 million (US$357 million).
At a news conference where he announced the launch date and subscription fees, Khaw said only limited programming in Cantonese Chinese would be permitted in line with the government's "Speak Mandarin" policy.
All channels will be carefully monitored to ensure they followed the guidelines and segments considered to be offensive to Singaporean values will be deleted, Khaw said, admitting that live broadcasts could not be censored.
He added that broadcasters who violated the guidelines would be removed from the network.
"We will have to take it off. We have no other choice," said the SCV chief, stressing that all channels had been carefully selected.
The network, which is intended to open new windows of information and entertainment in the city state of three million people, would offer viewers three news channels: Asia Business News, BBC World and CNN International.
Entertainment and music channels include Star Plus, Star Chinese and Channel V of the Hong Kong-based pan-Asian broadcaster Star TV, and the English and Mandarin editions of MTV.
Two channels of Home Box Office (HBO) movies will also be offered to subscribers who can afford an extra $12 a month for each of them.
Khaw said the SCV was monitoring a news channel "which is fairly new in the marketplace.
"I would rather be conservative," he said when asked whether the SCV wanted movie guidelines to be relaxed. "Cable TV is a new feature in Singapore and there is ground for caution. Off-hand I am not pushing for further liberalization."
A gadget will be marketed for parents to limit the viewing time of their children or to prevent them watching any particular channel such as MTV, Khaw said.
Some 15,000 households in the Tampines area will be the first in Singapore to get their first taste of cable television, which its promoters say will lay an electronic highway to all 750,000 households by the turn of the century.
The SCV, which hopes to reach a penetration rate of 20 percent by the end of the year, offered viewers three tiers of subscription with a compulsory basic tier of 20 channels at a monthly fee of S$29.95 ($21.39).
An international tier that would cater to expatriates with additional Australian, Chinese, French, German, Hong Kong, Indonesian, Japanese, Malaysian and U.S. channels and a premium tier giving access to HBO movies would be optional.
To celebrate the launch, the SCV plans to bring Hong Kong stars Lydia Sum, Loy Hoi Pang, Deric Wan and Michael Lai and host entertainment performances by cartoon characters.
Khaw emphasized that cable TV went beyond entertainment and will be a key element in Singapore's drive to become the world's first "intelligent island" under its Information Technology Plan- 2000.
"We hope to distinguish ourselves from other cable TV operators by becoming the backbone of the IT-2000," he said, adding that it would be meaningless to lay an expensive island- wide fiber optic cable network just for entertainment.
Future high-technology applications include home shopping, video conferencing, image transferring, high-speed data transfer between computer connections and inter-active tutorials for students and adult learners.