'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.