"We'd been looking at the market for a number of years -- we had launched BBC Prime in Europe in 1995 and we came here in 1998 to look at opportunities to bring that channel into the market," confirmed BBC Worldwide director of channels Wayne Dun- sford, but said BBC was not ready then to invest in the channel for Asia. The decision to launch the channel now, he said, was down to the "clear growth in pay-TV platforms and multi-channel homes".
Accordingly, Anne Chan has been named channel manager for BBC Prime, joining from Time Asia. Dunsford sees Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as the "priority" markets.
"We will be localising with subtitles in each major market," explained Dunsford. "We simply will not have a sustainable business if we only target expats."
BBC Prime will be carried on the MEASAT satellite network in Southeast Asia, and has tied-up with Now Broadband TV in Hong Kong. BBC Prime will feature wide range of BBC programming, including comedy, costume drama, talk shows and documentaries.
BBC prepares for Prime channel's HK, SE Asia debut
The Asian launch of BBC Worldwide's entertainment channel BBC Prime comes after six years of studying market conditions in the region and will see an initial rollout in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
