SATELLITE & CABLE: Hong Kong bids to boost regional role - SAR seeks to snatch back title of satellite broadcasting hub of Asia

Hong Kong, still smarting over the relocation of most of the region's satellite broadcasters to Singapore during the past few years, is strengthening attempts to become the centre for the production of Chinese-language television programming. Despite the fact that the territory has lagged significantly behind Singapore in operational and technological development, the SAR is nonetheless grabbing the edge in Chinese programming production. Industry analysts said the SAR's recent move to open its pay-TV market is paving the way to encourage competition and hence TV programming production in Hong Kong. In the lead-up to the new pay-TV scene, Star TV has launched a multimedia DTV, combining the Internet, satellite TV and ecommerce services in one platform. Meanwhile, Star TV and Cable & Wireless HKT have formed a new multimedia venture which will combine Star's DTV and Cable & Wireless's iTV services to offer 50 channels of multimedia services. Cable & Wireless and Star TV will respectively own 60 per cent and 40 per cent of the new company, with the plan being for it to be publicly listed in Hong Kong and New York. Meanwhile, the territory's only current pay-TV operator, Hong Kong Cable TV, has listed its its Internet company, i-Cable Communications, on the stock exchange. The move to raise capital in the stock exchange and to form multimedia convergence ventures has set a new TV scene: Hong Kong's pay-TV market will flourish in terms of content and technology development. Cable & Wireless HKT, TVB, Star TV and Turner are among the 10 contenders bidding for the pay- TV licences which are up for grabs; however, the Hong Kong government has yet to reveal the exact date a decision will be made or the number of licences to be issued. What is undisputed is that an increase in the number of new players in the TV market will create greater demand for content creation, particularly locally-produced programmes. Star TV chairman Gareth Chang said DTV, with 50 channels on its platform, plans to roll out two to three Cantonese channels. As the biggest Chinese programme producer in the world, TVB is believed to have held discussions with Cable & Wireless HKT/Star TV to launch up to six news channels. In addition, TVB has invested in the satellite broadcasting complex at Clearwater Bay, as well as a direct-to-home service in Taiwan. Increasing demand for Chinese programming content in Greater China, as well as Southeast Asia, will strengthen the SAR's edge in developing itself as a TV production hub. Singapore was picked for many regional broadcasters' headquarters mainly due to its relatively cheaper operational costs, variety of uplink facilities and tax breaks. An industry analyst said the next phase of satellite TV development in Asia should no longer be just in software, but in content enhancement, in order to lure local viewership. Hong Kong, with its abundant experience in movie and television programme production, has the potential to develop itself as a production hub in Asia, said the analyst. Never-theless, Hong Kong still needs to offer competitive costs to attract content suppliers and producers. With more than 60 cable channels and over 90 per cent cable penetration, Taiwan is seen to be a potential broadcasting hub in Asia. As far as Taiwan is concerned, governmental restrictions, red tape and uplink barriers to mainland China are among a number of sticky issues which continue to pose a real barrier to its ambitions as a broadcasting centre for the region.

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