Southeast Asia: Sex and the City finally makes its Singapore entry

HBO will premiere season five on July 16, followed by season six on August 17, using the same feed that is broadcast across other markets in Asia, where the antics of the four cosmopolitan New Yorkers have been airing since 1999. "We decided to launch with the latest two seasons because we're using the regional feed and our strategy has always been to do a recap of the previous season before starting the new season," said HBO's director of marketing Caroline Wong. She added that SATC's premiere had triggered positive feedback and she hoped the premiere would help drive subscriptions. SATC is so far the only show to benefit from Singapores move from its one-size-fits-all censorship rule to two new classifications - '16' and '18' ratings - and the concept of a watershed time at 10pm, after which TV shows rated '18' can be broadcast. The change follows Singapore's classification for video, which has a 'No children under 16' and a 'Mature 18' rating. However, standards for TV are stricter as it is more accessible, so even with the '18' rating, TV programmes will still be cut, though less drastically.