MUMBAI: A multi-year renewal deal has been announced between Singapore pay TV operator StarHub and Fox International Channels (Fic).
As part of the renewal deal to provide localised content that is relevant to viewers in Singapore, Malay and Tamil language tracks are available to viewers of Nat Geo Wild. These language tracks are in addition to the currently available English and Mandarin audio, hence making Nat Geo Wild the first channel in Singapore available in all four official languages in the country.
Fic provides more than 30 channels and services to the operator across multiple genres including Hollywood movies, US general entertainment and US series, factual entertainment, international news, music, Chinese entertainment, as well as some of India‘s leading entertainment channels.
Some of the key brands and channels in the mix include Star Movies, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Star World, Fox and FX. In addition, eight channels of the strong FIC High-Definition (HD) channel bouquet are a part of Starhub‘s HD offerings to viewers in Singapore.
Fic president, Asia Pacific and Middle East Ward Platt said, "We‘ve had a fantastic working relationship with StarHub in the past; our collective journey has seen many milestones in delivering quality content to our viewers in Singapore. This continuation of our collaboration with StarHub supports our efforts in providing compelling and entertaining content that resonates with Singaporean audiences - with more choice, more localisation and language dubbing and enhanced services".
The non-exclusive deal also marks the first major renewal for carriage of channels and services in Singapore under the new media market conduct code as set out by the Media Development Authority, Singapore.
Media Development Authority of Singapore CEO Aubeck Kam said, "The recent changes to the Media Market Conduct Code seek to further enhance competition in the media market so as to promote the interest of consumers and the pay-TV industry as a whole. Since the introduction of MDA‘s cross-carriage measure on 12 March 2010, MDA notes that a number of non-exclusive content deals have been concluded, resulting in more common channels being offered by pay TV retailers."
Fic and StarHub will continue to work together to further enhance local viewing experience with the launch of more new HD channels and multiple language tracks to cater to key target segments. Both parties also agreed to explore innovative packaging that will add greater value for the operator‘s customers such as SVOD channels and themed packages.
