BONES TO BE AVAILABLE IN SINGAPORE

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Under the deal, Disney-ABC Intl. Television, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. Intl. Television Distribution will allow SingTel's Internet protocol TV service mioTV service to run more than 50 U.S. series. Rather than offering an online "catch-up" service for shows that are airing in Singapore, SingTel will make these shows available according to the U.S. TV calendar -- which means many will debut on mioTV.

Skeins include the upcoming seasons of Disney's "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Criminal Minds" and "Samantha Who?"; Fox's "Prison Break," "24" and "Bones"; and Warner's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," "Without a Trace" and "Supernatural."

New service, called Season Pass, will launch in September. Subscription terms were not revealed.

"This agreement comes at a great time as we are celebrating mioTV's first anniversary," said SingTel CEO Singapore Allen Lew.

The IPTV service launched a year ago with another innovative deal that saw Sony Pictures Entertainment release DVDs day-and-date with their Singapore video-on-demand availability. Service now has 48 channels and 45,000 subscribers.

Disney said that the mioTV deal is different from its VOD agreement in Hong Kong with free-to-air group Television Broadcasts. TVB's Catch-Up TV makes shows available for three or four weeks on its website beginning as little as 12 hours after they air locally, but that may be months after U.S. telecast.

"This is one of the top deals we've done outside the U.S.," said Rob Gilby, senior VP and managing director, Disney-ABC Intl. Television (Asia Pacific). Season Pass is an "accelerated window on a pay TV service. It is not catch-up TV and not ad-supported. Consumers are demanding choice."

Jamie McCabe, 20th Century Fox exec VP, worldwide pay-per-view, video-on-demand and electronic sell-through, called the service "an exciting new concept."

WBIT prexy Jeffrey R Schlesinger said the SingTel service will bring "our series to Singapore viewers in this most unique subscription VOD environment."

MioTV Wednesday also launched a less sophisticated on-demand service, Favorites-on-Demand, showing 10 popular TV series between now and Oct. 31 at a cost of S$9.99 per month.

Skeins include the Singapore preems of "Gossip Girl," "Smallville," "Nip/Tuck," "Supernatural," "The Bachelor," "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace."

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2008-07-23


SingTel Clinches Disney, Warner Bros., Fox Deals

SINGAPORE, July 23: SingTel’s mio TV IPTV platform has clinched agreements with Disney-ABC International Television, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. International Television Distribution that bring a host of top American series to subscribers as early as a day after their U.S. broadcast.



The new service, Season Pass, launches this September following the start of the U.S. fall season. The platform will deliver on demand, new seasons of shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Criminal Minds, Prison Break, Bones, 24, Ugly Betty, Without a Trace, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supernatural and Samantha Who?, among others, on a subscription basis.



“This agreement comes at a great time as we are celebrating mio TV’s first anniversary,” said Allen Lew, SingTel’s CEO. “Our subscribers will now have more exciting channels and programs to look forward to. Consumers are getting increasingly demanding. They want to get the latest TV hits ahead of anyone else and now, mio TV is filling this gap with our latest offering. We see this as the next big wave of content consumption in Singapore.”



The agreement with Disney-ABC International Television covers seasons three of Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters; the fifth seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Desperate Housewives; season two of Eli Stone; the fourth season of Criminal Minds; and season four of Kyle XY, as well as Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice and Reaper, among several others.



“Singapore fans will be the first in Asia to get their must-watch shows like Lost and Grey’s Anatomy so close to the U.S. air date,” said Rob Gilby, the senior VP and managing director of Disney-ABC International Television (Asia Pacific). “At Disney-ABC we understand that consumers want convenience and flexibility to watch their favorite shows when and how they want. By partnering with a new-media pioneer such as SingTel’s mio TV, we keep viewers needs front-and-center.”



The alliance with Warner Bros. International Television Distribution covers up to 60 titles, among them Chuck, One Tree Hill, Without a Trace, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supernatural and Gossip Girl. “We are thrilled to be in business with SingTel as it launches its mio TV service to bring our series to Singapore viewers in this most unique SVOD environment,” said Jeffrey R. Schlesinger, the president of Warner Bros. International Television.



In the run up to the launch of Season Pass, mio TV has unveiled Favourites-on-Demand, allowing customers to access ten popular series between now and October 16, for S$9.99 a month. Warner Bros. series to be featured in this service include Smallville, Nip/Tuck, Supernatural, The Bachelor, Cold Case and Without a Trace, as well as the Singaporean premiere of Gossip Girl.



Mio TV’s alliance with Warner Bros. also covers Pushing Daisies, the highly anticipated new J.J. Abrams series Fringe and the upcoming final season of ER.



The Twentieth Century Fox, deal, meanwhile, offers up season seven of 24, the fourth season of Prison Break, Joss Whedon’s upcoming Dollhouse, as well as The Ex-List, Do Not Disturb, Boston Legal, Bones and Burn Notice.



"The availability of Twentieth Century Fox’s top slate of TV series soon after the U.S. release is an exciting new concept that has significant potential to engage viewers on a whole new level,” said Jamie McCabe, the executive VP of worldwide PPV, VOD and EST at the studio. “Now in our second year with SingTel, we are excited to build on that success with mio TV’s Season Pass."



SingTel had 45,000 mio TV customers as at the end of June.



—By Mansha Daswani