IPTV and free HD hits Singapore

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has launched pay TV service, mio TV, which allows subscribers to watch movies, TV programmes, and other content on-demand."The next generation of television watching has arrived," Allen Lew, CEO Singapore says. "Customers have been calling for choice and flexibility in the pay TV market and now they have it."mio TV has tied up with many content partners to provide a range of Video on Demand titles including blockbuster movies from major Hollywood movie studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Disney. It will also have a wealth of High Definition (HD) content, obtained from partnerships with Mega Media and VOOM HD Networks.Singapore is among the world's first to have a free-to-air HD channel carried on an IPTV platform.New BBC Channels BBC Knowledge and BBC Lifestyle will make their global debut on mio TV, featuring documentaries, reality programmes, as well as a range of other lifestyle content. Kids channel CBeebies, by the BBC, will also be launched."This is the future of television - a world where viewers are able to control their own instant replays, pause the ‘live' news to get a drink and command their set-top box to record a programme even when they're out for dinner," Mr Lew said.The mio TV platform has the potential to allow communications using video conferencing and instant messaging, displaying photos and playing music from PCs, all on the TV set."We believe the launch of mioTV will open up more channels for interactive content creation and media services, benefiting both consumers and industry with greater choice and content flexibility," Christopher Chia, CEO, Media Development Authority of Singapore, says.Y&R is responsible for SingTel's advertising needs and the TVC promoting mio TV will break tonight while the print campaign breaks tomorrow. Mediaedge:cia handled media duties.