BBC HD Debuts in Taiwan

SINGAPORE, April 3: This
month, BBC Worldwide’s Global Channels business will launch its first SVOD
service, BBC HD, in Taiwan through Chunghwa Telecom, a regional operator of
broadband multimedia services.

BBC HD SVOD viewers will
be able to choose from 10 three-hour multiple genre blocks of programs at any
one time. The blocks will feature drama, comedy, documentary, natural history,
music and arts programming. The channel’s lineup will include the drama Cranford, set in Victorian England and starring
Oscar-winner Judi Dench. Other highlights will include the natural-history
series Ganges; Sensitive
Skin, a new comedy set in London
starring Joanna Lumley; Aida,
Verdi’s opera about the great pharaohs; and Earth: The Power of the Planet, a series about the history of our planet, how it
works, and what makes it so special.

BBC HD will be broadcast
in English with traditional Chinese subtitles and will offer for the first
time, program promos and navigational menus in traditional Chinese.

BBC
HD is the sixth channel brand in BBC Worldwide’s new Global Channels portfolio
to launch. The other five channels are BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC
Lifestyle and CBeebies, along with the BBC’s 24-hour international news
channel, BBC World—which are already available across Asia and EMEA
territories.

Christine Leo-McKerrow,
the senior VP and general manager of Global Channels Asia-Pacific, said: “The
BBC HD SVOD launch in Taiwan will be the first time the BBC HD brand is
available outside the U.K. and in advance of the 24-hour linear channel
launching later this year. With plans to produce all of the BBC’s U.K.
prime-time content in HD by 2010, the BBC will be one of the world’s largest
producers of English language HD programming.”

Chao Min, the director of
the digital content development department at Chunghwa Telecom, added: "We
are proud to be the first one in Taiwan, even in Asia, presenting BBC HD to
viewers. BBC HD SVOD is comprised of high-quality programs of various genres.
We believe our viewers will enjoy watching these HD programs immensely."

—By Irene Lew