MDA Gives Go-Ahead to New Interactive Web TV Service

SINGAPORE, July 30: The
Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has granted Singapore Press
Holdings (SPH) a Niche TV License to launch Razor TV, an interactive web
service that will offer local content with live and VOD programs.

The interactive technology
behind Razor TV is being developed through a grant from the Interactive Digital
Media Office (IDMO), which is hosted by the MDA. The five-year Niche TV License
establishes SPH as the first media company in Singapore to develop a new genre
of TV with live web studio streaming and real-time audience interactivity.

The MDA introduced the
Niche Subscription TV License in 2007 to bolster the growth of IPTV services in
Singapore by offering operators flexibility in rolling out services for
different market segments. There are currently only eight nationwide and niche
commercial and trial IPTV/VOD service providers, including SPH.

Ling Pek Ling,
the director of media policy for the MDA, commented: “MDA encourages
traditional media players such as SPH to reach out and engage our increasingly
Internet- and technology-savvy viewers in Singapore with exciting and
interactive content through new-media broadcasting platforms such as IPTV and
participative web 2.0 technologies.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski