World Class Media Cluster
More interaction, choices
on broadcast

On the broadcast front, MDA ramped up efforts to extend the reach of traditional television to multiple digital platforms such as the Web and mobile. These Content 360 efforts provided audiences with more than a sedentary, “lean back” TV experience. They offered viewers interactivity as well as online content that tied in with the main broadcast.

Many local Content 360 programmes, such as Partners in Crime, Terrorville and Hidden Cities, came with Web-exclusive content and interactive games integral to the TV broadcasts.

Partners in Crime, a documentary featuring forensic scientists working on actual cases, had a website with games and “mini episodes”, while Terrorville, a drama, allowed audiences to solve mysteries through Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Hidden Cities, a documentary series produced by Beach House Pictures, enabled viewers to upload unknown facts about their cities on an online portal, attracting more than 1,500 entries and 12,000 fans on its Facebook page.

Audience participation was another key feature of live Content 360 programmes, such as Angel’s Gate and MediaCorp’s Let’s Play Love.

Angel’s Gate, a 360 programme co-produced by Interactive SG and Channel NewsAsia, allows viewers to simultaneously watch videos, participate in online crowd sourcing and crowd funding activities, and network with entrepreneurs while on the move. It had garnered more than 51,000 Facebook ‘likes’ and 50,000 Twitter followers. MediaCorp’s Let’s Play Love was an interactive Web drama where audiences watching on the xinmsn portal could contribute opinions and shape the outcome of the show.

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Singapore-made TV programmes in the spotlight
The year in review also saw a number of local TV programmes supported by MDA gaining international recognition, pointing the way to higher quality content from the country.

Beach House Pictures’ Stressbuster won the Best Lifestyle Programme in the 2011 Asian TV Awards. At the same event, Xtreme Productions’ China’s Extreme Skywalker won the Best Infotainment Programme while Infocus Asia was awarded Best Editing for its Into the Future: Transport feature.

At the New York Festivals 2011, Partners in Crime by local company, Very!, won the Gold Medal Award for Best Camerawork and Silver World Medal for Best Direction. TV news parody show, The Noose, which has produced memorable characters such as Barbarella, Leticia Bongnino, and B.B See, was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2011 International Emmy Awards.

At MIPCOM in Cannes in October 2011, 17 Singapore companies marketed a total of 48 titles, a 40 per cent increase in industry participation over 2010. Later in December 2011, at the Asian Television Forum (ATF), MDA showcased 55 Singapore companies with over 400 hours in factual, lifestyle, drama and animation content, a five-fold increase from 2010. Efforts at the ATF were centred on the industry’s 360 and interactive content capabilities.

Back home, local TV programmes made an important impact on Singapore audiences as well. One example was We Are Singaporeans, a variety game show that tested contestants’ knowledge of Singapore. The show rated well with a viewership of 306,000.

More choices on pay TV
The pay-TV market continued to be vibrant, offering consumers many programming choices in the year of review.

The number of Nationwide and Niche TV service providers in Singapore increased from seven in 2007 to 12 in 2011, bringing the number of TV channels from 240 to over 400 over the same period. In 2011, two pay-TV retailers, M1 and IMMG⁵, entered the market, while the number of linear TV channels on SCV and mioTV increased by 40 between 2010 and 2011.

SingNet launched its first 3D VOD services in December 2010, and subsequently brought “live” sports programming like the Barclays Premier League in 3D to subscribers in May 2011.

Consumers also saw the initial benefits of new regulations. More common channels have become available across different pay-TV retailers as a result of the cross-carriage measure⁶ from March 2010. Common channels available on both SCV and mioTV increased from seven to 15.

⁵ M1’s 1box offers Video-on-Demand (VOD) services, providing movies through its set-top box, while IMMG offers animation to PC users over its VOD services.
⁶ The cross-carriage measure requires designated Nationwide Subscription TV licensees to cross-carry exclusively acquired content and channels, so as to address the high degree of content fragmentation in the local pay TV market, resulting from retailers’ use of exclusive carriage agreements as their main competition strategy. The measure reduces the inconvenience incurred by consumers to access exclusive content.