Star seeks Hong Kong pay license
Digital service will also offer Web access through set-top boxes
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Star, a News Corp. subsidiary, applied Thursday to the government for a license to provide digital pay TV service. The service, DTV, will offer subscribers access to 50 channels, pay-per-view, e-mail and Web via set-top boxes.
"We're replicating the television experience and enhancing it," said Gary Davey, who recently ankled his CEO position and is now a consultant on the DTV project.
Today's the day
The government set a deadline of today for applications for subscription TV licenses. Several other companies are expected to reveal their plans today for competing with Hong Kong Cable, which now holds the only pay TV license. Potential rivals include Cable & Wireless HKT, which operates the city's only video-on-demand service, iTV.
Star execs, who previewed the state-of-the-art system for the media, appeared confident that the government would grant the company a license by January. After that, the system could be up and running by spring, Davey said.
"We believe DTV is going to establish a new standard and lead Hong Kong's television entertainment into the new millennium," chairman and chief exec Gareth Chang said.
And what if Star, which currently reaches 300 million viewers, doesn't get a license?
"We'll take it someplace else," Davey said. "We'll roll it out across the region wherever we can."
Audience out of reach
But he is not holding his breath waiting for China's 1.2 billion people to get a chance to subscribe. "I long ago gave up trying to figure out when a breakthrough is coming in China," Davey added. "I don't see any significant changes there."
Star is not revealing how much it has spent on the project or how much it intends to charge subscribers.
Davey said the city's current infrastructure would support the DTV system without a need for stringing new wires or laying cables.
"Hong Kong can be converted to digital overnight," he said. "There's plenty of bandwidth to go around."
