PCCW Seals Exclusive Pay-TV Deal
HONG KONG -- PCCW Ltd. said Tuesday its Now Broadband TV unit has signed exclusive deals with ESPN and Star Sports to broadcast basketball, Formula One racing and soccer in Hong Kong in a move likely to lift its fortunes in Hong Kong's pay-TV market.
The deal is a blow to i-Cable Communications Ltd., which currently dominates pay-TV with the help of until-now exclusive deals to broadcast popular sports into Hong Kong homes.
In a statement on its Web site, PCCW said the multiyear agreement will bring ESPN, Star Sports, National Geographic Channel, Phoenix Chinese Channel, Phoenix InfoNews Channel, Star Movies and ESPN STAR Sports Cricket Channel to Now Broadband. No details about the terms of the contract or its value were revealed.
The deal gives Now Broadband TV a monopoly on broadcasting ESPN and Star Sports channels in Hong Kong, bringing full and "largely exclusive" coverage of some of the world's biggest sporting events including soccer's FA Cup and FA Charity Shield, England home World Cup and Euro qualifiers, and the UEFA Champions' League. It also offers Broadband TV NBA Basketball, Formula One car racing, the Masters, British and US Open golf championships as well as the Australian, Wimbledon and US Open tennis Grand Slams.
Now Broadband transmits television signals over telephone lines to customers' homes. A special modem and decoder then carry the signal to a television where it delivers a picture quality generally better than that obtainable through an antenna.
Services began in September last year and there are currently about 300,000 subscribers, or about half of i-Cable's total.
PCCW said nothing about the pricing of its new channels. But according to the South China Morning Post, it currently charges customers HK$138 ($17.69) a month for 34 channels while i-Cable charges HK$308 a month for 40 channels
电讯盈科从ESPN和卫视体育台获得独家转播权
电讯盈科(PCCW Ltd., PCW)周二称，其子公司now宽频电视(now Broadband TV)同ESPN和卫视体育台(Star Sports)签署了独家协议，将向香港观众转播篮球、一级方程式赛车和足球赛事。此举很可能会提升电讯盈科在香港付费电视市场的实力。
此交易的达成给了有线宽频通讯(i-Cable Communications Ltd., ICAB)当头一棒。该公司正借助于目前仍有效的独家协议向香港用户转播受大众欢迎的体育赛事，从而在当地付费电视市场占据主导地位。
电讯盈科在其网站发表声明称，此跨年度协议将给now宽频电视带来ESPN、卫视体育台、国家地理频道、凤凰卫视中文台、凤凰卫视资讯台、Star Movies及ESPN STAR Sports Cricket Channel的节目。有关合同条款和合同价值的细节未予透露。
此交易令now宽频电视获得了在香港地区转播ESPN和卫视体育台的垄断地位，使之能够凭藉多数为独家性的播映权全面转播绝部分世界最大的体育盛事，当中包括英国足总杯及慈善盾、英格兰主场的世界杯及欧洲足球外围赛、欧洲冠军球会杯、美国职业篮球赛、世界一级方程式赛事、高尔夫球名人赛、英国及美国高尔夫公开赛重要赛事、以及澳大利亚、温布顿及美国公开网球大满贯等。
now宽频电视通过电话线向客户的住宅传送电视信号，然后再通过一个特殊的调制解调器和解码器将信号传至电视机，其画面质量普遍好于天线接收方式。
now宽频电视于去年9月份开始运营，目前大约有300,000订户，为有线宽频通讯用户总数的一半左右。
电讯盈科未提及其新增频道的收费情况。但根据《南华早报》(South China Morning Post)的报导，其目前34个频道的每月收费为138港元（1美元=7.8港元），有线宽频通讯40个频道的月收费为308港元。
