Singapore – NBCU’s SCI FI channel and Universal channel launches for Asia are all on track with announcements expected in the coming months. “It is a marathon though, not a sprint. We’re here for the long term and want to make sure that we get things right at launch,” says Raymund Miranda, managing director, NBC Universal Global Networks Asia Pacific. “April 1 2008 we launched SCI FI Japan, which is now in its first month of operation. The feedback we’ve received from both the press and viewers has been very encouraging and we’re hoping to build on this launch momentum to attract subscribers, platforms, viewers and advertisers,” he says. “We’ve also just announced the launch into multiple markets of our KidsCo venture which is now active in 5 markets. There continue to be more deals in the pipeline and we are expecting these to be announced over the coming weeks. Our Hallmark Channel has renewed multiple deals across the region and we are now in the midst of rolling out a new programming line up with some very exciting titles for the channel.” But pay-TV’s buoyant optimism felt end 2007 with the announcement of a slew of new channels, not just from NBCU, seems to have waned somewhat amidst caution over the economic slowdown, as well as infrastructure upgrade costs faced by operators. Asked whether NBCU Global Networks has tried to do too much too soon, Miranda described the plan as very aggressive for the coming months and years, “but this is all part of a global plan to grow our business. It is a lot of hard work but definitely something that I am confident is achievable with the teams that we have.” And Miranda denies that NBCU content’s presence on rival channels such as STAR World and AXN is slowing down the new channels’ rollout targets. “NBC Universal has a significant amount of content available for our channels, as well (as) content from other studios that we have tapped into. (And) we are definitely looking at augmenting our channels with local acquisitions and with licensing local content for our channels. NBC Universal International is also working on local content production across the world. Add to that, SCI FI has a lot of SCI FI original series and movies from the US that will be aired on our channel – shows that have never been seen in Asia.”