Singapore – StarHub TV is set to produce and commission up to S$6 million in Public Service Broadcast (PSB) content. This initiative is supported by Media Development Authority’s (MDA) Public Service Broadcast Contestable Funds Scheme (PCFS) which was launched in July 2012. In a call for pitches at a briefing on November 11, 2013, the operator announced that the commissioned works will be broadcast from 2014.

The aim of the PCFS is to extend the reach of PSB content to multiple broadcast platforms beyond FTA and to provide content producers with more opportunities to create content for different commissioning broadcasters. In addition to pay channels E City and SuperSports Arena, the content will also be made available on StarHub’s multi-screen solution, TV Anywhere, six months after linear broadcast, free of charge. 

StarHub’s Head of Media Business Unit, Soo Hui LEE, told TV Asia Plus that in terms of content ratings, while E City and SuperSports Arena accommodate content rated NC 16 and M18 (after 10pm), content aired on StarHub TV Anywhere has to conform to the FTA standard of PG13. Producers may thus have to provide two versions of their content, explained Lee.

In addressing a concern that producers might be disadvantaged if they cannot produce content for E City, a Mandarin-language channel, Lee explained that E City does air Korean and Japanese dramas in Mandarin, and that a good story will be considered as well.

“The deal came about through a long discussion with MDA about getting funding. StarHub is committed to developing local productions like our Malaysian Super League,” she added. 

StarHub is Singapore’s first pay-TV operator to be awarded with the funding, and will commission up to 100 hours of PSB content, depending on the quality of proposals received from production houses.