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-- PHOTO: ILLUSTRATIONS: LIM YONG
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The time has finally come to change that channel on your TV.
In September, SingTel's new Season Pass on-demand service, available on its mio TV IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) platform, will be premiering more than 50 top American television programmes here, some within 24 hours of their telecast in the United States.
Fans of dramas like Prison Break, Lost and Gossip Girl, where the thrill is staying on top of the intertwining storylines, will no longer be held hostage by MediaCorp's decision to sometimes air the series months after they are available.
Even cable channels, which get first dibs on new shows, telecast them a few weeks after the US telecast.
This also means that, like the US audience, TV junkies here can be the first to catch brand new shows such as creator Joss Whedon's highly anticipated return-to-television series, Dollhouse.
But more importantly for local viewers, they can finally pay for what they want to watch.
This service works very much like the content services provided by iTunes and Amazon Unbox, which are currently not available here. Viewers can sign up for a season pass service, which gives them full access to all episodes from a particular season of a series.
SingTel has yet to reveal its pricing structure, but it is expected to follow industry benchmarks. Currently, Amazon Unbox charges between US$9.55 (S$13) and US$37.99 per series, depending on the show and number of episodes in the series.
Gone will be the days of being charged a monthly package subscription and paying for 24 hours of content over several channels, only to end up watching select programmes.
Let's do a comparison. If I were only interested in US shows, my minimum subscription at StarHub would be $25.68, and despite getting a dozen channels, only AXN and Star World deliver some of the content I want. Throw in a two-year contract and it all adds up, but I am still not guaranteed all the shows I want.
Why not rededicate that pool of money and use it on the shows I really want? This way, I will get more satisfaction knowing where the money goes.
The argument from viewers is that they might end up paying more if they go a la carte and follow many shows. But there is no guarantee that both free-to-air and cable channels will air all the shows they want, and they may end up spending more on DVDs on top of their cable subscription.
'I think this is something the broadcast industry has to respond to,' says PricewaterhouseCoopers technology analyst Greg Unsworth, on the new service.
'I've seen successful IPTV offerings but this takes things to a whole new level. Consumers are now powerful enough to choose the content they want.'
And the hook here is the 24-hour window, as even illegal downloads and streaming services are hard pressed to stick with this time-frame.
But can other operators follow suit? The free-to-air channels cannot, since they provide a mass service, albeit one supplemented by the TV licence fees viewers pay, but there are success stories to show that the a la carte method works.
Online video games are available for either free to play, or via a monthly subscription. For free-to-play games like Maple Story, distributors make their money through micro-transactions - selling items that enhance gameplay, but are not necessary to complete the game.
In essence, gamers decide what weapons, armour and additional attributes they need, and pay accordingly. Television content should be made available this way as well so that viewers can choose to buy the shows they like, on top of what is available.
Of course, having this service means that audiences will no longer be spoon-fed television shows, and they have to keep track of what they watch.
The standard practice for broadcasters here is to have the entire season on hand before airing the episodes in the same time slot each week until the shows end.
But in the US, only the first few episodes are produced before they are aired and their continued existence and production depend heavily on ratings. If ratings crash, the show gets cancelled, and this can happen as early as after the second episode.
US networks have also yanked shows off the air, even if not all episodes have been shown, leaving viewers in the cold.
This will take some getting used to as local viewers have been known to complain when their favourite shows get pre-empted due to, say, Parliament sessions, or when there are technical faults.
Luckily, SingTel recognises this and says it will provide refunds for unaired episodes.
But it will have to do better if it hopes to win over the masses as the current deal leaves out hits like Universal's Heroes as well as Paramount's CSI franchise.
One thing this service will do is benefit the entertainment industry as a whole. If SingTel, which does self-censorship on the content it airs, can have a 24-hour turnaround on classifying each hour-long show, it could pass on a few tips to the Board of Film Censors (BFC).
The BFC classifies video content, and feedback from video distributors here indicates that BFC clearance time ranges from a week for a two-hour-long movie to several months for a season's worth of a TV show. SingTel has now raised the bar on efficiency.
But yes, SingTel will continue to follow broadcast guidelines so a show like Nip/Tuck, which is banned on DVD here and has been edited for broadcast, will most likely still be edited on mio TV.
This is also why the service cannot guarantee that all shows can be brought in within 24 hours as some, like Without A Trace, will have to go through a more stringent screening process.
But the power now rests with the viewers, who can choose not to pay for edited content.
sherwinl@sph.com.sg
Will you sign on to SingTel's new Season Pass on-demand service? Send your comments to suntimes@sph.com.sg
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