Australia revives Asia TV service

By CNN's Grant Holloway

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- The Australian Broadcasting Corporation will once again beam a television service into the Asia-Pacific region, following a funding commitment from the Australian government.

A service had previously been run by the commercial Seven Network, but was closed down in March this year as a cost-cutting measure.

The publicly funded ABC had run the service since the early 1990s, but the operation was sold to Seven in 1998.

Australia's foreign minister Alexander Downer said in a statement Wednesday the government would provide funding for the service but it would expect the operation to generate commercial revenues in addition to this.

The government funding is believed to be around $5 million a year.

"The ABC proposal promises a high quality programming mix, including original news and current affairs programs and an innovative cross-media strategy building on existing ABC and Radio Australia websites," Downer said.

The Seven service was highly criticized for running a high rotation of children's programs and soap operas and little in the way of content tailored for an Asian audience.

Downer said the government was providing the funding because it was in Australia's national interest to provide a regional television service that projected "accurate images and perceptions of Australia".

No start date for the new service was announced.