Australia revives Asian TV service

By Grant Holloway
CNN

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia began broadcasting a new Asia-Pacific television service Monday, the first such transmission since March when a commercial network shut down its loss-making operations.

The Australian government is pumping about $50 million into the service over the next five years to ensure there is what it describes as "an Australian voice across Asia and the Pacific on regional and international events".

The new service is being run by the taxpayer-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and will show news and current affairs and Australian-produced education, entertainment and lifestyle programs.

When fully established, the service will reach from Bangladesh in the west, through South East Asia and China, as well as north to Japan and Korea. It will also cover most of the Pacific island nations.

Audience reach is also expected to be broadened through rebroadcasting arrangements with cable and satellite pay television channels, free-to-air local networks and hotels.

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Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said Monday the government believed that a "credible television service projecting an Australian voice to the region" was in the national interest and justified the financial backing.

An earlier service run by Australia's Channel Seven network was closed down in March this year after years of making losses.

That service, transmitted via Indonesia's Palapa satellite, however, made little effort to cater for an international audience, running a diet of old Australian soap operas and children's programs.

The government hopes the ABC will be able to generate its own commercial support in the region, despite the current tough business climate for broadcasters.

The new ABC service will have links to Radio Australia which broadcasts from radio transmitters from the tropical northern center of Darwin.

Radio Australia broadcasts in English and the Bahasa Indonesia language, transmitting seven hours of news and information programing each day.