FOR the past six years, self-confessed TV addict Theresa Tang has been adhering to StarHub's programme schedule to catch her favourite TVB drama serials and Korean shows.

The 30-something secretary, who gets home from work at around 8pm each day, usually has to be content with watching repeat episodes on TV.

During vacations, she rents or borrows DVD sets to catch up on missed episodes.

But now, her life is about to change. Starting today, she can swop her digital cable set-top box for a HubStation, which enables her to buy individual episodes at $1 each at the touch of her remote control.

She is among many StarHub subscribers to benefit from its latest video-on-demand (VOD) service. "Renting DVD box sets can set me back by as much as$30," said Ms Tang. "It'll be great if I can buy selected episodes on Demand TV."

Even though her current StarHub bill exceeds $100 per month, she does not mind paying $8.56 to rent the HubStation and an extra $4.28 for an "on-demand" channel. She lists Hong Kong shows such as Heart Of Greed, Survivor's Law II and Korean romance drama Likeable Or Not among her top picks, and currently subscribes to Chinese entertainment channels 48 to 56.

To attract viewers like Ms Tang, StarHub will bolster its VOD offerings with five on-demand channels and an array of stand-alone programmes comprisingly mostly Asian fare.

It also has some Western programmes such as Barclays Premier League soccer matches and American TV shows. Similar to what rival Sing- Tel's mio TV had promised its subscribers last month, StarHub's American titles, such as CSI and Numb3rs, will also air in Singapore within 24 hours of their debut in the United States.

StarHub has 511,000 subscribers, while mio TV has 45,000.

Comparatively, mio TV's staple is American fare like Gossip Girl and Pushing Daisies.

It also has some Asian content like Hong Kong drama Pillow Talk and Taiwanese variety show Variety Big Winner.

Content differences notwithstanding, the VOD battle has just begun to heat up. StarHub and SingTel are poised to unfurl more plans next month. StarHub will announce details of its sixth VOD channel, HBO On Demand, and air Season Seven of CSI: Miami and Season Five of CSI: NY.

mio TV will launch a new VOD service that allows viewers to watch entire seasons of 50 American shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Lost.

Asked if there is rivalry between the two companies, StarHub's head of cable TV services Patrick Lim said: "We're not competing head-on with mio TV. StarHub's cable TV content has more breadth while mio TV has its niche market."

As for Mr Quek Peck Leng, executive vice-president (consumer) from SingTel, he noted that their US shows "constitute 70 per cent" of the 30 most-watched titles in the US.

He said: "We are the first pay-TV operator in Singapore to offer Taiwanese dramas and variety
programmes in their original Hokkien language and are in the process of acquiring more such content."

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