SingTel's new digital pay-TV service, mio TV, has formed strategic partnerships with four major movie studios.

The agreements with NBC Universal,Twentieth Century Fox, Disney-ABC International Television and Eros International will 'bring almost 80% of all major Hollywood output into Singapore homes', said Low Ka Hoe, director of mio TV and Content.

'The on-demand movie channels - the first in Singapore and perhaps the region - offer fantastic value with each movie costing an average of less than $1.'

Disney is offering its subscription on-demand channel, The Film Factory, for the first time outside the US.

'The Film Factory is just another step in our commitment to letting as many people enjoy our content in flexible and legitimate ways,'said Greg Johnson, vice president of sales at Disney-ABC International Television (Asia Pacific).

NBC Universal will launch PictureBox (already available in the UK and Poland) on November 16 whileEros will hit mio TV screens on November 8with the first on-demand Bollywood movie channel on local TV in Singapore.

Established in 1977, India's Eros releases 30-40 new films every year and owns a film library of more than 1,300 titles.

Every month 15-28 on-demand movies are available for a fixed price with new titles being refreshed on a weekly or monthly basis. Subscribers can watch the movies at any time and as many times during the month.

Launched in July 2007, mio TV is also Singapore's first pay TV service to offer on-demand high-definition (HD) movies such as Big Fish, Peter Pan and Meet the Robinsons. It will soon launch a Video-On-Demand store for those who prefer to purchase individual movies.

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