REGULATOR WILL NOT RESTRICT MEDIA CONTENT EXCLUSIVITY

UNCLAS SINGAPORE 001484 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS USTR FOR AUSTR BWEISEL, JJENSEN, AND JMCHALE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS EIND EINV ETRD SN SUBJECT: REGULATOR WILL NOT RESTRICT MEDIA CONTENT EXCLUSIVITY AGREEMENTS REFS: A) SINGAPORE 946 B) SINGAPORE 1119 C) SINGAPORE 1205 ¶1. (SBU) In a victory for U.S. content providers, the Media Development Authority (MDA) on May 8 announced privately its decision to not pursue more restrictive regulation of exclusive carriage agreements between media content/channel providers and Singapore's sole Pay-TV operator, SCV StarHub Cable Vision. ¶2. (SBU) In a closed-door meeting that content provider representatives and econoff attended, MDA said that its decision was based on careful review of local market conditions, in accordance with Singapore's Media Market Conduct Code, and comparisons with international best practices. MDA plans to publicly announce its decision later this week, possibly on May ¶10. ¶3. (SBU) Citing procedural reasons, the Minister for Communications, Information, and the Arts in March overruled an earlier decision by MDA to more tightly regulate such agreements, but left the door open for future moves in this direction (ref A). FERGIN