TV5MONDE Launches 3rd APAC Feed and Vietnamese Subtitles

French-language network’s CEO Marie-Christine Saragosse recently announced at a press event in Hanoi the launch on MeaSat-3 of a third satellite feed for APAC to cover South-East Asia and allow further localization of content.

 

TV5MONDE’s channel for Asia, “TV5MONDE Asie”, was previously only available free-to-air from AsiaSat-3S with embedded English subtitles. The new feed on this MeaSat-3 launching is in MPEG-4 with DVB subtitles, enabling operators to choose which subtitling language(s) they wish to offer to their subscribers.

 

The first local language to be added on “TV5MONDE Asie” via MeaSat-3 is Vietnamese .”TV5MONDE Asie” is available on all major platforms in Vietnam, on cable (VCTV, SCTV, HTVC), satellite (K+, VTC), IPTV (VASC, VTC) and Digital Terrestrial Television (VTC), and legally accessible to an estimated 5 million households throughout the country, making Vietnam the second largest market in Asia for TV5MONDE, after India with about 10 million. All Vietnamese platforms carrying “TV5MONDE Asie” have agreed to switch to the new signal.

 

At launch, subtitling efforts will be focused on lifestyle programming blocks (weekdays 1:30PM-4PM VNT) and evening movies (weekdays 8PM-2:30AM VNT). Then subtitles will progressively be introduced on drama, documentaries and magazines to reach an estimated 10 hours per day by YE 2011.