Television Asia ranks HBO as Tops amongst channels

Television Asia ranks HBO as Tops amongst channels

Asian cable TV magazine Television Asia conducted a survey in October 2000 amongst 400 cable operators Asiawide (majority of the respondents were from India). The survey has come out with some flattering results for HBO, which has been rated as numero uno in five (see tables below) out of the seven categories that the channels were rated on by cable ops. Discovery was the other good performer as far as cable operators were concerned. Star Plus was another dark horse winner when it ranked highly on best programming and most popular channel.

Fashion TV with all its breast and bottom display was surprisingly ranked as the channel offering the worst programming and sales.

The survey also probed cable ops' minds on other issues like when and why they would dump or carry a channel from their networks. 62% said that they would opt for channels that provided the maximum amount of programming value to their subscribers. Other reasons why they would retain/drop a channel included included digital poor transmission quality (five per cent), too many advertisement breaks (three per cent), language/dubbing issues (five per cent) and poor affiliate relations (three per cent). Another five per cent said they would prefer to add channels rather than drop them. Eight per cent named a few channels that they would choose to block but did not assign reasons for their decision.

Best Programming
Worst Programming

1. HBO - 55%
2. Discovery - 10%
3. CNN - 7%
4. Star Plus, Star Sports MTV - 15 %

Cinemax, ESPN, Star world, AXN, Zee TV, B4U - accounted for the remaining 13 per cent.

1. Fashion TV - 19%
2. CNNI - 16%
3. CNBC - 12.6%

The remaining votes for worst programming went to CETV, ESPN, Star Movies, Star Sports, Kermit, Jain TV, AXN, HBO, Plus 21, Zhongtian, Sony Entertainment, Zee TV and Hallmark.

Best sales and Marketing
Worst Sales and Marketing
1. HBO - 32 %
2. Discovery - 15%
3. MTV - 10%
4. ESPN - 7%
5. Star Channels - 17%

The Philippines Movie Channel Pinoy Blockbuster, Turner's Cartoon Network, Cinemax, Sun TV and CNBC account for the remaining votes.

1. CNNI - 17%
2. Fashion TV - 14%
3. CNBC - 10%

The remaining 51% included French service TVS, B4U, Sun TV, National Geographic, ESPN, Taiwanese channel Zhongtain.

Best on-air look
Worst on-air look
1. HBO - 20%
2. Discovery - 17%
3. AXN - 14%
4. MTV - 8.5%
5. CNNI - less than 8%

Nickelodeon, Disney, ESPN and National Geographic gathered enough space for a mention.

1. CNBC - 21%
2. Hallmark - 16%
3. Cinemax - 10.5%
4. CETV - 5 %

The rest of the list was made up of known and unknown country specific services.

Best Viewer Feedback
1. HBO - 31%
2. Discovery - 18%
3. CNNI - 8%
4. Star Plus - 7%
5. MTV - 5%
Remaining 30% votes were regional or area specific channels including ESPN, National Geographic, Zee TV, Sun TV and Sony Entertainment Television.
Most popular channels
Best value for money
1. HBO -47.5 %
2. Star Plus -15%
3. ESPN - 12.5 %
4. Discovery - 12 %

The remaining 13 per cent of the votes were divided between Disney, MTV, AXN and Sun TV.

1. HBO - 29 %
2. Discovery - 18 %
3. ESPN - 10.5%
4. CNNI - 8 %

The remaining 35 per cent is divided between Star Movies, Pinoy Blockbuster, MTV, National Geographic, Disney, Zee TV and CNBC.