MUMBAI: Asianet has started beaming on StarHub in Singapore from today. The channel targets about 25,000 strong Malayali population in the country.

Contrary to earlier reports, Asianet hasn't launched a dedicated channel in Singapore. Asianet MD K Madhavan told indiantelevision.com that, at present there wouldn't be a customised programming schedule for the Singapore audience.

"At present, it is not a dedicated beam. We are planning to do it in the next stage. Subcription sales will drive the revenue now. We will think about tapping the advertising stream when we launch the dedicated beam," he said.

Asianet will be grouped with the specialty channels, and will be available to all StarHub Digital Cable customers for Sing $8 monthly in addition to their current cable service. Asianet is the first Malayalam channel which is given an entry in Singapore. StarHub's existing channels that cater to the Indian community and fans of Indian programmes are Sun TV, Zee TV, Star Plus and Sony Entertainment Television.

In Novermber 2004, Asianet had entered the African market, in countries South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. The channel is also available in Sri Lanka, China, the South East Asia, the entire Persian Gulf, the UK, Europe, USA and the lower half of the former Soviet Union.