Singapore telco SingTel and Hong Kong-based Mei Ah Entertainment are planning to give Derek Kwok's directorial debut The Pye-Dog a same-day premiere in cinemas and on television.

The film will be telecast on Mei Ah Movies Channel, via SingTel's IPTV platform mio TV, on Jan 10, the day it also hits Singapore cinemas. Mei Ah is distributing the film theatrically itself for the first time in Singapore.

Mei Ah is not charging a premium for the film's telecast, which is available to all subscribers who pay $6 (S$8.8) a month for its movie channel.

'Release windows no longer always follow the traditional order. Pay-TV has grown considerably to become an important new medium,' said Mei Ah managing director Patrick Tong.

The film will be available in both Mandarin and Cantonese versions on mioTV, a first for Singapore which requires all Cantonese films to be dubbed into Singapore 's official language of Mandarin.

'As a newcomer to the market, we are constantly looking for niche areas that have not been addressed by existing players,' said Low Ka Hoe, SingTel's director for IPTV and content. Mio TV was launched last July.

On the issue of piracy, Low assured that content shown on mio TV is well protected. 'We've been working with the US studios. Mio TV has separate VoD agreements with Sony - Spider-Man 3 was one of its first titles that premiered on TV and launched for home rental simultaneously in Singapore.'

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