Media tycoon Rupert Murdochs Japan Sky Broadcasting Corp (JSkyB) is strengthening ties with its former digital satellite rival PerfecTV, backing Hughes groups DirecTV into a tight corner alone.
JSkyB and PerfecTV, which have been discussing business cooperation for a year, said on Sunday they would use common receivers and antennas next spring, allowing viewers to choose from more than 200 channels to be offered by the two under a single contract.
The two firms are also discussing ways to integrate their computerised customer information systems, which contain customer lists, a spokeswoman for PerfecTV said.
This is virtually a merger between the two firms, said a spokesman for rival DirecTV. Its no longer a triangular fight. It means we will have only one rival to fight against.
Competition for subscribers is intensifying in Japans crowded digital satellite service market, where viewers will be offered some 300 satellite channels next spring by the three operators.
PerfecTV, which started offering 100 channels last year as Japans first digital satellite service operator, is already forecasting slower-than-expected growth in subscriber numbers.
PerfecTV is owned by a consortium of Japanese trading companies.
Its subscribers at the end of March totalled 230,000, well short of a target of 300,000. It had 360,000 subscribers at the end of July.
DirecTV, owned by the Hughes Electronics Corp group and Japans Mitsubishi group, plans to launch a 100-channel service in early November.
Murdochs JSkyB, which currently offers five test channels, will boost that number to a maximum of 150 next spring.
The JSkyB consortium was recently strengthened by the addition of Fuji TV Network Corp and Sony Corp and analysts say the JSkyB-PerfecTV deal will bring them many advantages over DirecTV.
JSkyB and PerfecTV viewers will have a wider choice of programmes, and can save money by using the same receiver and antenna, said Hironobu Sawake, an analyst at Nikko Research Center.
The fledgling digital satellite service, however, is still no match in terms of subscriber numbers for public broadcaster NHK Corps three-channel analogue satellite broadcasting service which has garnered 10 million subscribers over the past 10 years.
NHKs satellite service uses a larger broadcasting satellite (BS) while PerfecTV, JSkyB and DirecTV use smaller communications satellites (CS).
The CS channels offer special-interest programmes for small audiences, while BS channels in principle aim to offer general-interest programmes for broader audiences.
Japan plans to introduce digital BS channels in 2000, raising the number of BS channels to six from the current three.
