CABLE TV kicks off 100-day countdown to 2010 South Africa World Cup with announcement of programming details and subscription offer

(March 3, 2010 - Hong Kong) CABLE TV, Official Broadcaster of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, announced yesterday (March 3) that it will broadcast all 64 final round matches between June 11 and July 11 in HD so that soccer fans may enjoy this exciting and prestigious sports event in the best possible format.

A colourful ceremony was held yesterday at the Times Square to marked the commencement of the 100-day countdown to the big event.

The ceremony was officiated by CABLE TV Chairman and CEO Mr. Stephen Ng; Ambassador, 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa, Mr. Mark Fish; and Consul-General, South African Consulate-General Hong Kong SAR/Macao SAR, PRC, Ms Nomatemba Tambo.

The officiating guests unveiled a countdown clock as five dancers who flew in from South Africa specifically for the event, performed exotic official 2010 World Cup Diski Dance.

At the ceremony, Mr. Fish handed over to Mr. Ng two special cheering instruments commonly used by South African soccer fans - the Vuvuzela and the Makaraba - symbolizing the organizer inviting CABLE TV to join in spreading the joy of the South African World Cup in Hong Kong.

Mr. Ng then passed the two items on to Mr. Vincent Cheung, CABLE TV Senior Vice President, Subscription Services, and Ms Isabelle Tsang, Vice President, i-CABLE Sports Limited, entrusting them with the duty of promoting World Cup to every corner of Hong Kong.

It was also announced that the World Cup Carnival, the nightly party throughout the World Cup proper period that has become the hallmark programme of World Cup on CABLE TV, will continue to be held this year, for the third time, after its success in 2002 and 2006, at the Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre.

The ceremony yesterday also marked the final run-up of our programming and marketing teams to the big event, with exciting World Cup programmes during the period, and the launch of a new World Cup Countdown Offer.

On the programming side, an early attraction would be three stand-up comedy shows to be performed by three CABLE sports presenters, Mr. Johnny Hui, Mr. Sam Lung and Mr. Ken Chung together with the 2010 World Cup Angels team, from April 30 to May 2, Ms Tsang disclosed.

Lead-in programme, to be carried on i-CABLE Sports platform, will include warm-up matches, and weekly magazine type programmes, with reviews of matches of 32 final teams in qualifying rounds and precious historical footages tracking the development of World Cup.

Mr. Cheung, meanwhile, is highly confident that the World Cup Countdown Offer will receive strong support on the subscription front, particularly with the very encouraging viewers' response to CABLE TV's HD services launched last August. Riding on the success of the HD service, the live broadcast of all 64 2010 World Cup final round matches and production of CABLE World Cup programmes in HD format is expected to further spur subscribers' interest.