By Rachel Chan

WHAT do Chuck, Lost, 24, Pushing Daisies and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles have in common?

Any avid viewer of American television would be able to point out that these titles are shown here - but only months after they screen in the United States.

But times they are a-changin'. Come September, mio TV is introducing a Season Pass, which allows viewers to watch episodes of more than 50 prime-time hits within 24 hours after they first air in the US.

The line-up includes titles such as Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Prison Break - all of which are shown on MediaCorp TV's Channel 5 and cable channels months after their US telecast.

And starting yesterday afternoon, the much-raved American teen drama series Gossip Girl made its Singapore debut on mio TV's new video-on-demand (VOD) package called Favourites-on-Demand.

This is made possible with SingTel signing a deal with Disney-ABC International Television, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros.

Already local fans are looking forward to the offerings.

Gossip Girl is top on their agenda. Warner Bros' Gossip Girl, based on the best-selling young-adult novel by Cecily von Ziegesar, has been hailed as one of the most highly-anticipated shows for 2007 to 2008.

Miss Cassandra Eng, 20, is a fan who likes "the fashion, and unapologetic scandalous lives of the teenagers" in Gossip Girl. She has been getting her fix of the show by watching it on Sidereel.com, a US website that streams hundreds of TV shows, movies and anime cartoons live.

The university student, however, points out that mio TV will be up against such free online services.

"The average viewer for American teen shows is very young. It's usually someone who has no financial clout in the household. Of course, he or she would rather watch the shows for free on the web," Miss Eng said.

Still, Singapore viewers have much to look forward to with mio TV's first anniversary goodies.

For instance, 10 US shows such as Without A Trace, Nip/Tuck and Cold Case, will be available on Favourites-on-Demand from now until Oct 15, at $9.99 per month. The minimum subscription rate for mio TV is $16.05 per month.

Meanwhile, mio TV's rival, StarHub, has also promised to offer viewers better choices.

Mr Patrick Lim, its head of cable TV services, said: "Video-on-demand has not yet entered mainstream TV viewing in Singapore, but it will soon.

"In fact, StarHub will be launching our VOD services very soon, which will also carry popular TV series with advanced windows."

rachchan@sph.com.sg

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