As Singapore’s controversial new anti-pay-TV-channel-exclusivity regulations enter their fourth month, sentiment on both sides shows no sign of tapering off. On the contrary, opinions for (regulators, academics and, by many accounts, telco SingTel) and against (pay-TV programmers, regional multichannel association Casbaa, industry analysts) are as polarised as ever.

As Singapore’s controversial new anti-pay-TV-channel-exclusivity regulations enter their fourth month, sentiment on both sides shows no sign of tapering off. On the contrary, opinions for (regulators, academics and, by many accounts, telco SingTel) and against (pay-TV programmers, regional multichannel association Casbaa, industry analysts) are as polarised as ever.

The pay-TV business, meanwhile, goes on. And, we predict it’s going to move faster, given the current embroglio, in a direction that other markets, including Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, are already well into – in-house channels.

Here, the feast of exclusivity abounds, and there are hot and cold running programme distributors ready and willing to open their catalogues, libraries, and anything else that will earn them an extra dollar in a pay-TV channels’ market that looks like it’s on the skids. If exclusive has become the Singapore pay-TV industry’s dirtiest word, in programme distribution land it’s alive, well, and looking forward to boom times.

There are examples of local channels in Malaysia that warm Astro’s heart. In Indonesia, Indovision loves its in-housers & is planning more. Ditto SkyCable in the Philippines. In Singapore, our poster child for the in-house channel movement is the 15-year-old VV Drama (including the three-hour time shifted VV Drama+3, and on-demand version, VV Drama On-Demand).

VV Drama has just signed its biggest, hottest (think temperatures like Beyond the Realm of Conscience hot) and heartiest deal with Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts (TVB), still the world’s most powerful Chinese television programmer.

VV Drama, which prides itself on bringing many of Asia’s top productions to Singapore for the first time, also buys ratings hits from Taiwan (A Place Called Home), China (A Better Tomorrow) and Korea (Queen Seon Deok).

The TVB-StarHub exclusive, three-year agreement smashes licensing windows, promises first-run dramas every day of the week, offers TVB content on-demand in Singapore a month after its Hong Kong release, and, if all that isn’t enough, the long-time partners are moving into local production for the first time.

Will the new regulations push StarHub (or SingTel for that matter) down the local-channels route faster than it may otherwise have gone? We think it will (although the regulatory delay on StarHub’s Racquet Channel shook our confidence a little).

There’s little question that all platforms everywhere are looking for differentiators to help fend off rivals from every quarter. Regulations, generally, play a minor to no role in that equation.

Being forced to offer exclusive channels to the other side is going to be a hassle and it’s going to cost money. It’s also unlikely to make pay-TV any cheaper; subscribers still have to pay for what they get. Once, that is, it’s decided how they get it. A la carte? Do they have to buy the whole pack, even if other channels in the tier are not exclusive? Plus it’s tough enough for customer service teams to deal with their own company’s stuff; bless the person with the patience to try to get them to explain the competition’s.

We believe the book on the new rules is far from closed. Meanwhile, there’s an amazing new world of in-house channels to explore.

Happy discoveries.