ff due to heavy regulation, has the most advanced satellite technology in Asia. Challenges for Japanese DBS include the Asian financial troubles of the late 1990s, a conservative business environment, and a lack of demand for Japanese-language programming outside of the domestic market. As of May 1998, SkyPerfecTV had more than 700,000 subscribers in Japan, and DirecTV Japan had topped 100,000.ChinaChina is reluctant to allow direct broadcast to its population of 1.2 billion because of political concerns about western influences. Murdoch, whose base in Australia makes his News Corp. a natural contender in Asia and the Pacific Rim, antagonized the Chinese government by declaring that satellite television would undermine totalitarian regimes, and was subsequently constrained to low-profile participation in partnership ventures with Hong Kong and others.Reacting to the boom in home television sets throughout that region of the world, APT Satellite Holdings Limited stepped up its efforts to secure licenses to offer DBS to homes in China and Southeast Asia. The Hong Kong-based company provides satellite service to 100 countries, mainly serving television stations, local cable operators, and master antenna systems.IndiaIn 1997, India, which also feared excessive western influences on its population of almost 1 billion, banned direct-to-home satellite television broadcast services. Amid a furor, which included a lawsuit by News Corp., it declared that the ban would only be temporary, until the government could set up a broadcast authority. A bill to establish the regulatory agency has since been introduced in India's Parliament.OceaniaIn a short time, Sky Network Television Limited has signed up 260,000 subscribers in New Zealand for its five pay-TV channels and analog DBS programming. The Auckland-based company is partly controlled by Independent Newspapers, which is partly owned by Murdoch's News Corp.8.Future DevelopmentAdvanced compr...
