(Hong Kong, March 1, 2006) The 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM fever officially began in Hong Kong today (Wednesday) as Hong Kong Cable Television Limited, the event's official broadcaster in Hong Kong, held a colourful ceremony to mark the start of the event's 100-days countdown.

At the ceremony, Mr. Samuel Tsang, Project Manager of the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM Organising Committee, CABLE TV, announced that the CABLE TV World Cup Carnival would be making a comeback during the period of the Finals from June 9 to July 9 on a scale even bigger than the highly-successful one in 2002.

"In its month-long festivities, the Carnival will be entertaining more than 15,000 fans who will join our commentators in a 20,000 square feet purpose-built studio with giant video walls at the Hong Kong International Trade & Exhibition Centre at Kowloon Bay to watch all 64 matches of the Finals live and participate in games," Mr. Tsang said.

CABLE TV will be covering the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM comprehensively from all angles, in unprecedented width and breath and will, for the first time, offer programming to cater for the interest of viewers in soccer betting, said Mr. Ronald Chiu, Executive Director, i-CABLE Sports Ltd.

"Apart from lead-in programmes such as World Cup Episode One which is currently showing on our Super Soccer Channel, we will also be sending a CABLE TV World Cup Adventure Team to tour around all 32 World Cup Final participating countries," he said.

The four-person team will be departing shortly on their 80-day journey during which they will be sending stories back from all over the world.

Meanwhile, renowned talk-show host Mr. Raymond Yuk-man Wong will be joining the commentator team of the Soccer Betting Channel that will be offering informative programming and commentaries on all 64 World Cup Final matches from the Channel's specialised perspective.

During the ceremony, artiste Mr. Chapman Man-chak To was appointed the mascot of 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM on CABLE TV to promote the CABLE TV World Cup festivities in the name of "Chap Chap".

Kicked off by a dancing performance by a group of World Cup Angels, the ceremony at Times Square in Causeway Bay showcased the latest CABLE TV World Cup promotional footage and saw the public debut of the CABLE TV 2006 World Cup theme song, composed by commentators Calvin Poon and Shun-man Lau and performed by the commentators team.

DETAILS OF CABLE TV PROGRAMMES FOR
2006 FIFA WORLD CUP

Programme Name / Air-date	Nature and Content
World Cup Episode I January 7 - April 30, 2006	Hosted by famous artiste Chapman To, soccer commentators Tak Nang Li & Ken Chung, this weekly World Cup lead-in programme follows the preparatory progress of 2006 World Cup, featuring hot topics & legends in World Cup history with quiz section played between hosts and guests to enrich soccer knowledge of viewers.
CABLE TV's World Cup "POWER 4"Adventure Team	A 4-man team will be dispatched to tour all 32 World Cup Final participating countries within 80 days, visiting famous landmarks, shopping malls and restaurants, building friendship all over the world in the World Cup spirit. The team will be sending stories about their journey from time to time for airing in World Cup lead-in programmes.
World Cup Final Countdown May 1 - 30, 2006 World Cup Ultimate Countdown June 1 - 8, 2006	Informative and entertaining, this programme features stories from the CABLE TV World Cup Adventure Team and the training work of various national teams. Updated news of Germany in preparation for the event will be sent back by location shooting crew via satellite. It will also feature footage of golden moments and golden goals of the past 17 World Cup tournaments.
Friendly Match March & May, 2006	Reports on the results of friendly matches before the kickoff of World Cup Finals. Selected warm-up matches of favourite teams will be shown LIVE. Confirmed games include all home matches of Germany - March 22 with USA, May 30 with Japan and June 2 with Columbia.
CABLE TV World Cup Carnival June 9 - July 9, 2006	30-day nonstop Carnival at Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre, Kowloon Bay, with games and LIVE viewing for over 500 fans every night. All 64 matches from Group round to Final will be shown LIVE in the purpose-built venue. Specially-arranged multi-angle coverage of LIVE matches shown on dedicated World Cup channels
2006 World Cup Final June 9 - July 9, 2006	All 64 matches from Group round to Final will be aired LIVE on CABLE soccer platform
Offering informative programming and commentaries on all 64 World Cup Final matches from the Channel's specialised perspective. Lead-in programmes on June 1 to 8 offer analysis on all 32 teams with reference data.

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