[Romanian Shepherd]

Do Malaysian sports cable TV viewers get a better deal?

ARE Singapore sports cable television subscribers getting the best value for money?
By Lim Say Heng

20 June 2007
ARE Singapore sports cable television subscribers getting the best value for money?

It may have perhaps slipped most of our readers' minds following StarHub's announcement of their price hikes from next month onwards.

From next month, subscribers of the Basic Tier will have to fork out an additional $4 more per month (amounting to $24 before the new 7 per cent GST rate).

This will affect all of StarHub's 490,000 home cable television subscribers.

And sports fans will have to pay an extra $10 more for the Sports Group from October onwards (amounting to $25 before GST).

While StarHub has yet to announce its new sports plan line-up and details, The New Paper studied the current cable subscription packages of three of our neighbouring countries - Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The verdict: Malaysia's Astro seems to be the best deal on paper.

Like StarHub subscribers here, Astro viewers have to sign up for a basic package before they can add on the sports channels, along with one other mini-package of three to four channels.

But here's the crucial difference.

Football lovers in Malaysia have a wider variety to choose from, with J-League, Copa Libertadores and the Cocacaf Gold Cup on offer, in addition to the EPL, Spanish Primera Liga and Italian Serie A.

What's more, the cheapest Astro Family Package (with a mini-package and sports) is about $12 less than StarHub's present minimum sports package of $36.75.

And it offers seven more channels than Singapore's StarHub.

On the surface, the Paket Prime and Paket Sport combination offered by Indonesia's IndoVision seems similar to StarHub's minimum package in terms of price and sports programmes on offer.

The Indonesian broadcaster does not show the Spanish league matches, but offers the Italian Serie A instead, and only a two-dollar difference separates them.

But if you look beyond the sports channels, you will see how IndoVision also trumps StarHub.

IndoVision offers 40 non-sports channels in its Paket Prime, compared to StarHub's offer of a maximum of 14 similar channels at the same price.

What's more, the former offers channels such as Playhouse Disney Channel, Celestial Movies and Fashion TV, which StarHub subscribers have to pay an extra fee of between $4 and $8 per month to add each channel on.

GOLD PACKAGE

Of the four countries, only Thailand's TrueVisions subscribers have to pay about $22 more (or about $15 more after the new StarHub hike) than current StarHub subscribers under their Gold Package.

The package also includes more exclusive content such as Manchester United TV and Liverpool TV, which StarHub packages under Football Favourites, an 'add-on' group that comes at a separate price.

While the cheapest True Knowledge package offers a sports channel as well, viewers will only get to watch sports such as boxing, and WWE wrestling.

At its current prices, StarHub's offerings seem to lag way behind Astro's deals for Malaysian viewers, and appear on par with Indonesia's IndoVision.

Value for money? You decide.


Taken from The Electric Newspaper

[blkoh]

Great comparison here. Isnt that what being Monopoly is all about ? Starhub probably knows that Singaporeans do not have the unity to fight against unreasonable and sudden price increase. Maybe i should start a Poll on this thing..

[cloud]

Good comparison... I feel that Astro package seems or indonesia one seems like the ebst package.

[Kriminot]

didn't know that Astro had such a great package...damn...

[MarquizLee]

Ya, they made a comparison on the New Papers a few days back. Indeed Astro had the best deal, cheaper + J League, South American football all included

[CescH]

I wonder how are the currency of the nations and the financial power of the citizens taken into consideration ?

[Romanian Shepherd]

Originally Posted by CescH

I wonder how are the currency of the nations and the financial power of the citizens taken into consideration ?

all the amount were converted into SG currency ...

Btw, I wish I can get my cable tv from Astro instead of StarHub

[CescH]

If tats the case, is it alright to compare the prices of sports cable channels, knowing that other things can also be bought cheaper in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia??

[Romanian Shepherd]

yes

[FlameS]

Astro is so much better.....our VV dramas so sucky......

[Romanian Shepherd]

agreed

[boltzz]

we should buy a satellite dish to tag into their network.. haha
this only apply to soccer fans,, i wan my korean and jap Drama... i dun care abt soccer

[Romanian Shepherd]

How I wished Astro can take over Singapore's cable tv

[PJ_Quek]

Don't compare lah, compare where got happy? Under monopolised industry, consumers only can LL suck thumb, else don't subscribe the sports group.

Malaysia's sol is lower, that's why they offer a lower rate, else they will never ever get into so many Malaysian homes. Singapore's sol is higher than theirs.

Astro do have problems, there are some Malaysians who are not happy with their customer service service. Further, due to astro signal is not support by underground cables, their satellite dish is always affect by the weather, especially when it is cloudy. Thus it might not be as crystal clear as its counterparts in Sg.

One thing I like about astro is they have radio service on their tv network as well and also the dual sound service. Btw, Singtel is coming soon. keke.

[CescH]

Originally Posted by PJ_Quek

Don't compare lah, compare where got happy? Under monopolised industry, consumers only can LL suck thumb, else don't subscribe the sports group.

Malaysia's sol is lower, that's why they offer a lower rate, else they will never ever get into so many Malaysian homes. Singapore's sol is higher than theirs.

Astro do have problems, there are some Malaysians who are not happy with their customer service service. Further, due to astro signal is not support by underground cables, their satellite dish is always affect by the weather, especially when it is cloudy. Thus it might not be as crystal clear as its counterparts in Sg.

Exactly. Its difficult to compare and such comparison onli makes u unhappy.