Five new channels & a new Family Plus digital group provide greater choice for families
Singapore, 26 July 2005 – TV viewers in Singapore will soon be spoilt for choice as the number of channels available to them passes the hundredth mark! Come 1 September 2005, five new channels will be added to StarHub’s cable TV line-up, bringing the total number of channels on StarHub’s digital cable platform, including Free-To-Air channels, to a whopping 102 channels.
StarHub Digital Cable will continue its constant efforts to enhance its customers’ viewing experience by introducing new channels, features and interactive applications. Following the launch of the five channels in September 2005, StarHub would have added 51 new channels since its digital cable launch in May 2004, effectively doubling the number of channels available to local viewers.
Five new channels adds greater choice and variety
The five channels to be launched on 1 September 2005 are Asian Food Channel (Channel 69), A1 (Channel 73), Eurosportnews (Channel 74), FOX News Channel (Channel 75) and BBC Prime (Channel 76).
The Asian Food Channel, which will showcase the wide variety of cuisine and colourful food cultures in Asia, is set to tantalise viewers’ taste buds. It will also be Singapore’s first food channel to be packaged and distributed for a regional TV audience!
Those who enjoy adrenaline-packed programmes can look forward to A1, a new 24-hour adventure lifestyle channel that features extreme outdoor adventure, exotic travel programming, exciting personalities, adventure tips and special events from around the world. A1 is a channel by FOX and National Geographic Channel, global television networks renowned for their award-winning quality programmes.
StarHub will also launch Eurosportnews, the ultimate sports news channel where sports fans can catch the latest updates on all major international sports events with preview reports, post-event analyses, results, standings and statistics. Viewers can also expect up-to-the-minute sports information through news updates every 15 minutes.
FOX News Channel, the No.1 cable news channel in the United States, is a round-the-clock general news service delivering breaking news and covering issues, events and personalities shaping the world today. Presenting the news in a fairly informal and breezy manner, the FOX News Channel offers programming focused on health, entertainment, lifestyles, family, technology, education, psychology and politics.
Fans of British entertainment will love the forthcoming BBC Prime. This channel offers the best of the BBC’s rich collection of entertainment programming: from hilarious comedies to lavish dramas, from gripping detective series to star studded talk shows, and from fascinating documentaries to inspiring lifestyle programming. Key highlights include the original Weakest Link with Anne Robinson and the legendary chart show Top Of The Pops.
New “Family Plus” digital group – an all-round, value package for families
The five new channels will join Animax, Turner Classic Movies and channels in the current Digital Group - Education (Discovery Health, Discovery Science, Discovery H&L), and Digital Group - Entertainment (E! Entertainment, Soundtrack Channel, MGM, Reality TV) to form a new digital group named Family Plus.
The Family Plus digital group, with a low monthly subscription fee of $12 ($12.60 with GST) for 14 channels, will replace the current Digital Group - Education and Digital Group - Entertainment from 1 September 2005. In addition, Animax and Turner Classic Movies will cease to be offered as a la carte channels with the launch of Family Plus.
“With the launch of the five new channels and the Family Plus digital group, viewers will be able to enjoy a wide variety of programmes covering movies, lifestyle, anime, education, music, reality shows, as well as entertainment, sports and hard news. By signing up for just one digital group, viewers can immediately improve their viewing pleasure and choice, and with another 14 channels, there is something for everyone in the family!” said Ms Sandie Lee, StarHub’s Senior Vice President, Cable TV Services.
Embracing wider adoption of digital cable technology
From 27 July 2005, StarHub Digital Cable will offer digital set-top boxes to all new customers, regardless of their choice of channels. With the digital set-top boxes, customers can not only enjoy Demand TV at their leisure, but also benefit from the sophisticated features and interactive applications such as Onscreen TV Guide, Chat, Auto-Tune and Video Mosaic.
“StarHub will continue to invest in developing our digital platform, to offer customers more content as well as more sophisticated features and interactive applications. Hence, we hope that in the near future, all customers will be on the digital platform so that they can enjoy the increasing benefits that we have in store for them,” added Ms Lee.
Adjustments to rental rates for analogue set-top boxes
With effect from 1 September 2005, StarHub will charge a $2 ($2.10 with GST) monthly rental fee for each subscribing household’s main analogue set-top box. Accordingly, the fee of each additional analogue set-top box will be adjusted to $10 ($10.50 with GST).
Customers subscribing to Chinese World II, Movie Lovers, Action Seekers, All Time Favourites and Ultimate Pack value packs will enjoy a waiver of the rental fee for the main analogue set-top box. In addition, Ultimate Pack customers can also enjoy the complimentary use of one additional analogue set-top box.
The monthly rental fees of each main or additional digital set-top box remain unchanged at $4 ($4.20 with GST) and $12 ($12.60 with GST) respectively. Customers can enjoy a waiver of the main digital set-top box by subscribing to any digital channel (except TubePlay) or digital group including Family Plus.
