06 November 2009

Free access to Eurosportnews for all cable Tv customers

Lower sports package pricing

Singapore, 6 November 2009 – Come 2010, StarHub will reward all its cable TV customers with free access to not one, but two sports channels! This marks the first time a local pay TV operator is announcing complimentary sports channels for its customers.

StarHub will launch a new self-packaged 24-hour sports channel which will be available free to its entire cable TV base from January 2010. This channel will carry a wide variety of sports content including football, wrestling, tennis and local sports. Viewers can look forward to at least one football match and one wrestling match each week.

To complement the new sports channel which will feature sporting events, all StarHub’s cable TV customers will also enjoy a free 24-hour sports news channel from July 2010. Eurosportnews, presently offered as part of StarHub’s Sports Group, will keep viewers updated on the latest in the international sporting scene.

“Sports is a universal language with mass appeal. We value our customers and are delighted to offer this channel free to all our cable TV subscribers so that everyone can enjoy some sports content. This will give them the opportunity to sample the wide variety of sports we offer on our pay TV platform,” said Ms Ong Bee Lian, StarHub’s Vice President of Home Solutions.

All StarHub’s cable TV customers are presently enjoying five international and regional complimentary channels. These are Arirang TV, Australia Network, Deutsche Welle, KBS World and TVRI.  They also have access to Interactive TV and Hub TV, two interactive channels that enable viewers to chat with one another and retrieve information such as stock prices, 4D and TOTO results and cinema showtimes.

“With the addition of the two sports channels to our complimentary line-up, StarHub TV customers can enjoy as many as 26 channels at entry level. This works out to less than a dollar per month for each channel, which is certainly the best deal in town! Our offering is even sweeter bearing in mind that we have many branded popular channels across different genres available at entry level. This reiterates our commitment to offer great value to consumers in Singapore,” added Ms Ong.

Existing StarHub’s Sports Group customers will also have reason for cheer. StarHub has pledged to reduce its pricing for the Sports Group by more than 50 percent from July 2010, and the new price will be unveiled in the coming months. Currently, StarHub TV customers can add the Sports Group for a monthly subscription fee of $25.

From July 2010, the Sports Group will comprise Football Channel, SuperSports, SuperSports Plus, Sports HD, Goal TV 1, Goal TV 2, Golf Channel, Eurosport, La Liga On Demand and WWE On Demand.  Sports fans can look forward to ‘live’ telecasts of premium football leagues such as the La Liga and Bundesliga, as well as telecasts of exciting sporting genres like tennis, wrestling, basketball, motor sports and golf.  In addition, StarHub’s Sports Group customers will enjoy access to delayed telecasts of selected Barclays Premier League and Champions League matches.

“StarHub provides the widest sports coverage in Singapore, being the operator offering the highest number of channels dedicated to sports. Our commitment to bring quality content to Singapore at affordable prices remains steadfast. In that regard, we will continue to acquire content responsibly with a view to try to hold down retail prices, both in the short term as well as long term.  Therefore, the pricing for our sports content will be reduced to align with the reduction of content costs when BPL and ESS channels move over to a competitor's network.  We are confident that sports fans in Singapore will welcome our new Sports Group pricing, which will give quality sports content at great value to them,” said Ms Ong.

StarHub will announce more information on its new sports channel and new Sports Group subscription rate in the first half of 2010.

- End -