This is NOT competition. Competition is when the same channel is available over both systems and the consumer can choose which system they want and still get the same lineup i.e Dish vs DirecTV vs Verizon FIOS vs AT&T UVerse vs Cable in the US. What happening here is two companies tumbuk-menumbuk (in other words: SPARTA!)

This setup will be a bit weird tho. What if they show channel ad for main Nick channel on Nick Jr? Since Playhouse Disney will sometimes advertise Disney channel programs and vice-versa. Same for Cartoon Network and Boomerang (at least in Singapore and US. In Malaysia Astro cuts off any ads for the other channel).

In any case, if that happens then the playing field is level- Boomerang may come to TM IPTV.

Now remains the question of coverage. At TM's coverage rollout speed it will be very frust if I suddenly get posted to East Coast

This post has been edited by RAMChYLD: May 16 2011, 05:49 PM

True true. But that is in US. Unfortunately we are in Malaysia. Those channel in US maybe like RTM and TV3 where every provider can provide to their consumer. Unfortunately here, including Singapore (correct me if I'm wrong) they provide only exclusive right to ONE provider only per country. Don't know why do they need to give only exclusive right to a provider where they can just open the broadcast to those provider whose interested. Hope that MTVNHD will still be provided by Astro.

And how come this sooo called "monopoly" broadcaster do not get the right to give this channel to byonder?

This post has been edited by mr_faidhi: May 16 2011, 06:11 PM

From the scope of channels we hv its anybody's guess what channels astro wld take,they prefer to eat the cake and have it too! There has been request for V back again, a chinese music channel,MGM, Discovery HD......... they never gave a damn but who asked for Astro First !

now hypptv got 46 channel, 9 channel(6 fta channels, bernama, australia network and bloomberg which astro had~~
where 37 in astro??

ONE HD has Chinese Subts here in S'pore.....Astro offered it in Malay instead of Chinese depending on market needs.




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SyFy Universal HD should also be coming to Hypp TV soon.

cheers.


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So jealous of those 3 HD channel. BTW, where's Singapore HD channel bandwidth came from?

This post has been edited by Qash-M: May 16 2011, 11:17 PM

I don't think so. When I contact BBC they say that they're interested in making their channels available to multiple providers in the same country. Also, their channels is indeed available across two different providers providers in Hong Kong.

Also, Australia Network is available across multiple providers in Malaysia (Astro and Unifi HyppTV). Same for Mediacorp CNA (DETV and Unifi HyppTV). So it must be something else i.e. refusal to bow to Astro's "Exclusive Availability" clause or Astro's just being anal. Or maybe as someone else said, it's all political.

Maybe it's not that- maybe it's bause this "monopoly" broadcaster doesn't care about the above mentioned channels' market because they don't see profit coming in from there. Already proof in point: how many sports, Chinese drama or local channels are there? How many are redundant and really unneeded?

Agreed!

Both Singaporean PayTV systems is using IPTV over FIOS and high speed copper like UniFi. No bandwidth worries.

This post has been edited by RAMChYLD: May 17 2011, 11:57 AM

they should have made soft subs available in Malaysia, so that user can choose BM or Chinese subtitle.

Astro just wants to control SPORTS,thats where the $$$$$ is,it is NOT interested in adding more variety and HD. Giving exclusive rights to them was the biggest mistake of all,TM is busy adding more variety better then astro infact,but sad to see its moving TOOOOOOOOOOO slow!

They should make english as a subtitle for non-english overseas programmes.

Maybe Astro should put next HD & SD (MPEG4) channel on Fiber internet instead?

Just wanna give opinion on "EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS"..theres such a fuss about giving exclusive rights to Astro la, give to TM la, give other provider la..some say mistake to give Astro, some say TM should get more rights..well..get this, both providers are business empires and have no interest to be friendly to each other..

Read some pages back where I had some talk with one of the forummers regarding exclusive rights in Singapore..there is supposed to be a rule in the making that bans any exclusive rights to any providers..but the problem is, the provider dont wanna share the rights for fear that their revenue n profits might be reduced..

For example, Astro dont wanna share EPL rights with TM coz they fear if they let them have it, they migght lose some of their subscribers..same goes to TM..they arent angels either..they would do the exact same thing if they acquire any content that are popular..so for those who think TM will give u better things, ur just dreaming big..both companies are money suckers..

Ultimately, it falls back on policies and politics..we all know both Astro and TM are companies heavily backed by the government..so unless government ministers and officials, start 'feeling and living' like normal rakyat, they dont know what on earth consumers feel..and I even doubt that, even if they knew, their heads are just filled with money making and power control issues to even consider making Astro and TM to share things like content and channel rights..

Thats us..1Malaysia..feel the love..feel the pain..

This post has been edited by dxjb: May 17 2011, 09:20 PM

Yah. Put in on fiber only, then people who cannot get Time HSBB cannot get the channel as well. Unfair...

The thing is, it's not the channel giving exclusive rights. It's Asstro DEMANDING this "exclusive rights" so the channel cannot be available to competitors and must also bow to Asstro's demands. Last time these channel providers have no choice. Now they do.

True but in some cases, its the content that make themselves EXCLUSIVE..Both Astro and TM were locked in a bidding war for 'EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS ' for the EPL and Astro ended up paying more than their budget..Astro tied up with ESPN STAR SPORTS to share the EPL rights..if not, it could have been a three way tie..so no, Astro nor TM were demanding the exclusive rights for the EPL..the EPL opened up the auction..it was up to the providers..

This post has been edited by dxjb: May 18 2011, 02:47 AM

Good Points.Astro tried the same strategy in Indonesia ,public outcry prevented it and astro was shown the door out. Here they accomplish whatever cos of full govt backing and support. When we see things it seems now astro wld be the sole sports provider!

Imagine what would happen if Astro couldn't get exclusive rights for sports channels, it would bring a serious competition to them especially when a lot of cafes, mamaks and public areas are using Astro to drive customers in.

But I still feel business wl be as usual cos local tv wld carry the matches too. This wld benefit the middle class and poor who want to watch a good game FOC! Exclusive rights ruined this,this is what most of us are against. They hv joined the govt's fleet of channels by carrying sports and Tutor Tv! Remember TV pendidikan,what happened to that ?Now u hv to subscribe to astro to get a similiar channel !

But people..we have to be careful for what we wish for..when we start crying out loud in anger for another provider to carry sports such as football and EPL, u should have a proper and strategic plan that benefits the consumer..what most people dont realise is that competition for astro and their exclusive rights could burden the consumer even more..

I have said this time and time again an Im sure most of u already have heard this before..but having two providers could make u pay double for what u want..again I take Singapore for example..they have 2 providers and in recent years, the rights for the EPL have changed hands on numerous occasions..and look what has happened now..u pay one provider for the EPL and u pay another provider for other football leagues and also sports..football fans would hate this..u pay Astro to watch EPL then u also need to pay TM to watch Champions League..

n im not only talking about sports..other examples are already happening now in Malaysia between Astro and TM..some people pay Astro for a content or channel they like there but they also pay TM for something they like there..and how much would that cost u? So do u really think 2 providers is the ultimate answer? Hell no..

People here blame Astro for having exclusive rights to this and that..at the same time people are saying TM should do this and that so that Astro will go bankrupt..how certain are u that TM wont do the monopoly business like Astro are doing once they acquire exclusive rights..? How certain are u those rights acquired wont lead to a price increase..?

My point is, with these 2 business empires and money sucking moguls at play with the gov backing, there is no guarantee that we the consumer will be the beneficiary of having 2 providers and so on..the only thing that could start the wind of change is for the 2 providers to have the same content and rights..and then its up to them to fix the best price that can outdo their rivals..this way, its up to the consumers to pick which provider gives u the best content, package and price without having to worry about the content the other provider has..this would also stop the need for consumers to pay for two providers for content they wish to see..

will this happen? Not likely unless someone from the government actually 'fights' for the 'rights' of the rakyat..until then, we will continue to bow down to both TM and Astro's business masterplan..

This post has been edited by dxjb: May 18 2011, 04:50 PM

We need another player who wld play Saviour,a player who wld give us the best of these two,that wld be the perfect solution for those who prefer just basic entertainment and variety and cannot afford exclusive packages.