Astro Bersedia Runding Pembelian Konten Berikutan Penyusutan Ringgit
KUALA LUMPUR, 17 Jun (Bernama) -- Berikutan penyusutan ringgit, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd bersedia untuk berunding mengenai pembelian konten antarabangsa daripada rakan kongsinya.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Datuk Rohana Rozhan berkata, 60 peratus kos kontennya dibayar melalui dolar US.

"Kami membelanjakan kira-kira RM1.7 bilion ke atas konten antarabangsa dan tempatan setiap tahun, terutama program dan sukan antarabangsa," katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas mesyuarat agung tahunan syarikat itu di sini, hari ini.

Menurut Rohana, keadaan sekarang masih boleh diuruskan syarikat kerana ia mempunyai hubungan jangka panjang dengan rakan kongsi antarabangsa.

Ringgit diniagakan tinggi sedikit berbanding dolar US pada sesi pagi ini pada 3.7400.

Astro telah memperuntukkan RM300 juta sebagai perbelanjaan modal tahun ini untuk infrastruktur transponder. Ia menerima tujuh transponder KU-band (frekuensi satelit) baru-baru ini.

Sementara itu, untung sebelum cukai Astro pada suku pertama berakhir 30 April 2015 meningkat kepada RM230.42 juta berbanding RM168.28 juta pada tempoh yang sama tahun lepas.

Pendapatannya meningkat kepada RM1.33 bilion berbanding RM1.25 bilion sebelum ini, terutama disebabkan peningkatan langganan serta iklan.

-- BERNAMA

Will this eventually mean weakened ringgit = price hike??

As if current price hike isn't enough...

nope.. just normal pvr..
but its for iptv

As if current price hike isn't enough...

Astro said that this year, it has big plans to woo more new customers, as well as to grow revenue from existing customers.

First, the company is expected to launch nine new high-definition (HD) channels, and two new standard definition channels.

The idea of having more HD channels is to entice more customers to sign up for its HD services, and in return, allow it to offer a better viewing experience to customers, resulting in a higher retention rate.

The company is also planning to add more features to its Astro-On-The-Go (AOTG) service sometime this year.

AOTG allows customers to watch Astro’s content across multiple online and mobile devices. Soon, users will be able to download content as well.

Currently, customers can use a laptop or tablet to watch a live football match which is showing concurrently on an Astro sports channel, for example. But to do that however, they would need to have good and consistent broadband access, as such content is streamed onto their devices.

“We know that the broadband experience outside the home is extremely expensive or sporadic,” said Rohana.

With AOTG’s promised new features, customers can buy a particular movie via the platform, download it into a device, and watch the content whenever and wherever they want, without having to worry about the broadband connectivity.

Wonder can astro make hd channel for tv1,2,3,9

Probably yes.....but without using H264.
The HD channel for TV1,2,3,9 might use MPEG2.
Majority of astro customers (including njoi and subsciption) decoder doesn't have the capability to decode H264.
This must be taken into consideration.
The second possibility is......astro might wanna charge customers a fee for the HD broadcast.
I find it unlikely for astro to broadcast two separate channels for SD and HD for RTM and Media Prima channels for free.
Astro doesnt have enough satellite bandwidth for this to happen. One must gives way to the other or astro has to charge some subscription fee if astro really dual broadcast the channel.

TV1,2,3,9,NTV7,8TV,TVI = 7 channels,    no way astro gonna broadcast 14 channels total.....

Probably yes.....but without using H264.
The HD channel for TV1,2,3,9 might use MPEG2.
Majority of astro customers (including njoi and subsciption) decoder doesn't have the capability to decode H264.
This must be taken into consideration.
The second possibility is......astro might wanna charge customers a fee for the HD broadcast.
I find it unlikely for astro to broadcast two separate channels for SD and HD for RTM and Media Prima channels for free.
Astro doesnt have enough satellite bandwidth for this to happen. One must gives way to the other or astro has to charge some subscription fee if astro really dual broadcast the channel.

TV1,2,3,9,NTV7,8TV,TVI = 7 channels,    no way astro gonna broadcast 14 channels total.....

I think that astro has support H264/MPEG-4 since introduce of byond decoder
Astro is using H264/MPEG-4 for their HD channels and MPEG-2 for SD channels
Decoder which doesnt support H264/MPEG-4 should be the silver decoder(old) and the black decoder(the first decoder)

The main issue is majority of astro customers still using the old silver decoder.
Heck, ASTRO still sell refurbished or new silver decoder for NJOI customers.

TRANSVISION (INDONESIA) USES MEASAT3B BEFORE ASTRO