Astro used to offer Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 4K UHD, but that was back in 2021.
And then on 2023, news broke out about the rights holder Dentsu regarding corruption charges https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/...rigging-scandal
Then today, Dentsu themselves don't offer 4K UHD broadcasts anymore? Until Taiwan appears to have a new agreement with Olympics directly, to provide some 4K UHD coverage and some other exclusive stuffs, which is assumably to cost much more expensive.

In my opinion, even if Astro would to bypass Dentsu and deal directly with International Olympics Committee (IOC) which appears similar like what Taiwan is doing, I don't think they will get enough return of investment (ROI) for doing that, cuz I see the hype for Olympics in Malaysia isn't as popular as EPL or FIFA... Maybe they think it is not worth doing so, and would rather put more focus on local football like MFL? 🤷‍♂️

And plus, if I'm not mistaken, Unifi TV is the first one to announce that they will offer complete coverage of the Olympics, and ALL channels will be made for FREE, even to non-subscribers.
This is a good thing for consumers, as this left Astro with no choice, but to offer the same to all Astro customers instead of putting it on a paywall of Sports Pack like what they've been doing in the past.

Anyway, it's a shame that we won't be getting 4K UHD broadcasts for the Olympics this time.
Hopefully things will change on the next upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where the rights holder will be Infront Sports as awarded by the IOC, which takes over Dentsu's role.
https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/olympic...rights-infront/

ADEX had been reducing and it is clearly evidenced with the recent EURO 2024 match where there was hardly any sponsorship compared to EPL.
I think it's because SPOTV holds the exclusive rights for Malaysia & Singapore, so advertisers must go through SPOTV if they want their ads to be shown on SPOTV Stadia channels.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jul 22 2024, 11:25 PM

Assthrow can slot in any ads they want and cut away anything in the name of censorship.
I have seen very few ads during EURO 2024 ch808/809.
True, but there are only a few handful of channels where Astro just pass-through the channels without any delay or slotting in ads on their own.
The best examples that I notice are HBO (CH411), NHK World (CH398), beIN Sports channels, SPOTV channels (including SPOTV Stadia CH808/809)...

It could be due to an agreement made between Astro and the channel provider, such as channel provider promises not to show sensitive advertisements (e.g. gambling) and content (e.g. movies full of profanities).
When that happens, Astro would not delay and slot in their own ads onto the channel.

Usually pay TV channels don't put up product ads one. Even if there is, it'll be very few, and it is targeted for mass audience across various regions, similar like what you saw on SPOTV Stadia during EURO 2024.
It's just that Astro is trying to take advantage and maximise revenue only, hence they delay the feed and slot in ads, and then use "censorship" as their shield.

I have seen very few ads during EURO 2024 ch808/809.
The ones you see in SPOTV Stadia, are likely inserted by SPOTV themselves. Meaning, those advertisers deal with SPOTV directly, instead of going through Astro.
Since SPOTV holds the exclusive rights for EURO 2024 this time, so they can decide whether to allow pay TV providers like Astro to tamper the feed by slotting in ads or not.

You mean Dentsu corruption scandal linking to not broadcast in 4k for Olympic channel?
Astro says that it is due to broadcasting rights are only provided in HD by rights holders, and the rights holder to distribute Olympics content for Malaysia now would be Dentsu.
Tbh from the looks of it, it seems unclear whether how would the corruption scandal affects them to provide 4K UHD coverage to respective country's providers.
It could be Dentsu facing problems that is not known to the public as a result of the scandal (could be financial or resources issues?), which made them no longer feasible to offer 4K UHD feeds to respective country's pay TV providers? I mean, that will be everybody's guess.

What we all can find out on the Internet is, it clearly suggests that Dentsu's corruption scandal indeed has affected the corporate relationship with the IOC, and IOC seems not keen to continue awarding Dentsu for rights holders for the following Olympics events.
Paris 2024 will be the last Olympics season that is hold by Dentsu for a long list of countries including Malaysia.
After this, the rights holder for Olympics to cover Malaysia will be from Infront Sports & Media. Hopefully things would change then.

https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/where-to...mpic-games-live

Even unifi tv can provide olympic exclusive HD channels (17 vs assthrow 16) free for all, unlike assthrow.
The 2 Astro Arena channels will also provide additional coverage (highlights, interviews, analysis...) and would cover some concurrent live sports events as well (especially with Malaysian contigents), hence which is why 16+2 = 18 channels for Olympics in total.

Either way, both are providing complete Olympics coverage at their own ways, so viewers are actually not losing out anything.
Yeah. CH780-784.
CH785-789 not yet, I think they're putting it up in phases.

I can log in just fine though...

Try turn on your mobile hotspot (yes, use your 4G/5G mobile data), then connect that WiFi hotspot on your computer, see if it persists.
Or else, try use different computer, and connects to the same Unifi network

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jul 25 2024, 12:54 AM

They just take your Astro remote control back, then give you a new one, and that's all, right?

Did they ask for your Astro account details? Or ask anything else?

There's nothing wrong promoting it... It's a new product that they want to reach out to people anyway...
But then ah, not only this 2 fellas are too hard sell the Sooka TV stick, but it's as if they are reading each and every word from a script that is provided by Sooka themselves

Tracker of Awesome TV channel cessation "attempts"

Astro
18 Jan 2021 - Launch on Astro

04 Oct 2023 - Discovered that Astro put up a crawler on channel that it will cease on 18 Oct 2023
16 Oct 2023 - Announced that it will NOT be suspended on 18 Oct 2023
18 Oct 2023 - Scheduled to cease but did not happen
18 Mar 2024 - Discovered that Astro put up a crawler on channel that it will cease on 31 Mar 2024
31 Mar 2024 - Scheduled to cease but did not happen
02 July 2024 - Discovered that Astro put up a crawler on channel that it will cease on 4 July 2024. No announcement made by either parties.
04 July 2024 - Scheduled to cease but did not happen
26 July 2024 - Discovered that Awesome TV put up a crawler on channel that it will cease on 1 Aug 2024.


MYTV Broadcasting
28 July 2020 - Launch on MYTV Broadcasting

19 Oct 2023 - Announced that will be suspended on 2 Nov 2023
20 Oct 2023 - Awesome TV says they should’ve been allowed to broadcast until August 2025
02 Nov 2023 - Scheduled to cease but did not happen & announced that will NOT be suspended until further notice on the same day
16 Mar 2024 - Announced that will be suspended on 19 Mar 2024
18 Mar 2024 - Announced that it will NOT be suspended on 19 Mar 2024
19 Mar 2024 - Scheduled to cease but did not happen
24 May 2024 - Announced that will be suspended on 26 May 2024
26 May 2024 - For the 1st time, it was successfully suspended from broadcast on MYTV Broadcasting
29 May 2024 - Resumed broadcast from suspension at 6:05pm

If TM takes over, then it'll create a monopoly.
Nope, not good for consumers.

No it's not Measat 3b satellite (91.5°E)
OK Vision uses ABS 2A satellite (75°E). It's different.

What time did he call the customer service?
The timing is also important to know whether did he call during peak or non peak hours...

Yeah. I noticed that since yesterday where badminton matches that has Malaysian contingents in it, out of all 18 Unifi Sports channels or any of the RTM / RTMklik channels, neither ANY of them are showing it.

Earlier when I was watching Astro Arena (801), soon after Lee Zii Jia won the badminton match, it shows this on-screen graphics/overlay.

As you can clearly see above, this on-screen graphics/overlay is in Malay rather than in English. So definitely it is "custom made" for or by Astro, and that is not what the rest of the world see.
Also, it clearly stated that the matches is "EXCLUSIVE ONLY ON ASTRO CH801, STADIUMASTRO.COM & SOOKA"
Neither of the 16 dedicated Olympics channels are showing this match. But only Astro Arena channel 801 are showing it.

Because they know many of us are interested to watch sports matches that has Malaysian contingents (based on the past viewership numbers?), so it seems that as long the sports matches has Malaysian contingents in it, they made the matches to be exclusive within their platforms only (Astro/NJOI/Sooka) till the point that you can't watch it on RTM and Unifi TV platforms. 😐

So if anyone asks how come cannot watch Olympics sports matches that has Malaysian contingents in it, on either RTM or Unifi TV platforms, now you know why.



This post has been edited by joshhd: Jul 28 2024, 06:23 PM

Astro Olympics 788 channel, around 1:00-1:55am was showing some "bonus content".

It is showing some slow-mo shots of the woman rugby seven match earlier, and it has no audio most of the time.
Sometimes also shows some audience cheering, all in smooth slow-mo
One of the purpose of it, is usually for broadcasters to record it, and can be used for some other purposes (e.g. TV promos footages, bonus content, etc.) cuz I think that it may be the fastest way for broadcasters to get Olympics footages.
It's like almost half an hour showing slow-mo footages with no audio. This isn't not meant for general public to watch it actually, although technically there's "nothing wrong" if we get to watch it...

Then it shows the Coming Up slide from OBS (Olympic Broadcasting Services), followed by 30 seconds countdown, similar like what I shared on Unifi TV earlier
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?act=ST&f...#entry110154015

Well, I prefer them to just show whatever live feed they receive from content distributor (Dentsu? OBS?) rather than showing all sorts of ads.
Say yes to "unattended live feeds"

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jul 29 2024, 02:52 AM

As I was going to put up some reference links from Astro website for you to refer, I just realised a big change:

Now you can request to terminate Astro through live agent (WhatsApp, Facebook...) or via Feedback Form
By default, all along they only allow termination requests by calling hotline 03-95433838.


Source: https://support.astro.com.my/question/how-t...y-astro-account I think what they meant by "Chat" is, the chatbot widget you see at bottom right corner on Astro website?


Source: https://support.astro.com.my/question/what-...g-astro-account When I see this, I was like wowww....
Finally, Astro has loosen up the rule to allow customers to request termination a little less painful.
For many years, they've been making upset customers even more upsetting by allowing termination requests through calling their hotline only, and basically nowhere else.
(Filing MCMC complaint is never been their official method of terminating service, so that one not counted... )
Not only that, if an agent that in-charge for termination managed to attend you by answering your call, you are considered lucky.

I'm not exactly sure why the sudden decision they loosen up their rules now, but I guess maybe they got too many backlogs of customers calling in to terminate Astro service, till the point that many customers aren't getting call-back from Astro regarding termination requests within stipulated timeframe, hence Astro higherups can't take it anymore?

Previously, I remember they allowed customer to walk in to customer service centre to do termination, but now they no longer allow it:
https://support.astro.com.my/question/can-i...ed-retailer-aar

And, I just realised moments ago that they've added more FAQs regarding service termination:

Refer here to view the FAQ: https://support.astro.com.my/category/my-ac...ination?general

Well done Astro for making your leaving customer's life a little better...
...although you should have been done this loooong time ago.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Jul 31 2024, 02:32 AM

RTM claims that they will now broadcast Olympics matches involving Malaysian athletes

https://www.facebook.com/RadioTelevisyenMal...cuCN1itLzEuy6Ml


"menayangkan semua perlawanan utama melibatkan kontinjen negara"
Before you get excited, look at the keyword "perlawanan utama" (main matches)...
It's not "semua perlawanan" (all matches).
So it seems to suggest that only the "main ones" (the major or big ones?) will be aired on RTM platforms... Therefore it is still, NOT ALL matches that has Malaysian contingents/athletes in it, will be aired on RTM platforms (including RTMKlik)...

Although RTM didn't explain what "technical issues" they were facing, but this comes after numerous complaints (from netizens?) that RTM have been showing badminton courts (and other sports) of other country's players rather than Malaysian players

Awesome TV, 2 hours remaining left in Astro
https://www.facebook.com/awesometv.my/video...16630150470404/
Looks like it's really happening this time

I also saw some netizen posts this morning that they faced this issue too. But now it's back to normal already, I suppose?

Looks like there's a brief outage occurred on their end?

Astro GO streaming is limited to 720p quality only. It has nothing got to do with your Internet speed whatsoever.

From their perspective, the reason they limit Astro GO streaming to 720p, because Astro GO is meant to be a companion service on top of your pay TV service, and it is made "FREE" to all Astro customers.
It is as if the Astro subscription you pay every month, isn't meant to have Astro GO but they're forced to provide it for "FREE" to stay relevant with today's consumers viewing trends.

Because Astro GO is a "FREE" service that every single Astro customers will get, they'll need to manage their operational costs too. So, they feel that it is "okay and reasonable" not to provide 1080p streaming to viewers, because by doing so, will only increase their overall operational costs of their CDN streaming bandwidth.
Astro GO is meant to be an on-the-go service, which you can access Astro content whenever you go, by using your phone, tablet, etc. It is not meant to be a permanent primary place for you access Astro content.
Plus, they also expect typical viewers won't see an obvious picture quality difference (720p vs 1080p) that they see on a small screen (phone, tablets, etc.) anyway.
The method of using laptop to HDMI out to your TV, and then stream Astro GO, was never meant to be an "official viewing method", although it is technically possible.

Hence, they'd rather allocate more money & bandwidth for Plug & Play users and Multiroom Smart TV users, as it allow streaming up to 4K UHD quality, cuz those can be your permanent primary place to access Astro content.

If you really really want to enjoy 1080p streaming quality from Astro on your own devices, I suggest you give up on Astro, and subscribe to Sooka's Premium plans instead.
Sooka's Premium plans also gives you 1080p at 50fps streaming too.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Aug 2 2024, 08:44 AM

Now they allow termination requests through live chats and feedback form. This wasn't allowed previously.

For box collection, likely they'll arrange a courier service to collect your Ultra box from you.
It's definitely cheaper compared to assigning an installer to come over and collect it

This post has been edited by joshhd: Aug 2 2024, 01:00 PM

Olympics broadcasts: No audio and it is showing slow-mo shots only?


Since there are people who are confused as to why there are times when the dedicated Olympics channels are showing slow-mo shots only and there's no audio, here's why:

Whenever you watch Olympics dedicated channels, and you see only slow motion shots and there's no audio, it simply means there's no live sports broadcast during that time for that channel.

Usually, OBS (Olympic Broadcasting Services) will broadcast some "bonus content" to the broadcasters (e.g.: Astro, Unifi TV, RTM) such as slow-mo, crowds in the stadium, nice surrounding scenery, etc. from the sports match that was held earlier.
When this "bonus content" is being aired, the availability of the audio is not guaranteed, so you don't need to feel alarmed about why this happens.

Bonus content like these would help broadcasters maintain a continuous and engaging broadcast, even when there are no live events happening at that moment.

Later on, when there's a live sports match that is going to start, the broadcast of the channel will return to normal (no longer that slow-mo and no audio, all those things)

So, if you're not interested in watching that "bonus content", just tune in to other Olympics channels.

Hope that clarifies.
If any of you come across anyone who wonders why this "slow-mo and no audio" happens, just show this post to that person.

This post has been edited by joshhd: Aug 3 2024, 11:25 PM