New Basic Group brings number of Basic Groups to seven
New Basic Upsize tier with seven Basic Upsize Groups
Four new channels to be launched
Additional channel for Sports Group customers
Singapore , 29 May 2008 – Local TV viewers can look forward to more content choices and greater value from StarHub, Singapore’s leading pay TV operator. What’s more, all these will come in a simpler format to give customers greater ease and convenience in selecting the best fit for their lifestyle, budget and entertainment needs.
“Customers want to be able to choose what fits their lifestyle and passion. StarHub has continued to bring more quality content choices and with the new additions announced today, we will have 159 channels on our line-up. With so many choices, it has become important to keep it simple so that customers can easily choose what is right for them and their family. Our new Basic Group and Basic Upsize tiers will empower customers to Pick It, Pack It, Watch It and build their very own favourite packs,” said Mr Patrick Lim, StarHub’s Head of Cable TV Services.
New Basic Group and new Basic Upsize tier [1]
On 30 May, a new Basic Group – Lifestyle, will be launched on StarHub Digital Cable, bringing the number of Basic Groups to seven. This new Basic Group will comprise six channels – Asian Food Channel, Discovery Home & Health, Discovery Real Time, Discovery Science, E! Entertainment and The Biography Channel, making it the most value-for-money Basic Group in StarHub’s pay TV offerings! The introduction of the Lifestyle Basic Group will give consumers a wider selection at entry level, and also enable StarHub to package the channels effectively in different Basic and Basic Upsize genre groups that complement one another. At StarHub’s pay TV entry level, all customers must take on a minimum of three Basic Groups.
A new tier - named Basic Upsize, one for each of the seven Basic Groups, will also be rolled out tomorrow. Each of the seven Basic Groups - Chinese Entertainment, Chinese Infotainment, Education, Entertainment, Kids, Lifestyle and World News, will have a corresponding Basic Upsize Group so that customers of the different Basic Groups can conveniently and economically add more channels of their favourite content genres to their subscription packages.
As the channels in the new groups are mainly made up of channels presently in the Family Plus - a collection of 21 channels of various genres, and Chinese Plus II digital groups, StarHub will cease to offer Family Plus and Chinese Plus II in their current forms with immediate effect.
Mr Lim shared his excitement over StarHub’s revamped subscription plan, “Unbundling the Family Plus and Chinese Plus II channels and making available new channels in the Basic and Basic Upsize tiers will give everyone more value and choice. Taking those who presently have three Basic Groups for example, they can enjoy up to 14 additional channels in the same genres for just $5.35 more per month! We trust that our customers will be thrilled with this news as it gives them even greater control over what content makes up their basic packages. This is consistent with our ongoing efforts to listen to our customers and give them the best value proposition possible!”
Four new channels from May and July
In accordance to StarHub’s continual efforts to provide more value and content choices, the pay TV operator has secured four new channels which will be part of the Basic and Basic Upsize tiers.
StarHub is presently offering a six-day free preview of AXN Beyond (Channel 100) and The Biography Channel (Channel 95), from 27 May to 1 June 2008. Viewers who wish to continue enjoying these two new channels can add the Entertainment Basic Upsize Group (for AXN Beyond) and Lifestyle Basic Group (for The Biography Channel). AXN Beyond offers a mix of “out of the ordinary” content that includes popular genres such as sci-fi, mystery and fantasy, horror and suspense, paranormal and supernatural, while The Biography Channel gives exclusive peeks into the lives of public figures.
In July this year, two more new channels will be added to StarHub’s family of pay TV channels, and these will be part of the Entertainment Basic Upsize Group. SCI FI (Channel 98) brings viewers the very best in science fiction and fantasy programming, including award-winning series and blockbuster movies, while Universal Channel (Channel 99) is the top rated channel from one of the world’s most trusted entertainment brands and Hollywood’s biggest studios – Universal Studios, designed for smart, engaging, character-driven entertainment. More details on the introduction of SCI FI and Universal Channel to StarHub Digital Cable will be announced at a later date.
More value for Sports Group customers
Sports fans are not forgotten either. From 1 July, Eurosportnews (Channel 114), an existing channel offered as part of Family Plus, will be added to the Sports Group at no additional cost, and accessible by all Sports Group customers using the digital set-top box, HubStation or High Definition set-top box. Eurosportnews is a sports news channel where fans can receive ‘live’ information on all the major sports with preview reports, post-event analyses, results, standings and statistics.
“StarHub stays true to our commitment to offer the best sports offerings on local television,” added Mr Lim. “The costs for sports content continue to rise, but we are continually looking for ways to add more value to our Sports Group. With the addition of Eurosportnews, the number of channels in our Sports Group will be increased to ten. This means that sports fans only pay an average of $2.68 per month or only less than nine cents a day for each sports channel!”
Existing StarHub Digital Cable customers who wish to make any changes and additions to their subscription plans can call 1633, while new customers can call 1630 to take on a StarHub Digital Cable package.
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