Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Where's the Starhub's EPL Program?


Ever since SingTel’s mio TV struck an exclusive deal with the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) for the screening of the Barclays Premier League (BPL), I have been without English football. So when the Media Development Authority (MDA) ruled that SingNet will have to share its BPL content with rival StarHub over the next three seasons, starting from August 2013, I was delighted. 

This ruling by MDA was recently affirmed by the courts when they ruled against SingTel’s “exclusive negotiation period” with FAPL that would have locked out Starhub for months. So with all the hurdles (except the appeal) been cleared, I was awaiting Starhub’s package for the new EPL season. 

I’m still waiting.

I must say I’m kind of surprised by the lack of movement from Starhub. Ever since SingNet got the deal for the EPL, the expectation was that Starhub would try to get program back. Now they got it…and nothing happened! There hasn't been a word about how they would show the EPL in the coming season! What channel would it be on? How much do we have to pay? All these questions are currently unanswered.  

I know it’s still mid-June so Starhub has about 2 months to get their plans ready but considering how hard they fought against Singtel to get the EPL rights, you would think they would have had some sort of plan in place already. That doesn’t seem to be the case, and I find that both strange and worrying. 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

How to release pricing when SingTel havent release pricing?

SingTel owns the content, StarHub's box is the medium to carry it. StarHub cannot set and release the price because the content belongs to SingTel!

Anonymous said...

Also StarHub also cannot make any modifications to the programmes. Meaning you will see mio Stadium logo on StarHub's channels.

Ghost said...

It's more than a matter of pricing. Which channel will the EPL be on? Will it be on a new channel or their current football channel? Considering how hard Starhub fought to get the EPL, surely they have some sort of plain in place right?

Anonymous said...

EPL will still be on mio Stadium. Not StarHub's football channel.

StarHub tried to fight for the EPL rights but FAPL kept rejecting them. StarHub then went to make a formal case to MDA. Then MDA made the EPL exclusive, which means ST must share with SH. MDA made the ruling, which means StarHub need not fight for EPL anymore. Now it is SingTel vs MDA.

The plans will be revealed when the appeal results are out. Until then, nothing is disclosed.

Ghost said...

Which is a problem. No one right now knows when the case will be settled and if the case goes on, what then? Starhub need to have a plan in place and need to keep their customers informed about the matter. If not, the ruling by the MDA might be for nothing.

Anonymous said...

I think it might be Singtel strategy , appeal after appeal try to delay as much as they can?