Astro Malaysia Holdings aggressively targets rural pay-TV market to achieve its goal of 85% penetration in Malaysia over the next three to five years. Astro plans to woo rural masses with slashed subscription tariffs, reported Bloomberg.
The company provides some free basic channels for a starting fee with the option to buy additional programmes selectively instead of charging monthly.
Reduction in subscription prices helped Astro to increase its customers from 500,000 in 2014 to 4.5 million, said the company.
Referring to the challenges in the market, the company says low spending habits, fluctuating currency and 6% increase in goods and services tax has a greater impact. Yet Astro Malaysia is optimistic about its growth.
Broadcasters are forced to spend more foreign exchange while buying content. “About 70& of our total content costs are dollar-denominated,” said Rohana Rozhan, CEO of Astro Malaysia to the media firm. “The Malaysian currency has lost about 8% against the dollar this year as Asian currencies come under pressure from the prospect of higher US interest rates. Every 10 sen depreciation in the ringgit will increase Astro’s costs by MYR35 million (USD9.2 million),” added Rohana.
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