Astro elevates sports experience for Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR: We all know how much Malaysians love sports and how sports fans are among the world’s most enthusiastic viewers. It is not a surprise therefore when Malaysia played against South Korea at the recent AFC Asian Cup 2024 in Qatar, huge numbers of Malaysians watched the match on Astro with bated breath, cheered each time Harimau Malaysia scored a goal against their opponent.

This scene repeats itself each time a Malaysian athlete takes part in any sport events, be it representing Malaysia in the Olympics, in the Thomas Cup or playing in a local league like Liga Malaysia.

Thanks to Astro, Malaysian sport fans never had it so good!

Background of Sports Viewing in Malaysia

Since 1996, Astro has been synonymous with sports, by bringing live broadcast and live action of global sporting events such as the Olympics, World Cup, Premier League, Thomas Cup, F1, and so on to Malaysians.

2024 is a big year of sports for all sport fans – and the whole country is looking forward to the Formula One World Championship (2 March-8 December), Euros 2024 (14 June-14 July), Summer Olympics (26 July-11 August), a whole new season of the Premier League, the BWF Sudirman Cup, BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals 2024, and many more.

The Rising Importance of Local Sports

On the local front, there are equally exciting local leagues in store for fans as well, from Liga Malaysia in May 2024 to ISTAF, Netball and many more, all available through the Arena channels on Astro, sooka & NJOI.

Arena, the first 24/7 local Sports channel in Malaysia, is dedicated to local sports and athletes. Launched in 2008, Arena’s brand and viewership has grown consistently when it showcases local tournaments in football, hockey, badminton, sepak takraw, netball and also focused on Malaysian athletes representing Malaysia in global sporting events. Who could forget the ‘behind the scenes’ interviews when Azizulhasni Awang won the silver medal the Olympics, or the emotion when an Arena reporter cried while interviewing Lee Hup Wei, our Olympian athlete who apologised on air for not winning a medal at the Olympics. The Arena crew have always been first on the scene to capture all the beautiful moments of our athletes for viewers back home, something that the international TV stations simply can’t do.

Our Role in Elevating the Sports Viewing Experience for Malaysians

Astro has always been championing local sports and athletes and l Arena, the first local sports channel in the region, has also featured many former athletes as on-air talent. Astro Arena HD has now become the destination for local sports news and updates, while Astro Arena 2 HD provides a sample of all our extensive sports offering with Bahasa Malaysia programming and commentary. In partnership with national sports associations, Astro has successfully developed and popularised multiple local sports IPs including SepakTakraw League (STL), Netball Super League (NSL) and sooka Super Series: Volleyball (SSSVB) - igniting passion for these sports among local sports audiences.

Through its partnership with national sports associations Astro also plays a big part in building sports, which in turn helps with sponsor branding & attracts more sponsors as well as increase ticket sales at ground events.

As the official broadcaster of MFL’s Liga Malaysia competitions comprising Perlawanan Sumbangsih (Piala Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah), Liga Super, Piala FA and Piala Malaysia for 3 seasons from 2023 to 2025 Astro customers are now enjoying comprehensive coverage of Liga Malaysia in HD, all of which is also streamed live on Astro GO & sooka. Our coverage is enriched with exclusive programmes including match analysis by pundits, pre-match press conferences, live training sessions, player access interviews, behind-the-scenes shows match highlights and much more. Exciting on-ground activities provide the opportunity for fans to experience their favourite sport on another level. Even better, Astro customers can also look forward to special rewards such as invitations to live games at the stadiums and opportunities to meet the players.

Euan Smith, Group CEO of Astro said, “Astro has always recognised the importance of sports in nation building, and both Astro and MFL are committed to raising the bar for coverage of local football leagues from live games, behind the scenes training to updates on players and coaches and the latest football news benefitting sports fans across Malaysia.”

sooka: Malaysia’s Game Changing Sports Streaming Service

A real gamechanger, sooka is the OTT Sports service in Malaysia, that allows users to subscribe to watch every Premier League & Liga Malaysia game in HD on mobile, or big screen (Full HD on big screen).

With sports being sooka’s main differentiator, Astro is delivering live sports in LIVE and HD for passionate fans to get their sports ‘fix’ anytime, anywhere; at amazing value and flexible purchase options (daily or monthly)

sooka is created to give users the ultimate way to get closer to the sports they love. Its business model has been proven a success, delivering the convenience of Malaysians’ favourite sports and teams straight to their mobile all on the one service.

Euan said, “With sooka, users can enjoy the free tier, while avid sports fans can subscribe to a simple, yet affordable Premium plan priced at RM49.90 per month to experience unlimited and first-hand access to the best live sports actions and entertainment content for up to three devices, which includes one TV at Full HD resolution. For sports fans who prefer to watch only on their mobile devices, they can opt for the All Sports + Entertainment pack for RM34.90 a month with access up to two mobile devices in HD resolution. For those looking to watch entertainment only, sooka also offers an Entertainment pack priced at RM14.90 per month. Aside from that, day passes are also available for fans who wish to binge watch their favourite shows or only watch specific sports matches to their liking at RM12.90.

sooka’s online active monthly users (MAU) have risen 23% so far this year, and our VIP base grew 86% year on year, driven by a much-increased content library and enhanced targeted marketing. To date there are 1.7 million registered users on sooka, 60% of whom access sooka on mobile, we are confident that sooka’s new packs and pricing will set this great service on a higher growth trajectory in 2024.

Next generation fan engagement: We are creating a culture of fandom around the sooka universe by turning our viewers into ultra sport fans. By constantly entertaining sports fans before, during and after sports events, the team can deliver more engagement and lead them towards increased habitual use and subscription.

Piracy, Biggest Threat to the Industry

For Malaysians to continue enjoying the best sports viewing experience, piracy must be severely dealt with. Piracy has become so pervasive in the country that many have forgotten it is a crime. Pure & simple, piracy is theft. It is stealing from every single person in the creative ecosystem -from the players, actors, writers, producers, directors and cameraman, thus threatening jobs and hampering development of the industry.

Eradication of digital piracy to ensure that only responsible content is streamed requires collaborative efforts of all parties; content providers, right owners, broadcasters, regulators, authorities and consumers, telcos, internet service and ecommerce providers all need to come together. There is an urgent need to address key enablers of digital piracy such as the effective blocking of illegal streaming sites over the internet and ISDs (illegal boxes preloaded with pirate apps) being openly sold on ecommerce platforms.

Astro has brought, and will continue to bring, charges against sellers of ISDs preloaded with applications. These devices act as gateways to websites or content servers streaming pirated content, which Astro also targets directly. In a landmark decision in May last year, the Intellectual Property High Court in Kuala Lumpur declared that the sale, offer for sale, distribution and/or supply of TV Boxes or illicit streaming devices (“ISDs”) that can provide unauthorized access to copyrighted works, constitutes copyright infringement under the Copyright Act, 1987 is a criminal offence. In the interests of all law-abiding, tax-paying Sports fans, Astro will continue to work with authorities and content partners to send a strong message that content piracy is theft, illegal and punishable by law.

Visit astro.com.my for more information on Astro’s latest offerings as the Home of Sports.

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