Coverage of English Premier League football in Singapore will be shared by pay-television operator SingTel and pay-television broadcaster StarHub for the first time over the next three seasons after the former’s appeal against a cross-carriage order was rejected, according to the New Paper.
Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim has rejected SingTel's appeal against a verdict delivered by the Media Development Authority regulator that it must cross-carry the league’s matches on a live basis.
SingTel, which acquired rights to the league in a three-season deal, from 2013-14 to 2015-16, in October 2012, was told by the watchdog on April 24 that the coverage must be made available to StarHub as part of the country’s ‘cross-carriage’ regulations.
The latest ruling comes after Ibrahim last month rejected an application by SingTel for a stay on the verdict of the regulator.
EPL content, across nine channels, will now be available to both SingTel mio TV and StarHub’s pay-television customers for S$59.50 (€36/$47) per month.
The price is higher than SingTel's old S$34.90-per-month sports bundle, which came with EPL channels, Uefa Champions League and other sports content.
However, SingTel country chief officer Allen Lew said he believes the company’s new gold packs, which will give subscribers around 80 channels with EPL content for S$5 to S$10 more than the standalone subscription, will keep its customers happy.
Commenting on the cross-carriage verdict, Lew said: “We still believe that the agreement that we have is non-exclusive, but obviously the Minister and MDA have interpreted it a different way so we respect what has been decided. We've always said that we've heavily subsidised and discounted the Premier League and, if you take a bundle with 80 channels, we have the flexibility to sell it to you at a very affordable bundle.”
He added: “When you go to a fast-food restaurant, if you buy one item like chicken or a burger, it's at one price but if you buy with a drink and fries etc, it's only marginally more. That's the type of concept we are moving towards. When people watch TV, they want to watch a bundle of different genres.”
Jeannie Ong, StarHub’s senior vice-president of corporate communications and investor relations, said: “StarHub is heartened by and fully supports the Minister's decision to uphold MDA's cross-carriage direction. We also support MDA's decision to ensure that the Premier League channels will be available, on a standalone basis, to StarHub customers. To ensure that cross carriage works successfully to give customers real choice, it is important for MDA to ensure that the pricing for the Premier League packages is non-discriminatory. No customer should be disadvantaged whether he chooses to view the football matches on StarHub's platform or otherwise.”