Watching television has become a basic necessity among the people from all walks of life in today’s affluent society. In globalize era by today, the amount of satellite television provider has increase vigorously in the world. But Astro is still the one and only satellite television provider available in our country, Malaysia. (Wikipedia)The definition of Astro is an acronym for All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator. Astro is Malaysia’s leading integrated cross-media group with operations in 4 key businesses: Pay TV, Radio, Content and Digital. It also transmits digital satellite television and radio to household in Malaysia and Brunei.
(Astro)They launched in 1996, and today they have 50% penetration of TV homes in Malaysia, making it a key pay TV operator in Southeast Asia. Astro has also appreciated customer input and feedback and they can continuously strive to provide quality service and products to customers. (Astro)The People’s Choice, Astro was also awarded the “Brand of the Year” award at Malaysia’s Putra Brand Awards 2012. This award is in recognition of Astro’s efforts to exemplify innovation, quality, and strong corporate social responsibilities. Now Astro has nearly increased in a base of 3.1 million. Therefore, it is fairly obvious that viewer in our country has no chance to choose the other satellite television provider.
(Lim)What is the reason that makes Astro able to monopolize Malaysian’s satellite television industry? This is due to the reason that they are the only company that get the permission and license to broadcast by the government of Malaysia. To further illustrate this point, they have the ability to set the price of their service because they are the price maker in the industry. As they are the price maker, sometimes the customers are not satisfied about the high price they set with the limited choice of package to choose from. In some package that subscribers purchased, there are always some channels that they are not interested in but are made to pay for it.
(Times)According to the recent article published in ‘New Straits Times’ in 2011 in George Town, The Consumers Association of Penang has questioned the monopoly enjoyed by Astro and wants the government to explain why the pay television operator had been given an exclusive licence for 20 years.
(Times)CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the monopoly enjoyed by Astro had snuffed out the chances of other satellite channel operators from entering the market and providing better service to consumers. He said in other countries, viewers had several operators offering programmes at lower rates than Astro. He also said the combination of channels in the family package offered by Astro was too rigid and few channels were likely to be of interest to any particular demography of society. He said the government should encourage new pay-TV operators and allow TV accessories to be sold in the free market like in other countries. Meanwhile, in an immediate response, an Astro public relations department spokesperson said the company would refer CAP's concern to its management for further deliberation.
(Lim) (Astro)Another point that related to Astro’s monopoly is the barriers to entry. It is very hard to stop Astro’s monopoly in the satellite television industry. Many new firms fail to enter the industry as the investment is too high for them. The new firm would need to pay for their own satellite which costly for them. Even if there is a firm that has sufficient capital for their investment, they still failed to enter the industry due to the directive of government.
As a conclusion, Astro is still remaining customer’s top choice nowadays. It is because no other satellite television provider can substitute Astro. The people around the country have also accepted Astro as part and parcel in their lives. For my experience with Astro, my family have subscribed to Astro since I am six. Astro brought many advantage that as I can watch many variety of show and it also help to reduce my boredom. But now, we are using Astro B.yond PVR. It is convenient as it is a personal video recorder. We can record the videos that we want to watch while we are away. However, Astro have satisfied customer’s needs and wants to prolong the lifespan of the company. It is very difficult to stop Astro’s monopoly in the satellite television industry as it is the only satellite television in our country and no other firms can substitute it so far.
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