Astro (satellite TV)

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Astro
Type	Private Satellite Television
Country	Malaysia
Availability	National
Motto	"Making your life richer"(2003-Present), "The future is Direct-To-U"(1996-2003)
Key people	Dato' Badri Masri Dato' Mohamed Khadar Merican Ralph Marshall Tan Poh Ching Bernard Anthony Cragg Chin Kwai Yoong
Website	www.astro.com.my (MY), www.astro-nusantara.com (ID)

Astro is a subscription-based direct broadcast satellite (DBS) or direct-to-home satellite television and radio service in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The service is broadcast from the All Asia Broadcast Centre (ABC) located in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Astro is owned by MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems, a subsidiary of Astro All Asia Networks plc.

Contents 1 General Information 2 Service & Technical Information 2.1 Receiver/Decoder 2.2 Digital Video Recorder 3 Channel line-up (Malaysia) 3.1 ASTRO Family (General) 3.2 Dynasty Package (Chinese Language Channels) 3.3 Emperor Package (Premium Chinese Channels) 3.4 Movie Package 3.5 Learning Package (Documentaries) 3.6 Fun Package (Kids & Cartoons) 3.7 Variety Package 3.8 Sports Package 3.9 News Package 3.10 ASTRO Box Office (Pay-per-view Channels) 3.11 Radio Channels 3.12 Interactive Services 4 Ratings 5 Broadband & Internet based Services 6 Viewership 7 Red Button Feature 8 Ownership & Management 8.1 Key Personnel 9 International Operations 9.1 Brunei 9.2 Indonesia 10 References 11 See also 12 External links

[edit] General Information

The service was launched in 1996 following the launch of the MEASAT-1 satellite with an initial bouquet of 22 television and 8 radio channels. Currently, the service consists of 60 television, 17 radio, and 4 pay per view channels plus various interactive services. The television service comprises all six Malaysian terrestrial TV networks (RTM 1, RTM 2, TV3, ntv7, 8TV & TV9), a number of vernacular channels (packaged in house by ASTRO), as well as a selection of international English and Chinese language networks. Astro's own News Channel carries programming from the news channel Al Jazeera, available in dual language, Arabic and Malay, as well as the Australia Network. It also airs Astro News, a half-hour locally produced news program.

Until February 2007, Astro News was co-produced with the national news agency BERNAMA, with the former taking 12 minutes of the programme for general, sports and entertainment news from Malaysia. Astro's in-house news team produced the business news segment, which was originally Bloomberg TV Malaysia (see Astro RIA for details). The news is also translated into Mandarin on Astro AEC, Malay on Astro RIA and Tamil on Astro Vaanavil. In February 2007, BERNAMA took over the full half-hour production pending a revamp of the internal news team at Astro.

Channels broadcast on the Astro service are delayed, with time varying from several seconds to an hour, from their source feeds using a digital server system. This delay is used to edit programming to comply with the governmental guidelines on foreign and unsuitable content, as well as to facilitate commercial replacement, as local laws prohibit the broadcast of commercials produced overseas.

On August 11, 2006, Astro announced the launch of seven new channels, which would start broadcasting from August 31. They include three Astro branded channels packaged in-house (Ceria, Aruna & Kirana), two Chinese language channels (WaTV & CCTV4), a Hindi channel (ZEE TV) and 24-hour anime channel (Animax). These channels are available at no additional charge to existing subscribers until February 28, 2007. New subscribers who sign-up after September 30, 2006 will be subject to channel package fees.

An additional 4 channels were added to the Astro platform on December 28, 2006. They are Al-Jazeera English, BBC Entertainment, Mandarin channel ETTV Asia and local channel TV9. These channels will be offered free of charge to existing subscribers until May 31, 2007.

Astro has previously announced that it would introduce 50 new channels with the launch of the MEASAT-3 satellite. However, delays affecting the manufacture of the satellite and problems with the launch vehicle has pushed back the launch of the satellite from mid-2005 to December 12, 2006. Details on what new channels will be launched have not been released by the company, however this service expansion is scheduled to occur about eight weeks after the launch of MEASAT-3. A channel repackaging exercise is also scheduled soon after the expansion occurs [1].

Astro will be moving their channels to MEASAT-3, Astro will be uploading the new configuration to all decoders between February 2 to March 5 2007. [2]

[edit] Service & Technical Information

The direct-to-home service, branded as Direct-to-U (DTU), is broadcast as high-power Ku-band transmissions utilising the transponders of the MEASAT satellite system. Reception of the service signals uses a fixed 60cm diameter dish antenna.

Although Ku-band signals can be affected by rain attenuation (rain fade), making it susceptible to frequent outages in heavy rainfall areas such as Malaysia, the operators of Astro have employed a tailor-made system to boost power of the satellite delivery system to overcome this problem. The advertised service availability of 99.7%, however, is still a topic of much debate by subscribers.

The Astro broadcast signals are DVB-S compliant and compressed using the MPEG-2 standards. The signals are also encoded and encrypted prior to transmission forming a conditional access subscriber service, allowing access only to subscribers with a decoder and authorised smartcard.

The Astro service uses the package pricing model commonly used by other pay-TV operators in which channels are grouped into packages (i.e. basic and premium) made available to subscribers at a monthly fee. The basic packages are categorized into five groups: Learning (documentaries), Fun (kids & cartoons), Variety, Sports and News. Premium packages include Movies, Dynasty (Chinese language) and Emperor (Chinese language). Subscribers are required to select a minimum of 3 basic packages. All subscribers also receive 20 channels, grouped under the Astro Family banner, that includes six local free-to-air terrestrial television networks, in-house vernacular channels and some international networks. Subscribers also are able to access all the radio channels at no extra charge.

[edit] Receiver/Decoder

Since its launch, Astro has introduced 3 generations of receiver/decoders.

Generation	Manufacturer	Model	Year Introduced
1st generation / launch product	Philips	INS 610	1996
2nd generation	Philips	DSX7072	1999
	Nokia		1999
3rd generation	Philips	DSR4201	2004
	Thomson

[edit] Digital Video Recorder

In July 2006, Astro announced the Astro Max system, a new Astro receiver/decoder integrated with a digital video recorder. This decoder will enable Astro subscribers to record up to 60 hours of programming on a 80GB hard disk. The system records programming without converting the MPEG-2 digital satellite stream, as such the recorded video is the same high quality as the broadcast feed. Inclusion of 2 tuners enables the recording of one programme, while viewing another. However, the system is not able to record two channels/programmes at the same time.

Astro MAX includes standard features found on digital video recorders such as pausing, rewinding and replaying "live" TV as well as a 30 second skip. The unit also has a 30 minute buffer which constantly records the currently watched program. Full integration with Astro's electronic programme guide enables easy selection of programmes to be recorded. Additional features include the ability to record all audio tracks and all subtitle tracks on multiple language programming. Copies of programmes recorded can also be transferred to DVD or VHS tape.^{[citation needed]}

At present there is no service fee for the use of the Astro MAX system.

[edit] Channel line-up (Malaysia)

[edit] ASTRO Family (General)

• Channel 1 - RTM1 ^[1]
• Channel 2 - RTM2 ^[1]
• Channel 3 - TV3 ^[1]
• Channel 4 - Astro Ria
• Channel 5 - Arab Radio & Television Variety (ART)
• Channel 6 - Astro Vaanavil
• Channel 7 - NTV7 ^[1]
• Channel 8 - Astro Prima
• Channel 9 - Astro Aruna
• Channel 10 - Hallmark Channel
• Channel 11 - Discovery Travel & Living
• Channel 12 - Bloomberg Television
• Channel 14 - Astro TVIQ
• Channel 15 - Astro@15 (Chat Channel)
• Channel 16 - Astro Hitz.TV
• Channel 17 - AXN
• Channel 18 - 8TV ^[1]
• Channel 19 - Astro AEC
• Channel 20 - Al-Jazeera English
• Channel 22 - TV9 ^[1] & TV Pendidikan
• Channel 26 - BBC Entertainment
• Channel 27 - ETTV Asia
• Channel 73 - Sun TV

[edit] Dynasty Package (Chinese Language Channels)

• Channel 30 - Astro Wah Lai Toi
• Channel 31 - TVBS Asia
• Channel 32 - Phoenix
• Channel 33 - TVB8
• Channel 34 - TVB Xing He
• Channel 35 - NHK World
• Channel 36 - CCTV-9

[edit] Emperor Package (Premium Chinese Channels)

• Channel 28 - CCTV-4
• Channel 29 - WaTV
• Channel 32 - Phoenix
• Channel 36 - CCTV-9
• Channel 37 - Phoenix InfoNews
• Channel 38 - Astro Shuang Xing
• Channel 39 - Celestial Movies

[edit] Movie Package

• Channel 23 - Astro Kirana
• Channel 40 - HBO
• Channel 41 - Cinemax
• Channel 42 - STAR Movies

[edit] Learning Package (Documentaries)

• Channel 50 - Discovery Channel
• Channel 51 - Animal Planet
• Channel 52 - National Geographic Channel

[edit] Fun Package (Kids & Cartoons)

• Channel 24 - Astro Ceria
• Channel 60 - Nickelodeon
• Channel 61 - Disney Channel
• Channel 62 - Cartoon Network
• Channel 63 - Playhouse Disney Channel

[edit] Variety Package

• Channel 21 - Zee TV
• Channel 25 - Animax
• Channel 70 - STAR World
• Channel 71 - MTV Southeast Asia
• Channel 72 - Channel V

[edit] Sports Package

• Channel 80 - Astro Super Sport
• Channel 81 - ESPN
• Channel 82 - STAR Sports

[edit] News Package

• Channel 90 - CNN International
• Channel 91 - CNBC Asia
• Channel 92 - Astro News
  • Features programming from:
    • Al Jazeera
    • DW-TV
    • Australia Network
    • Eurosport News
    • and local in-house content.
• Channel 93 - BBC World

[edit] ASTRO Box Office (Pay-per-view Channels)

• Channel 48 - Astro Box Office Movies
• Channel 49 - Astro Box Office Movies
• Channel 87 - Astro Box Office Sport / Events
• Channel 88 - Astro Box Office Sport / Events
• Channel 89 - Astro Box Office Sport / Events

[edit] Radio Channels

Channel	Name	Format	Language	Slogan
100	RADIO MOSAIC
101	ERA	Hot Adult Contemporary	Malay	Rentak Muzik Terkini
102	MY	Adult Contemporary	Chinese	Good Music, Great Company
103	Opus	Classical Music	English	Your Classical Choice
104	hitz.fm	CHR / Top 40	English	Malaysia's No.1 Hit Station
105	Mix.fm	Hot Adult Contemporary	English	The New Buzz in Malaysia
106	LiteFM	Easy Listening / Soft AC	English	Continuous Relaxing Favourites
107	Classic Rock	Classic Rock	English	The Best Classic Rock And Today's Great New Rock
108	Golden Oldies	Oldies	English	Solid Gold Favourites From The 50's, 60's and 70's
109	Nostalgia	Adult Standards	English	Music Of Your Life
110	India Beat	Contemporary North Indian Pop	Hindi	The Rhythm Of India
111	Jazz	Mainstream Jazz	English	All the Jazz Greats
112	Melody	Chinese Oldies	Chinese	Chinese Gold From The 60's and 70's
113	Sinar.FM	Malay Oldies	Malay	Muzik Retro Terbaik
114	Osai	Contemporary South Indian Pop	Hindi / Tamil
115	XFresh.fm	Urban Contemporary	Malay	Disini Bermula Musik Malaysia Terbaru
116	Musiq'a	Arabic Music	Arabic	For Contemporary Arabic Music Whenever You Wish It
117	Thr.fm	Adult Contemporary	Hindi / Tamil	More Than Just Great Music

KEY:
Indicates availability as terrestrial FM radio
Indicates availability on Maxis3G (Maxis TV)

[edit] Interactive Services

• Channel 200 - Games
• Channel 800 - Interactive TV (features MyKad reader & TV coupons)
• Channel 888 - Astro Stock Link
• Channel 998 - Astro Box Office (Astro Max decoders only)
• Channel 999 - My MAX (exclusive to Astro Max decoders)

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Also available as free-to-air terrestrial broadcasts by the respective networks

[edit] Ratings

At present, there are two ratings on Astro. The ratings are:

• U - For general viewing.
• 18 - For viewing audiences of 18 years and above only.

[edit] Broadband & Internet based Services

At the end of 1999, Astro's operator MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems announced a proposal to provide high-speed satellite-delivered Internet access services. The service, called @stronet-JARING, was to be a one-way terrestrial return system, whereby Malaysian ISP Jaring would provide the outbound data service through dial-up access. Downloads would be received via the MEASAT satellite system, which promised a maximum download speed of 6.5Mbit/s. A PC-based trial was performed in early 2000 with a maximum download speed of 400kbit/s. Other proposed services included Multicast File Transfer and Multicast Streaming Delivery. The service, however, has never been made available publicly.

In May 2005, Astro launched Astro.tv, a broadband TV portal. It currently has two video channels: Akademi Fantasia Xtra and GOALTV. The service requires a separate subscription fee charged to the subscribers mobile phone bill.

[edit] Viewership

As at July 2006, the service has 1.91 million residential subscribers, which represents 35.4% of Malaysian homes owning a television set.

The 2006 Nielsen Media Index found that Astro Wah Lai Toi (Channel 30) and Astro Ria (Channel 4) are the highest viewed satellite (non free to air) channels, with each viewed by 28 percent of the adult Malaysian population.

[edit] Red Button Feature

During high-profile events, Astro adds a Red-Button interactive feature to some channels to provide a link to several different feeds from the event, thereby enabling viewers to select between events or sporting matches that may be taking place simultaneously. The Red Button feature is also used to provide interactive services such as programming updates, event news, scores, contest information and sponsor advertising. The service is accessible by pressing the Red Button on the set-top box's remote control when prompted by a "Press Red Button" logo on-screen.

The Red Button service was first used in June 2004 to provide enhanced services for the program Akademi Fantasia, the localized version of Mexico's La Academia.

Other multi-feed/channel events using the Red Button feature:

Event	No of feeds / channels	Broadcast channel
2004 Summer Olympics	6	Astro Supersport (Channel 80)
2006 Winter Olympics	3	Astro Supersport (Channel 80)
2006 Commonwealth Games	3	Astro Supersport (Channel 80)
2006 FIFA World Cup	8	Astro Supersport (Channel 83)
2006 Asian Games	4	Astro Supersport (Channel 83)

[edit] Ownership & Management

The operators of the Astro service, MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems, are a wholely owned subsidiary of Astro All Asia Networks plc, a consortium company comprising of government-linked and private companies. Major shareholders include the Usaha Tegas Group (42.7%) and Khazanah Nasional Berhad (21.6%). Astro was listed on Bursa Malaysia in October 2003

[edit] Key Personnel

• Robert Odendaal, Group Chief Executive Officer (appointed 1st Feb 2007)
• Ralph Marshall, Deputy Chairman
• David Butorac, Group Chief Operating Officer (Will be leaving to join Star TV in November 2006)
• Rohana Rozhan, Chief Executive Officer (Astro television)
• Grant Ferguson, Chief Financial Officer
• Graham Stephens, Chief Technology Officer
• Su Termanah, Chief Information Officer

[edit] International Operations

[edit] Brunei

Main article: Kristal-Astro

The Astro service is currently also available in Brunei under the brand Kristal-Astro. Launched in January 2000, the Brunei operations are a joint venture between Brunei company Kristal (51.1%) and Measat Broadcast Network Systems (48.9%). That service comprises 33 DTH television and radio channels.

[edit] Indonesia

Main article: Astro Nusantara

A joint venture company, PT Direct Vision, in which Astro will hold a 20% stake, operates the Astro service in Indonesia. 48 channels including 5 locally produced Indonesia exclusive channels were launched under the Astro brand.

[edit] References

• Astro All Asia Networks plc Annual Report FY2006

[edit] See also

• Astro Indonesia (Astro Nusantara)
• List of Malaysian television stations
• Mega TV (non-operational since 2001)
• MiTV
• Fine TV

[edit] External links

• Astro's official website
• Astro All Asia Networks plc's official website
• Astro's Indonesia service website