StarHub wins Singapore broadcast rights for English Premier League in 6-year deal

SINGAPORE: StarHub has won the broadcast rights in Singapore for the English Premier League, breaking a 12-year streak by rival telco Singtel.

StarHub announced on Monday (Feb 21) it will be the official Premier League broadcaster in Singapore for the next six years, starting from the upcoming 2022-2023 season, which begins in August.

Full pricing details will be revealed in June, the company added. 

"We are immeasurably thrilled to up the game for all Premier League fans in Singapore," said Mr Johan Buse, StarHub's chief of consumer business group.

All 380 matches will be screened in HD quality across the company's television, mobile and broadband platforms, the telco said. It also touted a "richer interactive user interface with features such as Party Watch, split-screen viewing (and) performance statistics".

"Fans can sign in to the app, regardless of which broadband or mobile service provider they are with," said Mr Buse.

SINGTEL CUSTOMERS

Responding to CNA queries, Singtel said it was "disappointed" that it would no longer have broadcast rights to the Premier League after this season.

"Rest assured we will actively seek to continue to provide our customers with access to PL (Premier League) matches live on Singtel TV to avoid unnecessary inconvenience or disruption of service, in the same way that customers on the StarHub network have been able to enjoy watching the Premier League over the last 8.5 years when Singtel held the PL broadcast rights," said Ms Anna Yip, CEO of Consumer Singapore at Singtel.

Pay TV operators in Singapore that hold any exclusive content are required under the Cross-Carriage Measure to make the content available for broadcast by all other qualifying pay TV operators. Implemented in August 2011, the measure states that the content must be cross-carried in its entirety and made available to consumers at the same price as other qualifying pay TV operators’ viewers.

"The pay TV market landscape has shifted fundamentally since we first acquired PL rights," said Ms Yip.

"The rise of OTT video players has also negatively affected the value of the pay TV market, fuelling competition for sports rights globally, driving up cost and fragmenting broadcast sources of sports events." 

OTT or over-the-top media services are those that are offered directly via the Internet, bypassing traditional platforms such as cable or broadcast.