Astro is ramping up its sports offerings with three new designated channels joining the Astro Sports line-up. Following the launch of the WWE Network last month, Astro is now adding SETANTA Sports HD and Cricket HD Channel. Both the WWE Network and SETANTA are available for subscription immediately whereas Cricket HD will be launched sometime in the 3rd quarter of 2015.
WWE Network is available in SD (Ch 820) and HD (Ch840) at RM10.60 per month for Astro Sports Pack subscribers. It is also available or NJOI customers at RM15.90 for 3 days access and RM31.80 for 30 days access. The wrestling channel will offer 12 WWE monthly pay-per-views like Summerslam and Survivor Series as well as access to WWE content such as classic matches, documentaries and reality shows.
SETANTA Sports HD (Ch 839) is also priced at RM10.60 per month and showcase rugby’s finest programming line-up in HD. The channel will offer rugby games and tournaments like the RBS 6 Nations, Rugby Championship, British & Irish Lions Australia Tour, Super Rugby, NRL and more.
Meanwhile Cricket HD (Ch 838) will be available at RM26.50 per month and brings the best cricket action from all over the world in HD, featuring coverage of major cricket events such as the ICC World T20, ICC Champions Trophy, ICC Women’s World Cup, ICC World Cricket and more.
With the launch of the three new channels, the Astro Sports line-up now includes a total of 14 sports channels. “For the first time, fans of WWE, rugby and cricket will be able to watch their favourite sports on dedicated channels in HD, live events, latest news and original programming at unbeatable value,” said Lee Choong Khay, Astro’s Head of Sports Business.
“The initial feedback from the WWE, rugby and cricket communities in Malaysia has been positive,” he added. “We will continue to engage them further grow the fan base on these channels.” Lee also revealed that the pick-up rate for the WWE Network has been positive with close to 10,000 subscribers already since the channel was launched last month.
The WWE Network is a dedicated channel on Astro with a direct feed of content from WWE as opposed to the on-demand platform it operates elsewhere. “WWE provides the feed for us and they dictate the content that is beamed on this channel,” explained Lee. In terms of future offerings, Lee revealed that Astro is currently looking at other channels to join its sports family of channels later.
