Tuesday, November 18, 2014

StarSat opens 8 TV channels to lower-tiered subscribers for a 'week'; increases subsidisation of StarSat decoders and installation.


On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes South Africa's StarSat satellite pay-TV platform has opened and unencoded 8 TV channels for a week for StarSat Special and StarSat Smart subscribers while the Woodmead-based satellite pay-TV provider is upping its subsidisation of StarSat decoders and installation for consumers.

Until Friday StarSat subscribers get unrestricted access to FOX Movies (StarSat 110), PoP (StarSat 302), StarTimes Movies 1 (StarSat 100), StarTimes Sport 2 (StarSat 241), Qyou (StarSat 165), Trace Sport Stars (StarSat 250), Nat Geo Gold (StarSat 220) and the StarTimes Series E1 (StarSat 125) channels.

The StarSat channels were opened to subscribers on Saturday already although StarSat's PR company Burston-Marsteller Africa only managed to inform the media and press by Monday after 17:08, more than two days after the promotion started, yet still saying subscribers will have a "week" of open viewing until Friday 21 November.

A PR spokesperson didn't bother to respond to a media enquiry asking when the unencoded channels' promotion started.

StarSat is also upping its subsidisation of StarSat decoders and installation hoping to drive subscriber growth, with new subscribers who can now get a StarSat decoder and full installation for R399 until 10 January 2015.

"This open view week of the stars allows subscribers the opportunity to experience more of our channels, and we encourage them to watch some of the channels they may not normally have access to on their current StarSat package," says Ian Woodrow, the head of content at StarSat.