Tuesday, June 28, 2011

ASTRO under fire

Recently there has been a lot of outcry about ASTRO. The issues are, among others, the increase in its monthly fees and also bad services. Being the only satellite TV in Malaysia, ASTRO has been dominating the service because there are no other competitors. I am glad that the ministry and the parliament has been talking about the ASTRO issue and several NGOs are also boycotting and asking the public to boycott ASTRO. It’s about time, huh? Hubby and I did not subscribe to ASTRO at our house. We did have a plan to do so but to date, we have yet to sign up. This is simply because the more we live without ASTRO, the more we don’t see the need to have it.
At night, we would watch whatever is available on channels 1, 2, 3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9. I must say that these channels have quite a wide selection of watchable programs. For example, when I got home from work, I would watch Upin Ipin on TV9 and currently TV9 is playing Tazmania cartoon. I was an avid fan of the famous TV series on TV3, Nora Elena and I was glued to it. Now that it has ended, I did not follow the new series, Dewa Cinta as I don’t fancy the casts and the synopsis does not appeal much to me. At night, we would watch news and sometimes we would watch Nanny 911, Chris Angel magic show thingy or Amazing Race: China Rush on NTV7. AS for 8TV, I must say that I quite like the programs that they have to offer. On Monday nights, I would be glued to Pretty Little Liars and on Tuesdays, I love to watch Hellcats and Desperate Housewives. On Wednesday, I don’t like to watch Showdown 2011 so we would tune in to TV2 for its movie. 8TV plays movies on Thursday nights now. Alternatively, if we do not have anything interesting to watch, Hubby would go out and get some DVDs.
However, I must admit that I do miss watching Kimora Life In The Fab Lane, The Kardashians, Courtney & Chloe Take Miami, Giullana & Bill, E! News (all these are rancangan tak membina minda, as per my dad but I don’t care), those yummy cooking shows on AFC, travel shows on TLC, the sitcoms on Star World and the occasional movies on HBO and STAR MOVIES plus some cartoons on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Nickleodeon.
To think of it, having ASTRO is a matter of choice, really. If you want it, subscribe to it. If you feel that their services are not up to par, then by all means, do not subscribe to it. It is simple. Nobody forces you to sign up anyway. But then again, ASTRO, being a service provider must also ensure that their services are justified with what people are paying. I notice that they keep on repeating the shows over and over again and every time it rains (sometimes it doesn't even rain), service will be interrupted. ASTRO also always has this new channels to subscribe and what not, which I think is ridiculous. Why do we need to pay more just to see a particular show?
So now if I want to watch ASTRO, I can always go back to my parents' house. I don't know how long Hubby and I can live without ASTRO but for now, we are doing just fine. Perhaps if ASTRO improves their services at a minimal rate, we will consider signing up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For english speaking people as their first language, the local tv1, tv2, tv3, ntv7 and 8tv are a joke. I lived in singapore for a short while and their free tvs are superior to malaysian free tv. So ASTRO is the only monopoly in malaysia. Whats wrong in voicing out opinions then cos there are no other pay tv around in malaysia especially!