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Pay TV service providers compete with each other by increasing number of channels and decreasing subscription fee. – Photo Bzfilm.com
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HA NOI (Biz Hub) — With subscription fees for pay TV falling in 2014, the race to add more channels is set to increase among service providers this year.
K+ Satellite Digital Television, Saigontourist Cable Television (SCTV) and An Vien Television (AVG) have all announced new channels in their packages for 2015.
K+ added Screen RED and AFC on January 8, after introducing two other channels in December last year.
SCTV has also launched new channels as well as new programmes. The provider plans to focus on investing in film channels such as SCTV14, a Vietnamese film channel; SCTV9, an Asian film channel; and SCTV16, a new action film channel, which was launched on January 1.
AVG has announced new domestic and international channels, bringing the number of channels on its digital terrestrial television service in the South to 100.
Beside the new domestic channel An Ninh The Gioi (ANTG), AVG's customers will be able to enjoy new international channels such as Screen Red, Warner TV, Cinema World, GEM TV, Bloomberg and BBC-Knowledge.
The fact that pay TV service providers have stopped trying to undercut each other is a positive sign for the sector, as Viet Nam's average revenue per user (ARPU) for pay TV is the lowest in ASEAN.
In 2013, the country's ARPU was about US$4-5, while in Singapore that figure stood at $32, Malaysia was $30, Indonesia and Thailand were $11, Cambodia and Myanmar were $10 and Philippines was $9. — VNS