Disney To Shut Down Majority of Its TV Channels In Southeast Asia: May Deeply Impact Astro and unifi TV

Disney will be shutting down the majority of its TV channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong later this year. The decision was reportedly revealed to its staff during a town hall session this morning.

According to the report by ContentAsia, the reason behind the move was apparently due to a shift of focus to the direct-to-consumer business model in the form of streaming service. As you may know, the company has begun to offer Disney+ in Singapore and Indonesia while there were already major signs that service will be offered in Malaysia soon.

ContentAsia has also listed the 18 channels that will be closed by Disney:

Disney channels: Disney Channel, Disney Junior

Fox channels: Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Life, FX, Fox Movies, Fox Action Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3

National Geographics channels: Nat Geo People

Star channels: Star Movies China, SCM Legend, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2

Others: Channel V

The closure of these channels will apparently take place on 1 October 2021 and only four channels will continue to be operational including National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Star Chinese Channel, and Star Chinese Movies. The report also noted that the town hall session today did not discuss the impact of this decision on existing Disney’s staff within SEA and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, this decision will definitely have a massive impact on Astro and unifi TV if this report proved to be true with the exception of Disney Channel and Disney Junior which have already been pulled out from Astro earlier this year. From the list above, many of them are currently available on both pay-TV platforms especially those that are under the Fox banner.

Not only that, the three Fox Sports channels carry plenty of major sporting events such as Formula 1, Australian Open, U.S Open, and many more. As live sports have always been seen as a major crowd puller for pay-TV services in Malaysia, this would not bode well for both Astro and unifi TV.

For now, even Disney’s broadcasting partners seem to be caught by surprise though. When we reached out to Astro to obtain clarifications, this was their response:

With reference to the news report that Disney plans to stop 18 of its linear channels in the Southeast Asia region of Oct 2021, we wish to inform that we are still waiting for detailed information from Disney.

We will update customers once we have full details.

As Disney and TM have not yet released any official statement on this matter, we are now reaching out to them to seek further information. We will keep you posted once we hear more.

Awani Journalist Reveals How She Delivers Live News From Home

Today marked the beginning of the Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 which has also been infused with a nationwide emergency order that could last until August 2021. For many, they have to switch back to the work-from-home (WFH) environment once again and even TV journalists such as those from the AWANI Pagi team are onboard as well.

Earlier today, one of the presenters, Geegee Ahmad had tweeted out the WFH setup that allows her to deliver live news away from Astro Awani’s studio. In general, the set up consists of a dedicated HD webcam that is connected to a Microsoft Surface Pro alongside an Apple iPad that is also being used as a text prompter.

All three devices were arranged nicely on top of an IKEA box that acts as a riser. Not surprisingly, there are also an array of ring lights behind the two devices.

We have reached out to Geegee to gain more insight regarding the setup and to our surprise, she has also shared some behind the scenes details regarding AWANI Pagi’s WFH broadcast with us. For example, the AWANI Pagi team actually began to prepare for the live broadcast from as early as 4:30 AM.

Prior to the start of AWANI Pagi which takes place daily at 7:30 AM, the team not only needs to make sure that their news piece and stories are ready for the show but they also have to test out other elements involved in the WFH broadcast including lighting, audio, and even their Internet connection.

Geegee also said the live feed takes place on Skype but she still has to utilise her phone for audio cues from Awani’s technical team that are still working from the studio. Additionally, she also has adapted the backend app that Awani journalists utilise to submit their stories into a text prompter on the iPad that was shown earlier and she has to manually tap on the screen to move from one story to another.

She has also pointed out that other AWANI Pagi’s presenters including Hakim Rahman and Nursyazwani Saiful Sham as well as Niaga AWANI’s Rizal Zulkapli have also broadcast their stories from home.

How about the results then? Well, this was part of AWANI Pagi’s broadcast this morning:

The cameras, lights, and mics that Geegee and her Awani colleagues have utilised at their home may not be as elaborate and powerful as per what they have back in the studio. Nevertheless, their WFH live broadcast setup has highlighted the new norm that many of us in Malaysia and all over the world have to adopt and adapt ourselves to as our fight against COVID-19 is still far from over.

Astro Signature Shows Are Coming To TGV Cinemas: Including Sepahtu Reunion, Big Stage and More

Starting this week, fans of Sepahtu Reunion, Kampong Pisang Bersiri-siri, and Muzikal Lawak Superstar are able to catch them live on big screens at selected TGV Cinemas’ locations. This is due to the latest partnership between the cinema chain and Astro.

Happening on weekly basis, the screenings of these signature shows from Astro will take place at TGV Mesra Mall, Bukit Mertajam, Vivacity, and 1st Avenue. In terms of the ticket price, it ranges from RM 15 to RM 18 although TGV MovieClub members and Astro customers can purchase the ticket at a slightly lower price of RM 12 to RM 15.

Customers also have the option to book a private cinema hall for them to enjoy these Astro signature shows by themselves or selected guests although they need to get in touch directly with TGV via e-mail to arrange the hall booking.

Meanwhile, both companies have planned to expand the show list in 2021 with the new season of Suara Viral, Maharaja Lawak Mega, and Big Stage although the dates for these shows have not yet been finalized by Astro.

For years, TGV has been showing live sports at its cinemas including matches from English Premier League and FIFA World Cup as well as Dota 2’s The International and Manila Major. So, there is no doubt that the company has the necessary expertise to deliver Astro’s signature shows on its screens although we are curious to see whether fans would leave the comfort of their homes and catch these shows over at TGV.