StarTimes revised the product cost and monthly subscription fees for its Satellite TV service, a move aimed at making the service more affordable to Kenyans to access digital television. The satellite service now covers 100% of the country.
The company seems to be eying top spot not only in Kenya but across the continent with the multiple revisions over time. The company recently moved to woo more sports fans in Kenya by wrestling some key sports properties from fiercest rival DStv. The company has secured exclusive deals to broadcast the International World Rally Championships, the World Boxing Titles and Germany football league, the Bundesliga. StarTimes moved to secure the rights to the sporting titles owing t0 their growing popularity in the world which the company will be broadcasting exclusively from August 2015.
Related article: Startimes beats Multichoice to its game in new sports properties acquisition
The move gives StarTimes an upper hand in the market for TV pay subscribers. Kenyans with existing dish kits can now access the StarTimes satellite TV service by acquiring a full High Definition (HD) decoder at just Shs 999 upon subscribing to a bouquet of choice for Shs 1,500. StarTimes has also introduced a more affordable bouquet to be known as Nova which will be retailing at just Shs 299 with access to over 35 local and international channels.
StarTimes also dropped the cost of its Super bouquet which will now be retailing at just Shs 1,799 per month down from 2,499 with access to over 95 local and international channels. Smart bouquet will now be retailing at Shs 899 per month down from 1,799 with access to over 67 local and international channels. Other bouquets will include Chinese and Indian to retail at 1,799 and 899 respectively.
Upon acquiring the HD decoder at Shs 999 and a Shs 1,500 subscription, customers will be able to enjoy either 5 months of Nova bouquet, 50 days Smart bouquet or 25 days Super bouquet. StarTimes which has recorded a wide reach in the country is slowly creeping its way up with applauds on its service that lacks downtime like a majority of the products in the market.
According to public opinion, Startimes is thus far the best in service with smooth signal transmission and customer response which shows a lot of progress since its launch.
The new Satellite Television policy will also see the price of full installation drop where Kenyans who wish to install the StarTimes Satellite full kit will acquire a Dish, LNB, 20m Cable and accessories at a cost of Shs 2,000 in addition to the 2,499 HD and initial subscription fees bringing the total fee to Shs 4,499 representing a 31% drop from the previous cost of the same which stood at Shs 6,499.
The reduction comes shortly after DStv increased subscription fees across all bouquets in Kenya. As from April this year, DStv Premium subscription increased from Shs 7,400 to Shs 8,200, Compact Plus increased from Shs 4,750 to Sh5,550, Compact increased from Shs 2,900 to Shs 3,250, Family increased from Shs 1,760 to Sh1,890 while the Access increased from Shs 880 to Sh930. DStv’s price increase was effected in several countries across Africa including Nigeria where subscribers have gone to court to sue the pay TV for hiking bouquet prices.
One can easily deduce that StarTimes lowering its subscription fees at this time is aimed at targeting DStv subscribers in order to increase its market share in the continent. Even though many would argue acquiring the exclusive rights to the sporting titles and the lowered subscription fees will not result to StarTimes emerging as the game changer in the market, the simultaneous moves might just be the right strategies to see off sleeping dogs.