Fox Sports Channel exiting

[Adrianli]

No more F1 and UFC from 1st Oct 2021. Fox Sports exiting SG.

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/sports-fans-in-spore-face-anxious-wait-as-cessation-of-fox-sports-channels-looms

 

Sports fans in S'pore face anxious wait as cessation of Fox Sports channels looms

Post-race highlights of F1 races are no substitute for the live races themselves, said an F1 fan.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Kimberly Kwek

PUBLISHED

4 HOURS AGO

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SINGAPORE - Formula One, tennis' Grand Slams and the Majors in golf have long been a staple of sports fans' diet but they could no longer be available to those in Singapore from next Friday (Oct 1), when Disney shuts 13 pay-television channels, including its Fox Sports channels.

The decision was announced in April "to pivot towards a direct-to-consumer-first model and further grow (its) streaming services".

Telcos Singtel and StarHub had offered these channels as part of their subscription packages and while on Friday both announced they have secured the broadcast rights to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the status of F1 and the premier events in golf and tennis remains unclear.

David Tan, a StarHub subscriber who is a UFC and F1 fan, expressed his disappointment at the lack of updates from the companies over the past few months especially when "they had six months to do something about it". He added: "We waited for them to release more information, but they just said we'll lose Fox Sports but we still can enjoy the other channels.

"They should have more feedback channels, which wasn't done well so it gives the impression that they don't really care."

In response to queries from The Sunday Times, both telcos acknowledged the situation and said they were trying to resolve it. A StarHub spokesman said: "We are aware that a segment of customers may still feel some impact, as alternative viewing means are not yet available for certain 'live' sports events.

"To this end, we remain in talks with various content providers to enter broadcast deals for popular sporting events, to cater to our customers' needs. We will make available more information when there are developments."

The spokesman noted it has other offerings like the Bundesliga, UFC, WTA Tour, World Wrestling Entertainment and National Basketball Association (NBA).

Singtel, which in recent months has added world cricket tournaments through Astro Cricket plus the World Table Tennis and Badminton Asia Championship, said it will "continue to look for quality and popular live sporting events to enhance our sports line-up for customers, and we will share further updates in the coming weeks".

But F1 fan and Singtel subscriber Gilbert Teo, 30, reckons such content cannot supplant what will soon be disappearing from his screen. The senior account manager at an adtech company said: "Maybe there are additional sports events, but it's not a like-for-like replacement."

Even post-race highlights of F1 races are no substitute for the live races themselves, he added.

Aside from the telcos, there are other options for consumers, like over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms from the rights holders themselves. There are MotoGP Videopass, F1 TV and Golf TV but there are some limitations.

For example, F1 TV Pro is unavailable in Singapore, meaning fans here can only watch race replays. Golf TV has live coverage of PGA Tour and European Tour events but has only one Major, the British Open, on its line-up.

None of the four tennis Grand Slams (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open) have a dedicated OTT service.

Teo does not plan to cancel his subscription as his current TV package, which he pays about $90 monthly for, includes the English Premier League, but feels there should be some form of rebate from the telcos.

He said: "The price of watching sports in Singapore is very high so if they don't have the telecast of certain channels, I think we should have a fair compensation."

Existing TV packages that include the Fox Sports channels range from $33.80 to $99.90 for Singtel, while StarHub's Sports+ package costs $20 monthly.

The Singtel packages include access to non-sports channels.

The looming Oct 1 deadline is particularly significant for F1 fans like dietitian Melody Foo, 29.

After this weekend's Russian Grand Prix, there are another seven races scheduled for this season with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton locked in fierce battle - the former leads by five points - for the drivers championship.

Foo said: "It's definitely a concern that I cannot watch them, it's a big part of my life and I look forward to watching all these (competitions) during the weekend.

"The next Grand Slam (Australian Open) is in January so I still have time for tennis and the ATP tournaments are still showing, so that's still okay."

Even though Hong Kong pay-TV service provider Now TV secured the rights for the F1 and US Open following Disney's decision, Deloitte South-east Asia sports business group leader James Walton said it is unclear if the local telcos would follow suit.

He said: "Realistically, it's now down to a point where unless beIN Sports steps up or Singtel or StarHub decide to invest in this, there will be a question of how many channels they want to run, how much content they want to produce and do they really see any value in locally broadcasting some of these activities or if it'll go into video-on-demand.

"But ultimately, it's looking increasingly likely that a lot of these sporting properties are heading towards video-on-demand, subscription and pay-per-view models and it's something that fans will have to get used to in the years to come."

[1fast1]

Oh no!! 

Just kidding. Whoever actually pays for this crap instead of streaming it like any reasonable pira...person deserves to be pointed and laughed at. 😁

 

[t0y0ta]

1 hour ago, Turboflat4 said:

Oh no!! 

Just kidding. Whoever actually pays for this crap instead of streaming it like any reasonable pira...person deserves to be pointed and laughed at. 😁

 

They no longer sell to Telco or Telco don't wanna pay their price?

Big difference leh

[Kyrios]

1 hour ago, Turboflat4 said:

Oh no!! 

Just kidding. Whoever actually pays for this crap instead of streaming it like any reasonable pira...person deserves to be pointed and laughed at. 😁

 

Sadly i am one such twerp...

Same monthly subscription price but lesser and lesser channels over the years...

Animal planet, nat geo, star movies, fox movies, some chinese movies channel such as 867 and issit 859, discovery channel, and now this mass exit of sports channels..

And starhub actually has the cheek to go after those using TV boxes..pui! Asswipers...

[kobayashiGT]

Now i don't really watch sports. I read on news more. hahaha.

[Spring]

The telcos shld either replace the channels with equivalent offerings of F1, Grand Slam tennis, Golf Majors etc or give a substantial refund back to subscribers. Instead they are introducing Table Tennis n Badminton events which are not World Championships, All England but more like satellite events ie regional Championships and lower end tournaments.

This is definitely not fair to subscribers and the latest in a long line of sub quality showings by the telcos n to rub salt to the wound, prices are ever increasing👎

[serenade]

I have not renewed expired subscription with Singtel despite repeated "offers". I subscribe purely for live telecast of the major events. If these are not going to be provided from 1 Oct, I will terminate and go onto subscription direct with Netflix, F1, tennis channels.  

[1fast1]

3 hours ago, t0y0ta said:

They no longer sell to Telco or Telco don't wanna pay their price?

Big difference leh

They're all crooks. So I feel no qualms. 

[Kyrios]

Does that mean to watch Fox sports i gotta subscribe Disney? 

What about Fox News..the anti biden news channel..😄

Is that going away as well?

[bsswan]

6 hours ago, Turboflat4 said:

Oh no!! 

Just kidding. Whoever actually pays for this crap instead of streaming it like any reasonable pira...person deserves to be pointed and laughed at. 😁

 

Government, telcos and channel suppliers wonder why consumers resort to Android boxes and the rest.

Really, whilst IP is real, holding consumers hostage is also real......

Give consumers what they want, at a fair price. It's all we ask, surely?

I don't watch the local/MY Fox offering.

[1fast1]

37 minutes ago, Kyrios said:

Does that mean to watch Fox sports i gotta subscribe Disney? 

What about Fox News..the anti biden news channel..😄

Is that going away as well?

Faux News, you mean? 😁

[Jamesc]

9 hours ago, kobayashiGT said:

Now i don't really watch sports. I read on news more. hahaha.

Me too only watch news

I am a news hound and I just can't get enough.

[Picnic06-Biante15]

I only interested in BPL, UCL and Europa Leagues ..... 

[kobayashiGT]

Have you all seen how Arsenal thrash Tottenham yesterday? hahahahaha. Shiok ah!

 

[serenade]

Still no solution in sight with 3 days remaining. How to watch live F1, MotoGP, SBK, Grand Slam tennis after this month?

Has anyone got ideas as to where to subscribe for motor-sports for live stream? Then I use chromecast to get onto my big screen TV from iPad

Tennis have to subscribe separately for ATP and WTA at USD120 a year kind of rates. Even then, no Grand Slams. Grand Slams each event has own licensee. 

Life has gotten more complicated and expensive for us armchair consumers in Asia.

[Adrianli]

10 minutes ago, serenade said:

Still no solution in sight with 3 days remaining. How to watch live F1, MotoGP, SBK, Grand Slam tennis after this month?

Has anyone got ideas as to where to subscribe for motor-sports for live stream? Then I use chromecast to get onto my big screen TV from iPad

Tennis have to subscribe separately for ATP and WTA at USD120 a year kind of rates. Even then, no Grand Slams. Grand Slams each event has own licensee. 

Life has gotten more complicated and expensive for us armchair consumers in Asia.

We only get to subscribe to F1 TV which only shows highlights and live timings. Other regions get to subscribe to F1 PRO TV that has live streaming. I guess need VPN to subscribe to F1 PRO TV. 

If got VPN, probably subscribe directly to ESPN liao.

[serenade]

1 minute ago, Adrianli said:

We only get to subscribe to F1 TV which only shows highlights and live timings. Other regions get to subscribe to F1 PRO TV that has live streaming. I guess need VPN to subscribe to F1 PRO TV. 

If got VPN, probably subscribe directly to ESPN liao.

My grouse is that F1 subscription gets F1 only. If want MotoGp, have to subscribe to another provider. There is no 1-stop for all motor sports.

Side-track a bit here to prepare to direct subscription. Which is a high speed VPN service is good? 

[Adrianli]

No more Fox sports, Fox movies and NGC People on Mio Tv from today. And Singtel never put up any replacement channels.