AFTER the unpopular hike in subscription fees for its sports channel, StarHub announced two pieces of good news last week.
First, football fans who subscribe to its sports package can soon watch the English Premier League on their PCs and cellphones for free.
Second, those who just want to watch EPL can pay $25 a month to do so on their PCs or cellphones - without the cumbersome basic tier package of programmes that come with StarHub's cable TV service.
Sure, there is a catch: You have to be on StarHub's broadband or cellphone service to tune in on your PCs and cellphones.
And yes, you will get only the big matches of the day, as only one out of the three live football channels on TV will be shown on the PC and cellphone.
But that does not take away the fact that digital media has opened up more choices.
For a long time, content owners have avoided broadcasting on the PC and cellphone out of concern that these new channels will breed piracy because programmes can be easily copied and re-transmitted digitally.
But the industry has clearly softened its stance as more people become comfortable with watching online videos and want more choices in the delivery of programmes.
So StarHub scores high for catering to an increasingly Net-savvy audience, despite knowing that its new PC and cellphone channels will cannibalise its cable TV offerings.
The new flexibility is also due to heightened competition in the pay-TV market.
Why did StarHub unbundle its most popular programme - the EPL - from its buffet menu and offer it as an a la carte item?
Simple. Look no further than rival SingTel's entrance into the pay-TV market.
When the 'red camp', as SingTel is known, launched its mioTV service last month, it took aim at StarHub's basic cable TV package.
This 12-year-old concept, as old as the cable operator itself, basically forces people to subscribe to a bundle of programmes. You cannot pick the EPL channels alone as you also have to subscribe to other channels as part of a package.
Why, asked SingTel, should viewers who are increasingly tied for time pay for channels they do not watch?
On SingTel's mioTV service, programmes are sold a la carte - from $1 for an episode in a Korean serial to $12 a month for a regular movie channel.
StarHub knows that it has to give customers more viewing options or risk losing them in future.
Ironically, this may be the first time that competition in pay-TV services has done that much good for viewers.
So far, the opening up of the market has led only to skyrocketing costs as the operators engage in a bidding war for exclusive content such as live EPL matches.
To outbid rivals SingTel and ESPN StarSports for EPL broadcast rights, StarHub reportedly paid about $250 million - four times the previous price - late last year.
The result: Cable TV will cost $10 more a month if you subscribe to StarHub's sports package and $4 more for the basic tier.
Given that the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang, has rejected a SingTel appeal to ban exclusive deals on popular content like live EPL matches, the status quo is likely to remain.
EPL will be screened only on StarHub for the next three years. And for the foreseeable future, only one pay-TV operator will carry live EPL matches every season.
That means prices won't come down fast as long as people clamour to watch Manchester United.
Viewers can only hope that StarHub will do more than sit on its precious broadcast rights. It can, for example, sell its three live football channels as an a la carte item on its cable TV menu, instead of spreading its costs by forcing people to sign up for a basic package.
That may mean that a sports package, which costs $25 now, could cost even more, but it would give viewers more flexibility.
For now, football fans can only be thankful for small mercies - that StarHub has been prodded by the competition into offering alternatives to its own cable TV sports package.
This is a good start. Let's hope that more cable content will go online on the PC and mobile phone, providing an alternative to television.
