You gotta kidding me, Astro!

Don't buy these!

OK, before I proceed further, let me tell you something about the Astro First, which is a new channel from Astro and was launched on 10th January 2011.

• It was launched as a ‘near’ video-on-demand (VOD) and has twelve timeslots per day for viewing;
• The “damage” is RM15 per movie (that’s farking ridiculous!) and valid to view for 48 hours on its dedicated channel;
• Ordering of movie should be done via on-screen prompts and follow up with SMS;
• For the time being, only ‘new’ Malay movies are shown;
• Astro claims that the creation of Astro First is to help new Malay movies to reach a wider audience. And cheaper too, if viewed by more than one person;
• This channel is different from Astro Box Office (ABO) in term of payment and duration of viewing;
• Subscribers of Astro Max are unable to view any movie on Astro First. You have to convert either to normal Astro or to Astro B.yond;
• You can record the movies in Astro First, but miraculously the movies will be deleted after 48 hours of recording.

This is what I’m gonna say:

• What the hell are you thinking, Astro?
• By creating a channel something like this, the cinemas will run out of customers!
• Charging RM15 per movie is damn expensive. You better off charging a one-time payment for ALL movies and viewable in a month. Better still, just put the option in ABO;
• All the Malay movies are crap! There are better ways to help them prosper. And definitely not this way.
• Without you realising it or not, you’re encouraging piracy. When people don’t want to spend money at the cinema, they’ll watched it by getting their hands on some pirated DVDs, or even downloading it from the web. And your stupid pricing didn’t help;
• Well done, Astro! You’re a blood sucking asshole, just like the telcos!