StarHub TV: Has its English Premier League package boosted consumer interest in the brand?

In June, StarHub twice extended early bird rates for its English Premier League (EPL) Pay TV package, after its website and physical stores were overwhelmed by the volume of sign-ups.

The telco, which had won broadcasting rights for the popular football competition in Singapore earlier this year – breaking a 12-year streak by rival Singtel – has sharply lowered EPL streaming costs for the 2022/23 season by some 62-69% for existing customers and 35-38% for new customers (early bird versus regular pricing) with its Premier+ package, when compared to last season’s package from Singtel.

Additionally, StarHub is also introducing new viewing features for its Premier+ package subscribers, such as: allowing viewers to virtually invite friends to watch and chat about matches in real-time, view matches from the perspective of a player, watch two matches simultaneously on a single screen, and catch up on missed matches up to 24 hours ago.

Singtel pay TV customers, however, can still watch the new EPL season as part of a cross-carriage arrangement, albeit at a higher price – although the telco is offering a $30 monthly rebate for past subscribers who renew their subscription by 15 July.

So has StarHub’s Premier+ package significantly boosted consumer interest in its pay TV services relative to its main competitor?

Data from YouGov BrandIndex shows that, among Singapore consumers who follow football on a regular basis, Purchase Intent scores for StarHub TV rose a day after early bird registrations for its Premier+ package opened, to almost three percentage points on 10 June.

While Singtel TV caught up two days later, StarHub TV pulled ahead again from 14 June, spiking to eight percentage points. From 14-19 June – the last five days of the initial early bird extension window – Purchase Intent for StarHub TV dipped slightly, although it remained at least two percentage points ahead of Singtel.

But from 20 June – when the telco made a second extension of early bird rates till the end of the month, to give new customers more time to avoid early termination charges with their existing pay TV provider – Purchase Intent for StarHub TV rose to over nine percentage points, widening its gap over Singtel.

YouGov BrandIndex data also shows that net Recommend scores for StarHub started rising from 9 June – when the telco launched its EPL package – pulling ahead of Singtel.

This upward trajectory continued until 14 June, after which StarHub’s net Recommend scores declined over the next three days, before moving back to an upward trend from 17 June – reaching a high of almost nine percentage points on 21 June – one day after StarHub’s second early bird extension.

As football fans start watching pre-season matches in July using StarHub’s new Premier+ service, or Singtel’s pay TV via its cross-carriage agreement with StarHub, how will consumer perception towards these two telcos change? YouGov BrandIndex’s daily tracking of consumer perceptions towards the brand will allow interested parties to see just how much – and how soon.

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Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Purchase Intent scores are based on the following question: “From which of these brands would you be most likely to subscribe to?” (% yes). Recommend scores are based on the following question: “Which of the following brands would you recommend to a friend or colleague / tell a friend or colleague to avoid?” (Net score). All scores in this article from Singapore residents who selected “football / soccer” for the following question: “Which, if any, of the following sports do you watch / follow? Please select all that apply. By watch / follow, we mean that you either actively read about the sport on a regular basis, watch live broadcasts or highlights of matches / events online or TV, or attend matches / events in person.” Figures are based on a two-week moving average. Learn more about BrandIndex.