Astro (company)

Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn. Bhd.
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded1 June 1996; 28 years ago (1996-06-01)
FounderAnanda Krishnan
HeadquartersAll Asia Broadcast Centre (AABC), Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Area served
Nationwide
Key people
ProductsOTT Streaming
Direct broadcast satellite
Internet Service Provider
RevenueIncrease RM5.613 million (Q1 2017)[citation needed]
Decrease RM777.71 million (2014)[1]
Increase RM447.95 million (2014)[1]
ParentAstro Malaysia Holdings Berhad
Websitewww.astro.com.my

All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator, doing business as Astro (stylized in lowercase title), is a Malaysian satellite television, streaming television and IPTV provider. Astro is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad and is operated by MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn. Bhd. It operates from the All Asia Broadcast Centre (AABC) in Kuala Lumpur and MEASAT in Cyberjaya.

It forms part of the mass media duopoly in the country alongside Media Prima.[2] Astro launched the high-definition platform Astro B.yond in 2009[3] and the IPTV platform Astro IPTV in 2011, with the latter targeted at consumers who were unable to receive the company's satellite services.[4] The ultra high-definition (UHD) platform Astro Ultra was launched at the end of 2019 while the full high-definition (FHD) platform (replacement of Astro B.yond in future) called Astro Ulti was introduced in the mid of 2021.

Astro formerly operated in Indonesia from 2006 to 2008, under the Astro Nusantara brand and also in Brunei from 2000 to 2022 under the Kristal-Astro brand. The Indonesian operations were operated by PT Direct Vision,[5] while the Bruneian operations were operated by Kristal Sdn. Bhd. In 2016, the company was recorded as achieving 71% household penetration in Malaysia.[6] It was granted an exclusive license as the sole pay-television provider by the Malaysian federal government until 2017.[7]

  1. ^ a b "BursaMKTPLC : IQ215354258". Bursa Marketplace. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  2. ^ National Studies on Assessing the Economic Contribution of the Copyright-based Industries. World Intellectual Property Organization. 2014. pp. 159–160. ISBN 9789280520224. Retrieved 16 April 2020. There are two relatively large integrated media investment groups that carry out commercial broadcasting, i.e. Media Prima Berhad (MPB) and ASTRO All Asia Networks Plc (ASTRO). Both media groups compete for a relatively small but growing domestic market and both have ventured into the international market for broadcasting and entertainment.
  3. ^ "Astro to launch HDTV services on Friday". Business Times. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Astro partners with TIME dotcom to roll-out Astro B.yond IPTV services". Greyreview.com. 20 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Astro Akhirnya Berhenti Siaran". Kompas (in Indonesian). 20 October 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Astro aims to increase household penetration to 75% next year". Business News. The Star Online. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  7. ^ Goh Thean Eu (22 September 2014). "Astro scores in all major indicators". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2019.