Astro is a satellite based multi-channel subscription TV service in Malaysia and also Brunei. It was launched in 1995, after the Malaysian government eased its ban on private ownership of satellite dishes.

It carries the three Malaysian terrestrial channels, plus a variety of channels catering for the country's three main ethnic groups, broadcasting in Malay, Chinese and Tamil, as well as channels in English.

The service uses a ku-Band satellite, which requires a smaller size dish to receive the signal - larger satellite dishes are still banned. Channels carried on the Astro platform are still subject to editorial control or censorship, although Western news channels like BBC World have been able to secure carriage on it, in spite of previous disagrrements with the Malaysian government.

Astro's own News Channel carries programming from the Arabic language news channel Al-Jazeera, dubbed in Malay.

Ownership

Malaysian businessman Ananda Krishnan owns Astro's parent company, Astro All Asia Networks plc is listed on Bursa Malaysia in October 2003. Major shareholders of the Group include the Usaha Tegas Group (42.7%) and Khazanah Nasional Berhad (21.6%), the investment arm of the Malaysian Government.

Channel line-up

New Competition

Astro monopolised the pay-TV network in Malaysia for several years after Mega TV folded in 2001 and had no competition until June 2004 when another company, MiTV announced that they were launching their own pay-TV service by mid-2005 after having obtained all the necessary approvals from the censorship board on its broadcast contents.

See Also

• List of Malaysian television stations

External Links

• Astro's official website