“One of the biggest obstacles for Astro is its technical constraints,” said Ranga S, managing director of Starcom Indonesia. “There are problems with cabling and reception. Some consumers want to subscribe to Astro, but can’t receive it.”
Fierce competition within the broadcasting segment is adding to Astro’s woes - there are at 11 free-to-air channels, according to Ranga, and consumers may not be willing to pay to watch Al Jazeera. “Indonesian consumers prefer to watch free content and there are a lot of local channels that offer decent coverage of international news.Astro is clearly hoping to grow its consumer base through Al Jazeera.”
