SINGAPORE - Local tennis fans can continue catching Grand Slam action live after Singtel announced the launch of two dedicated sports channels featuring Wimbledon and the US Open, among other offerings, on Friday (Oct 8).
This follows the
shutting down of Fox Sports channels
in South-east Asia and Hong Kong on Oct 1, a move which had left many sports fans frustrated, particularly those who are F1, tennis and golf enthusiasts.
The channels, SPOTV (Ch 114) and SPOTV 2 (Ch 115), will be launched on Oct 11 and fans can catch live action from sporting events such as those two Grand Slams, MotoGP, golf's British Open and World Table Tennis tournaments.
All Singtel TV customers will enjoy free previews of both channels from Oct 11 to Nov 8.
Existing customers subscribed to the World Sports pack and all Variety, Value and Ultimate packs, as well as Singtel CAST customers who are subscribed to the Sports Plus pack, will be able to enjoy these two channels at no additional charges.
StarHub subscriber Jerome Low, 30, said he would consider switching to Singtel as he and his family enjoy watching live sports, particularly football and tennis.
He noted that while the practice of streaming sports action is more common now and one can always subscribe to Tennis TV for live ATP action, he noted: "It's good (that Singtel is still providing this avenue) because it maintains sports exposure to Singapore and it gives people an avenue to watch it rather than going through illegal means.
"For the non tech-savvy people like older folks who have been following (action on TV) for very long, they might not know they can subscribe to official streaming services so it's good they found alternatives to continue showing all these sports."
Singtel had also earlier
secured the broadcast rights for Formula One,
with all Singtel TV customers getting a free preview of this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix.
Those who subscribe to Singtel's World Sports pack, Variety packs and all Value and Ultimate packs can continue watching F1 on mio Sports 2 (Ch112) at no additional cost for the rest of the season as well as the 2022 term.
To watch Singtel's two new channels and F1, those who are not subscribed to Singtel TV packs can sign up for its streaming service Cast Sports Plus as a standalone, which costs $49.90 a month. Or they can sign up for the telco's Starter or Family pack (from $21.90 a month) and World Sports pack (add on $14.90 a month).
They can also sign up for the Value or Ultimate packs (from $69.90 a month). For more information, visit singtel.com/tvpacks.
Meanwhile, StarHub subscribers to its Sports+ and Sports Pass can catch this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix on Hub Sports and Hub Sports 2 channels (Ch 201 and 202).
The telco said that it is "finalising the deal for the remaining races this season, and will update when there are developments".
StarHub's other sports offerings include the Bundesliga, La Liga, French Ligue 1, National Basketball Association and World Wrestling Entertainment.