Locally, it seems like Astro Malaysia will be the company to do it. Not surprising considering that it has been consolidating content from different provides for more than two decades now.
Is Astro announcing a partnership with Netflix?
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According to The Edge, Astro might be announcing a partnership with Netflix soon - as soon as this week.
Speculation by the business media comes after Astro mentioned that it will be signing another tie-up with a SVOD during a call with analysts.
Astro already has partnerships with Disney+ Hotstar, HBO GO and China's iQIYI. It also recently launched sooka, a standalone subscription based and advertisement-supported streaming service focusing mainly on local and sports content that are mobile friendly.
If the company manages to sign a partnership with Netflix, it'll surely be a cherry on top a pretty attractive cake.
Astro without satellite might come soon too
One of the biggest complaints Astro users have had since the beginning of time (or the service) is service interruption during bad weather.
With the introductions of Astro's On Demand feature, users with good internet connection could still stream the content made available on the platform but disruption to its "live TV" remained a problem.
According to The Edge's report, this may be a thing of the past as well.
It's believed that Astro is planning on introducing satellite-free decoders on 8 July in a move to be more appealing to those who dislike the current system. Analysts foresee a drop in Astro installation prices if this pans out.
Does this mean that the company will no longer have satellite TV? Probably unlikely in the near future, unless Malaysia miraculously introduces fast internet connections even in rural places soon.
It'll be interesting to see if a partnership with Netflix will be indeed announced and what it looks like.
If it means cheaper content streaming with minimum interruption, count us in!