Solar offers affordable digibox

SOLAR DIGITAL Media Holdings, Inc. has announced the entry of the newest digital receiver in the Philippine market aimed at giving consumers options and access to “quality entertainment at a more affordable price,” according to a company release.
“EasyTV is unique — -we offer all the free digital channels plus you get premium content,” Rene Esguerra, COO of Solar Digital Media Holdings, Inc., told reporters during a roundtable interview on July 2 at the Solar offices in Mandaluyong City.
EasyTV SUPERDIGIBOX, which retails at P2,999, comes with the digital receiver (which also acts as a media player) and a year-long subscription to 15 premium channels from Solar Entertainment including a dedicated Korean drama channel called K Plus, a History channel, a 24-hour horror channel, BOO, and three sports channels — Solar Sports, BTV (Basketball TV), and NBA Premium TV. If a customer wants to keep the subscription for the 15 premium channels after the initial year, it will then cost P999 a year.
“We’re looking at positioning ourselves between those with [ABS-CBN’s] TVplus and those with [pay TV] subscription,” Mr. Esguerra said.
ABS-CBN TVplus is a digital terrestrial television product and service owned and operated by ABS-CBN Convergence, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. It was launched commercially in 2015. The product gives customers access to free-to-air channels such as ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Sports+Action, as well as premium channels including CineMo!, YeY!, the Knowledge Channel, and DZMM Teleradyo. It is currently priced at P1,499.
He noted that more often than not, viewers who have pay TV subscriptions are not able to watch all the channels on their service, and this is why EasyTV is an attractive alternative: they have access to free-to-air channels alongside a couple of other premium channels. But all of that doesn’t mean they’re out to replace pay TV operators.
“We’re not going after [pay TV] operators, they have their own market; we’re not after TVplus, they have their own market. We’re creating an alternative. Those who want cheaper pay TV and those who want better than the free digital broadcast, we’re in that segment,” he explained.
In May, ABS-CBN Corp. announced it was targeting to sell six million boxes in the country and had sold 4.3 million boxes as of end-2017.
EasyTV was launched in late May and Mr. Esguerra noted that so far “the performance has exceeded our expectations. The pick-up was very good and probably, it’s because it offers something very unique.”
He added that the company is expecting deploy 500,000 units in the first 12 months with a focus on Metro Manila despite having people request they bring the device to other regions like Davao and Cebu.
“We wanted to compete in the most competitive market. We wanted to see how EasyTV will hold up in Metro Manila,” Mr. Esguerra said.
“What we’re doing right now is, before moving to provincial areas, we want the service to be solid in Metro Manila,” he said before explaining that they currently have only one tower in Metro Manila and are building two more so the coverage will be wider.
Aside from the current 15 premium channels, EasyTV is also looking at adding more channels including a Tagalog movie channel and a movie channel dedicated to films from the Solar Pictures library.
“We’re really hoping that with (EasyTV), we will be changing the viewing habits of the Filipino people. Given the attention span of Filipinos, you have to give them good content, as some of them do not have the time to surf. We’re looking at adding more channels but we are very selective with the channels we want to air. What we want is what the people want,” Mr. Esguerra said.
EasyTV is currently available in ShopTV (www.shoptv.com.ph) and on its own website (www.easytv.ph). Mr. Esguerra said they are looking at bringing the box to retailers such as Ace Hardware and Handyman in the near future. — Zsarlene B. Chua