When just one company controls a particular market segment, it’s called a Monopoly. And nothing says monopoly better in Malaysia than cable TV operators Astro.

As a consumer and an ad-man, I like competition.

When companies compete, consumers win. Usually with cheaper prices and better value; think about the hypermarkets and how they slash prices like crazy to pull-in customers.

And we freelance copywriters, art directors and designers get more work to do when companies compete; because they then have to run aggressive promotional activities that require our services.

Of course with Astro, there’s no such thing. Their only competition is free-to-air TV, which might as well not exist.

I’ve been a bill-paying customer of Astro for close to 10 years, so I think I have earned the right to speak my mind. Hence the reasons why I hate Astro:

1. I now pay double in fees for the same package I have subscribed since day one. Remember, more channels does not mean more value; I can only watch one channel at a time.
2. Astro always cite the rising costs of programming globally when increasing their prices. Why not pass on these costs to advertisers rather than us consumers?
3. Sometimes it feels like I am paying to watch ads. There are way too many ads for a subscription-based service.
4. The programming is much left to be desired. Repeats after repeats of old programmes. If you’re a fan of Jamie Oliver, you know what I’m talking about.
5. Absurd packaging of channels. Only one or two decent channels in a package. The rest is garbage. Why not let us choose the channels we want, individually?
6. Rain, solar interruption and sometimes even when it’s just very cloudy; you get the very familiar “services currently not available” message.
7. Even the 45-mins of watching a live football match is littered with on-screen running tickers, cross-promos and ads. My 32-inch TV is often reduced to a 21-inch!
8. The Box Office packages are a rip-off. They often show old, B-grade movies on regular movie channels and charge a premium for decent movies.
9. I’d probably have more luck getting an appointment with the prime minister than getting hold of someone on the other end of their customer service hotline.
10. They say Tutor TV helps school children learn better; but in actual fact they are just turning kids into TV addicts.

Ahhhhh… it’s nice to get stuff off your chest. Now where’s the damn remote!