MyStar revolutionises regional Australian TV

AUSTAR has announced that its new Personal Digital Recorder, MyStar, has hit a chord with regional Australians, just a week following the product’s launch to new customers on 1 February.

AUSTAR CEO, John Porter, said, “MyStar sales have so far exceeded our expectations, with our customers telling us this service adds a whole new dimension to the way regional Australia watches TV”. MyStar was successfully launched to existing customers in late 2007.

With live pause, live rewind, and recording functionality for two programs while reviewing a third, MyStar also provides viewers with the opportunity to record entire series as they’re aired, at the touch of a button. An Australian first, the PDR also contains two digital free-to-air tuners which enable viewers to watch their local, digital free-to-air channels seamlessly without having to purchase a separate digital set-top box.

Mr Porter says that for all this functionality, MyStar is actually about getting back to the basics of television. “To our customers, great TV is great TV, whether it’s on AUSTAR or their local networks. MyStar integrates free to air and satellite capability, enabling subscribers to pick up one remote and enjoy their local free to air channels as part of the AUSTAR experience. This has radically changed the way our subscribers watch television, allowing them to become their own programmers, with enormous ease.”

Subscription television has broken new ground, critically and commercially, in Australia. In 2007, one third of the AFI Television nominations were for subscription television programs. And throughout 2007, the time spent watching subscription programming in subscription households increased from 59% to 63%, one of the highest viewing figures in the world. “With so much to offer our customers, MyStar ensures our viewers have full access to our expanding stable of first-run, quality programming. Customers have told us that they love it, that its ease of use is a key to its success, and that they wouldn’t go back to the ‘old style’ of TV after using MyStar”, Mr Porter said.

MyStar is available for $14.95 a month with an AUSTAR subscription, and current subscribers will have a one-off installation fee of $49.95. Regional Australians can currently subscribe to AUSTAR for as little as $39.95 per month, adding MyStar for $14.95 a month, plus install costs.