Astro Chief Operating Officer Henry Tan said despite the lower viewership, Astro’s budget allocation for local versus foreign content stood at 30:70.
“In short, local productions make up 30 per cent of our total investment in Tamil content, and this is three times the market preference,” he said in a media statement.
“The reality is that production of local content is costly, but we remain committed to increase our fresh hours of local content.”
Tan added in the past 10 years, Astro had produced over 7,000 hours of local Tamil content, including Vizhthugal and 360 Degree, to help bridge and connect the relevant stakeholder groups with the community.
However, theatre playwright and movie director ST Bala questioned the figures. He said local artistes on several occasions had asked for proof of the viewership statistics but their requests were not entertained.
Furthermore, he claimed there were times when one of the Astro channels, Vaanavil played a local-made Indian movie but showcased a popular Tamil movie with stars like Rajinikanth or Kamal Hassan on other channels.
“They have done this several times. Of course, people will watch their idol rather than the local movie,” he said, adding that airing local shows at non-peak hours against foreign dramas at peak hours will also skew the viewership numbers to favour the foreign show.
Bala a seasoned veteran with 27 years experience in the local arts industry said local production was a lot more expensive as it was originally made for Malaysian television.
“Indian-made movies and productions are cheaper because they are made for Indian TV. Whatever they sell to Malaysia is a bonus because they have made their money there selling the production to their local television networks.”
He added Astro should support Malaysian Indian artistes the same way it supported the Malay entertainment industry through Astro Ria and Astro Awani.
Astro was asked to comment on a protest held at its entrance today by local Indian artistes who claimed the satellite TV broadcaster was not doing enough to promote local Indian content.
The protest was organised by the Malaysia Indian Creative Content Council (MICCC) who want Astro to showcase local news, talk shows, documentaries and other content to engage the local community on Malaysian issues and lifestyle.
MICCC said it was also a better move to support the local economy, creating and supporting jobs by funding local productions.
Tan in his statement added that Astro put their customers at the heart of everything it did. He added that as a content and consumer company, Astro aspired to meet the entertainment needs of a diverse Malaysian market.
“We also support and nurture Malaysian talents with the aspiration to bring them onto the global stage in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Singapore. Our programmes such as Vaanavil SuperStar and Yutha Medai have given opportunity to over 1,000 local talents. Similarly we have groomed over 125 hosts and anchors on TV and Radio.”
Tan said Astro’s initiatives, including locally produced and aggregated channels have been exported, including to neighbouring Singapore. The initiative has been recognised in local and international award shows, and have won numerous Seri Angkasa Awards, multiple Edison Awards including The Best Tamil HD channel in Southeast Asia.
“Astro continues to engage the Indian community via hundreds of community programmes nationwide in the areas of wellness, education, skills training and cultural shows.”
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