StarHub's brand sentiments plummet after English Premier League broadcast issues

StarHub has seen its brand sentiments plummet following the opening weekend of the English Premier League (EPL) after subscribers faced issues logging into the StarHub TV+ service and were unable to watch the broadcast.

According to comments seen on StarHub's Facebook page, many were unhappy that they paid a subscription fee only to watch a loading screen and to miss the match entirely. Many also noted that StarHub needed to be "held accountable" and that they "regret" switching from SingTel to StarHub. A number also pointed out that StarHub has regularly faced issues handling the EPL stream year after year and that this was the same situation they faced in previous years. 

Don't miss: StarHub's head of brand and communications Cheryl Lim vacates role

StarHub was active on its social pages during the matches and worked hard to address issues faced by viewers. In one response, StarHub confirmed that it was aware that some of its customers were experiencing login issues with the StarHub TV+ service and encouraged the affected used to message them privately with more details. In other comments, StarHub gave detailed instructions as to how customers could troubleshoot by rebooting their routers and checking network frequency. 

Despite its efforts, brand sentiments for the platform plummeted. According to media intelligence company CARMA, mentions of Starhub spiked over the weekend, with corresponding sentiment skewing negative.

Before last weekend, the brand’s social media sentiments were 20.3% positive and 11% negative. Over the weekend though, positive sentiments dipped and negative sentiments more than doubled. Sentiments of social conversation surrounding StarHub were 25% negative and only 10% positive with 65% neutral sentiments recorded over the EPL weekend.

Adding on, media intelligence firm Truescope explained that sentiments around the disruption were negative at the start, with many netizens commenting on Facebook, X and local forums and comparing it to last season’s disruption when users reported lags, freezes and poor audio and visual quality with the broadcast on the opening weekend of the 2022 EPL season.

Negative discussions then continued throughout the weekend, primarily on forums such as Hardware Zone and Reddit, but were lifted slightly after the company announced that the issue was resolved on 14 August, according to Truescope.

When MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out, StarHub explained that on 12 August, some of its customers had difficulty logging into the TV+ service for the Premier League and that it provided affected viewers with a "workaround" for them to catch the live matches.

"All our other customers continued to be able to access the service," it said. 

It noted that as of Sunday night, it was able to smoothen the TV+ login experience and that all its TV+ and IPTV customers were able to enjoy the games. This included the Chelsea vs. Liverpool match.

"We remain committed to providing our customers with an exciting Premier League viewing experience," it said. 

The Premier League kicked off on Saturday evening with a match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. The game saw a 30-minute delay after the Emirates Stadium faced issues with its e-ticking system that saw thousands of fans being stranded outside. Arsenal then beat Nottingham in the match with a 2-1 score. 

StarHub currently holds the broadcast rights for the Premier League after taking it from Singtel who held the rights for 12 consecutive years. StarHub announced this change in February last year and noted that it will be the official English Premier League broadcaster in Singapore for the next six years starting with the 2022-2023 season.

The news comes months after StarHub received the highest rate of complaints for its broadband services in 2022, according to a report by Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) with statistics on telecom service providers (TSP) handling consumer feedback for the period from August to September 2022. Quoted on Channel NewsAsia, IMDA's report stated that a complaint is defined as "any expression of dissatisfaction with a telecommunication service that requires follow-up by the service provider".

According to IMDA’s report seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, StarHub received a rate of 8.76 and 5.09 complaints per 10,000 customers in August and September respectively for its broadband services. This is considered high when compared to other broadband providers such as MyRepublic, M1, Singtel and ViewQuest which were also included in the report. MyRepublic had 0.31 and 0.20, M1 logged 0.20 and 0.10, Singtel received 0.25 and 0.14, and ViewQwest recorded a rate of 0.70 and 0.70.

The biggest conference is back! Experience the future of marketing with 500+ brilliant minds at Digital Marketing Asia on 28 - 30 November in Singapore. Uncover groundbreaking strategies that connect leading brands with their target audiences effectively.

Related articles:
StarHub hands creative mandate for giga! to Grey Group SG
StarHub tipped to appoint a panel of agencies for creative mandate
IMDA: StarHub receives the most complaints for broadband services