“Same old expensive price” was probably the first thing that struck many Singapore football fans when they heard today that StarHub is charging S$58 to watch live Euro 2012 matches in June.

The price, for early birds only, is only slightly less than the other football bonanza just two years ago – the World Cup. Back then, pay-TV viewers had to pay S$66 to get the live matches, prompting much unhappiness.

But this time, things may be a little different. And they could have a huge bearing on how expensive sports progammes will be in future.

For Euro 2012, viewers will be able to watch the matches without being tied to a StarHub contract. This includes SingTel mio TV subscribers who can now watch the matches through their existing set-top boxes. They will pay StarHub separately but the content will be piped through SingTel’s network without having them fuss over a new set-top box.

This is the first time this is happening because of a “cross carriage” ruling that the government regulator had hammered into place after the World Cup bidding fiasco in 2010.
…

From April 30, all you couch potatoes will be punching in different numbers on your StarHub remote to access the channels you have grown so accustomed to over the more than 10 years that cable TV has been on the telly in Singapore.

Following other pay-TV operators like Astro in Malaysia, StarHub is changing all its channel numbers into three-digit numbers, themed along the genres they belong to.

So, your favourite Football Channel would be changed from Ch 27 to Ch 222 (Ch 200+ is for sports), while HBO would change from Ch60 to Ch601 (Ch 600+ for movies), for example. …