Digital terrestrial TV (DTT) provider MyTV Broadcasting may allocate three stations to Star Publications in Malaysia.

The government has awarded MyTV a licence to operate DTT infrastructure and network facilities, as part of a process to complete digital TV transition by end-2016.

More than 60% of households in Malaysia already have digital through pay and free TV services operated by the local media major, Astro.

New DTT spectrum could allow space for up to 30 TV channels. Star Publications, said to be keen to enter the TV market with a DTT service, has yet to receive a service provider license to operate a free TV station.

A Pricey Proposition

Annual costs to operate at least one DTT station in Malaysia in standard definition could trend at US$15-20 million per year, about 15% of the country’s net TV ad spend.

This may be challenging given constricted advertising prospects across the free TV market, which is estimated to have contracted by 8% last year, according to industry analysts Media Partners Asia (MPA).

Star Publications, Malaysia’s biggest newspaper company with interests in TV and radio, generates more than US$300 million revenue a year, on a mid-20s Ebitda margin. Its main exposure to TV thus far has come from a 51% ownership of branded lifestyle pay channel and content producer, LiTV.