IT would not be an understatement to say that all forms of content have been disrupted in the last decade.

 

The likes of Netflix, Spotify and even TikTok have stolen hundreds of hours of our attention away from traditional TV and radio.

 

Even the once holy grail of sports has felt the heat, with many fans indignant at the high prices charged to watch the English Premier League (EPL).

 

They have voted with their feet, with piracy and illegal streaming seemingly on the rise.

 

While the Asia Video Industry Association&rsquo s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) has applied to block numerous sites and domains over the years, many people have found ways to consume content for free.

 

Meanwhile, pay-TV subscription numbers are on the decline. Singtel, which won the EPL broadcast rights in 2018, has seen its residential TV subscriber base decline to 356,000 as at 31 Mar, 2022, from 395,000 in 2018. TV revenue has also declined &ndash to S$197 million in 2022, from S$241 million in 2018.

 

Convoluted pricing schemes may have put people off further.

 

The telco had offered a limited package over its streaming app for S$49.90 per month. But subscribers to this plan have complained about frozen screens and a lack of device compatibility.

 

The alternative, however, was to pay S$64.90 for the mio Stadium+ package, which would include more than just the EPL matches. The catch: subscribers were locked into 2-year contracts, and would have to continue to pay in June and July during the EPL off-season.

 

StarHub appears to be trying to address these complaints. It is offering EPL matches at between S$24.99 and S$39.99, with no lock-in period.

 

In collaboration with the EPL, StarHub will also include interactive elements such as match statistics and rewinds. In the off-season, subscribers can either cancel their subscriptions or dig into the EPL&rsquo s library of historic games and other behind-the-scenes content.

 

The lower pricing and add-ons are an indication of the challenge that telcos face to monetise content.

 

In the past, exclusive content and bundled services were enough to drive telcos' revenues. But this business model has been eroded over time as content moved online and got cheaper.

 

Telcos vying for consumer loyalty will have to experiment, instead, with value-added services at affordable prices.

 

The interactive elements being introduced to StarHub' s EPL offering are one such example. The tech that StarHub has employed to provide interactive elements on top of matches could potentially be worked into other sports too, such as Formula 1. That might help StarHub win over sports fans.

 

Another possibility is in the field of gaming. StarHub hosts Nvidia&rsquo s GeForce Now cloud gaming service on its data centres, which it sells to subscribers at cheaper rates. It could improve on this offering by optimising the experience of its subscribers so that their games stream better. That might help StarHub win over gamers.

 

Unfortunately for the likes of StarHub and Singtel, content is a saturated business.

 

As both telcos vie for attention against other streaming platforms, they will have to contend with subscriber fatigue. Even Netflix, which has taken eyeballs away from many pay-TV platforms, posted its first net loss of subscribers earlier this year. The company saw its share price tumble 35 per cent in a single day.

 

The low price points for StarHub' s packages also suggest that bidding for the EPL is less competitive than it once was, indicating the weakening pricing power of content providers.

 

EPL content is probably not the hot commodity it used to be.