Applications
StarHub launches ‘Anytime TV’ service for its broadband customers
MUMBAI: StarHub has said that it will offer a new pay-as-you-watch cable TV plan exclusively to its home broadband customers who presently do not have a StarHub TV subscription.
Called ‘Anytime TV’, this new plan will allow customers to access StarHub TV’s on-demand library of more than 6,500 TV shows and movies as well as 12 complimentary cable TV channels.
“Most of our broadband customers today have our cable TV service. However, we recognise that there is a segment of customers who would prefer a more flexible, pay-as-you-watch cable TV service as they may not want to commit to a monthly subscription,” said Iris Wee, Vice President of Home Solutions & Content, StarHub.
“Our cable TV customers today enjoy access to more than 6,500 on-demand titles. We therefore thought that it would be great to extend our catalogue of on-demand content to this customer segment as well. Anytime TV will offer subscribers the flexibility to pay for what they want to watch at a time convenient to them, from as low as $1.07 per title.”
Anytime TV subscribers can catch the latest movie blockbusters and TVB dramas as early as a month after their DVD release or premiere in Hong Kong respectively. Popular Malay movies can be purchased as early as two weeks after their Malaysia box-office debut.
During this holiday season, Hollywood movie fans can look forward to box-office hits in High Definition (HD), such as The Amazing Spider-Man and The Bourne Legacy.
StarHub is also working with long-time content partner TVB to bring in popular TVB dramas, such as Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles and The Confidant. For added value, StarHub offers Anytime TV subscribers 10 per cent off StarHub TV’s Video-On-Demand titles and KaraOK! Day Pass.
Besides its on-demand video store, Anytime TV subscribers will get complimentary access to StarHub TV’s FreeView service comprising 12 StarHub TV channels, including Bloomberg Television, E City and SuperSports Arena.
By end-2012, StarHub will bring the total number of complimentary channels to 14 with the launch of ESPNews (Channel 207) and China Business Network (Channel 809). This new plan more than doubles the number of TV channels for customers who presently only watch free-to-air TV. StarHub‘s more than half a million cable TV customers are already enjoying this FreeView service.
Starting tomorrow, StarHub’s home broadband customers who wish to enjoy Anytime TV can call 1630 or visit any StarHub Shop or authorised dealer to rent a set-top box. The set-top box rental fee starts from $6.42 per month for the HD Interactive set-top box, to $14.98 per month for customers who wish to record and watch their favourite TV shows on HubStation HD.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
