Tag Archives: dimsum

No More Dimsum : Why It Lasted Less Than 5 Years!

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It’s the end for Dimsum, after Star Media Group management announced their decision to shut it down!

Find out what just happened, and why it lasted less than 5 years!

 

Dimsum Calls It Quits, After Less Than 5 years!

After less than 5 years, Star Media Group is calling it quits in the VOD (Video On Demand) subscription business.

On 6 April 2021, they announced that they would shut down Dimsum Entertainment by 30 September 2021.

This decision came after the media group appointed Alex Yeow Wai Saw as CEO on 1 March 2021, and Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung as independent and non-executive chairman on 15 March 2021.

 

Why Did Dimsum Fail?

Officially, a strategic review by its new key management team apparently identified new opportunities for the group to explore.

Chief marketing officer Lam Swee Kim said that while it was a difficult decision to end this chapter, “we are excited to explore promising new ventures in the near future”.

What’s left unsaid is that in the last 4+ years, Dimsum had very little mindshare, even though it offers free viewing, supported by ads.

It focused on Asian content, which is also the focus on iflix and iQIYI (both of which are more established) as well as Viu.

But people who wanted to watch Chinese shows would stick with iQIYI, while those who wanted Korean shows would use Viu. iflix had better luck with ASEAN content.

And with Disney+ coming to Malaysia very soon – the launch was slated for 31 March 2021, but got delayed at the last minute – the writing was on the wall.

Granted, Disney+ would be competing mainly with Netflix and Apple TV+, but most Malaysians can hardly afford multiple streaming services.

If given the option between paying for Disney+ and paying for Dimsum VIP, the choice seems obvious.

The new management team probably “understood” that they would see subscribers shifting to the free offering, and decided to cut losses.

Honestly, we doubt many people would notice them leaving… there are simply too many alternative options offering the same or similar Asian content.

 

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Maxis TV Is Here, But Is It Worth Subscribing?

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Maxis TV promises to offer multiple OTT steaming services at a cheaper price.

Take a look at what Maxis TV actually offers, and find out if it’s really worth your money!

 

Maxis TV : Cheaper OTT Streaming Bundles?

What exactly is Maxis TV? Maxis calls it a “first of its kind video entertainment service”.

Let’s be clear – Maxis TV is not a video streaming service. In fact, Maxis doesn’t actually stream anything to anyone.

All Maxis TV really does is offer bundles of five existing OTT streaming services.

  • dimsum
  • iQIYI
  • MUBI
  • viu
  • WeTV iflix

While they call it “completely new in the market and cannot be found anywhere else”, that’s only true if you are too lazy to subscribe to those streaming services yourselves.

Their true value proposition is offering these OTT streaming services at cheaper prices, with a single payment point. That’s really it.

 

Maxis TV Bundles : Are They Worth It?

Maxis TV promises to offer flexible OTT bundle passes, which confusingly, are divided into three categories :

  • Single Pass (should really be called Limited Pass)
    – Daily with 3 GB data limit : RM 3
    – Weekly with 5 GB data limit : RM 5
    – Monthly with 10 GB data limit : RM 9.99
  • 2-OTT Bundle with Unlimited Data : RM 18 per month
  • Unlimited Bundle with Unlimited Data : RM 42 per month

We can quickly identify a few problems with the Maxis TV bundles…

Single Pass with Limited Data

Maxis should have kept things simple – charge by the day, week or month. But they had to complicate it by adding a data limit.

Their potential subscribers are going to have to figure out – how much data does this movie take up? Or that TV episode?

Why add this unnecessary limit? It seems intentionally designed to prevent binge-watching by people on a budget.

2-OTT Bundle

Maxis TV offers only five combinations for their 2-OTT Bundle.

You cannot, for example, choose dimsum and viu, or MUBI and dimsum, or MUBI and iQIYI.

This is partly because WeTV and iflix are much cheaper than viu.

Dimsum, WeTV, iflix Are FREE / Cheaper

You can actually watch dimsum, WeTV and iflix content for FREE.

You only need to pay for VIP access to certain “hot” content, or the ability to skip advertisements (WeTV and dimsum).

Only One Package Worth Considering

Unless you are looking to subscribe to multiple bundles, it is generally cheaper to subscribe directly :

  • dimsum VIP : RM 8.90 per month
  • MUBI : RM 15 per month, RM 120 per year
  • iQIYI Standard VIP : RM 8.90 per month
  • viu : RM 12.90 per month, RM 88 per year
  • WeTV VIP : RM 7.90 per month
  • iflix VIP : RM 3 per week

From our POV, the only Maxis TV bundle worth considering is the Unlimited Pass, which gives you access to all five OTT services. You will then save RM 13 per month.

Even that is assuming you plan to watch all five of them. If you only want to use 3-4 of those OTT services, it is cheaper to just subscribe directly.

 

Maxis TV : Free 1-Month Trial!

Maxis is now offering a free one-month trial for all new Maxis TV subscribers, even for non-Maxis customers.

So you can give it a try, or use it to get some free streaming for a month. Just make sure you discontinue it before the subscription kicks in automatically!

 

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