Please read the case "StarHub: English Premier League" presented below and answer the questions:
StarHub: English Premier League
Some of the most ardent fans of Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool live far from Highbury, Old Trafford, and Anfield. Until the 2006-2007 season, ESPN held the broadcast rights to the English Premier League (EPL) for Singapore. Then, in late 2006, StarHub bid and estimated $160 million U.S. dollars to beat ESPN to win the rights for the next three seasons. The winning bid paid more than ESPN had paid for the previous rights.
The Singapore government prohibits the reception of satellite TV. StarHub, an integrated telecommunications and cable provider, is the only provider in Singapore. In 2007, StarHub's major source of revenues was mobile services, which accounted for 52% of revenues and included:
Cable TV 17%
Broadband 12%
Fixed network services 14%
Equipment sales 5%
In 2001, StarHub unbundled the basic cable TV package into thematic basic packages and reduced the price from $32,95 to $20 a month. Subsequently, it added new channels to the various basic packages without increasing prices. In 2004, StarHub raised the price of the sports package from $8 to $15 a month. The sports package included ESPN Star Sports. Typically, cable TV operators pay content providers such as ESPN a royalty based on the number of subscribers to the content.
Following the acquisition of the English Premier League (EPL) rights, StarHub announced price increases to the basic packages from $20 to $24 a month in July. StarHub decided to broadcast the EPL on its own sports channel, which is included in the sports package. This resulted on an increase of the sports package from $15 to $25 a month, effective in October.
Mr. Thomas Ee, StarHub Senior Vice President explained price increases this way: "Most pay-TV operators around the world increase prices periodically, and StarHub has not done so despite a steady rise in costs over the years."
In 2007, StarHub's cable TV revenue grew by 9% from S$313 million to S$342 million. The average revenue per user (ARPU) rose by 6% from S$48 to S$51, while the subscriber base increased by 4% to 504,000 as at the end of December, 2007. Relative to the number of households in Singapore, the subscriber base amounted to a 45% penetration rate.
Source: Ivan Png (2008), Managerial Economics. This cased is based in part on the article “Singaporeans to pay more to watch EPL next season," Strait Times, 11 May 2007.
1) Identify changes in demand and costs (fixed and marginal costs relative to the number of subscribers) arising from StarHub's acquisition of the EPL rights.
2) Which of the changes in demand would be relevant to StarHub's pricing of cable TV services?
3) Do you think that, prior to the 2007 price increases; StarHub's prices had maximized profits?
4) From the viewpoint of a content provider like ESPN, which receives a per-customer royalty from a cable TV operator, explain the moral hazard to which the cable TV operator is subject.
5) From the viewpoint of EPL, explain how you could solve asymmetry information between EPL and cable TV operators.