Astro is widening its channel line-up this week, and the headline for most homes will be free. From 1 October 2026, Malaysia's largest pay-TV operator is opening a dedicated Pokemon Pop-Up Channel on CH 121, and it costs nothing extra for every Astro, NJOI and Sooka customer. Two new Chinese-language channels, Mango TV and U Panda TV, launch the same day on the paid tiers.
The Pokemon channel is the crowd-pleaser. Astro is marking 30 years of Pokemon with what it calls Malaysia's first dedicated Pokemon TV channel, running from 1 October to 31 December 2026. It carries more than 600 episodes in English dub, and the same episodes can be streamed on demand through Astro GO and Sooka. Families who want the Malay dub can already follow Season 24, Pokemon Master Journeys: The Series, on Astro Ceria (CH 611) every Thursday and Friday at 3:00pm, ahead of its run on the pop-up channel.
The two Chinese-language additions sit on the entertainment tier rather than in the free bucket. Mango TV (CH 336) brings dramas, original variety shows, reality programmes and movies from Hunan TV and Mango TV, the streaming brands behind a large slice of China's most-watched entertainment. U Panda TV (CH 337) leans factual and family, spanning history, culture, travel, nature, food and lifestyle. Astro frames the pair as an enrichment of its Chinese-language offering, giving households more mainland content to work through.
Access is where the two halves diverge. The Pokemon channel needs no pack and no sign-up if you are already an Astro, NJOI or Sooka customer. The new Chinese channels come with Astro's X3 Entertainment Pack, which the operator is pricing from RM39.99 a month against a RM59.99 recommended price, delivered over the internet with no box and no installation. That streaming-first, no-hardware route is the same direction Astro has been pushing with its other bundles.
The move fits a pattern we have tracked. Astro has been repackaging content rather than chasing dishes, as it did when it folded Netflix and a free Blockbuster pack into Astro One. For viewers weighing whether a pay-TV pack still earns its place next to standalone streaming apps, a free nostalgia channel and cheaper access to mainland Chinese content are exactly the kind of sweeteners meant to keep a subscription active. It is also worth remembering that a connected TV is watching back: if you are adding channels, it is a good moment to check what your set is tracking.
