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Foxtel: revenue up, more channels coming

Foxtel promises television downloads and more channels by the end of the year.

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foxtel-logo22Foxtel yesterday reported a 19 per cent rise in first-half operating profit to $196 million, and a 13per cent rise in revenue.

Recording a strong profit rise for the December half, its chief executive officer Kim Williams told The Australian yesterday that he remained concerned about the impact of the fading economy on growth for the rest of the financial year.

“Naturally, the global crisis is having a big impact on consumer confidence, and consumer uncertainty translates into consumer indecision. The challenge for us is to speak to subscribers openly about what their concerns are,” he said.

Foxtel was putting “a lot of effort into customer attention”, given the confronting outlook, Mr Williams said.

And the company is tracking “slightly ahead of last year” for January and February.

In the December half included a rise in per-subscriber yields and churn (disconnections) fell to an annualised rate of 13.3 per cent, 0.2per cent lower than last year. New subscriber additions for the period were in line with a year earlier, despite the tougher economic conditions. Subscription revenue rose 11per cent to $762 million for the half.

Users of the iQ have lower churn rates than non-users.

Mr Williams said Foxtel would offer “broadband extensions of the product” by the fourth quarter of this year, which would allow subscribers to download 10 to 20 favourite Foxtel programs on their service to computers.

He said the company was likely to launch 20-plus new channels by the end of the year, courtesy of the additional bandwidth from a new Optus satellite.

Foxtel said it had achieved a 59% share of viewing in subscription TV homes during the second half of 2008, despite the impact of the Beijing Olympics. Its High Definition service, rolled out in June last year, had attracted more than 85,000 subscribers by the end of 2008.

Source: The Australian, B&T

59 Responses

  2. I don’t know about you guys but I’d love it if they had a whole channel dedicated to landmark Australian drama and groundbreaking original series uncut and uninterrupted on channel 104 and it was called Showcase. They’d have the same programming plus two new HBO shows:
    Six Feet Under
    Oz
    Now that’s the premium channel I’d watch

  4. I think an Classic Aussie TV channel is a fantastic idea. While I love watching some of those programs on Hallmark, its not the same as they show other international programs on there as well. I actually e-mailed Foxtel about this a few years ago but I didn’t get a reply back from them.

    So I agree with J Bar and Dan that we need to showcase more Classic Australian made television programs. Here are some the programs I would like to see on there:

    * Home and Away – Early years
    * Neighbours – Early years
    * Crawford’s Claasics including Homicide, Division 4, Matlock Police and The Flying Doctors
    * G.P.
    * Prisoner: Cell Block H
    * Skippy and other classic Children’s TV programs

    Hopefully Foxtel will take notice of this as it will be great to watch these golden oldies all over again!!

  5. Antoinette, Foxtel said later this year they are going to change the package i guess something liking like Sky Digital in the uk (Entertament, likestyle, movies, sport, news, information, fides, music) and u only pay for the package u want, ie, only page for news etc.

    i guess/hope around the $20 mark (not including HD) but will have to wait and see. its been in some news storys, News Ltd and Smarthouse i think

  7. another question is how many channels are from Foxtel and how many are from 3rd partys (like MTV or descovery networks), because if their most them are going to be owned by foxtel we will mostly see alot of shows which have been on other channels before

    Like Ryano said “I definitely would love to see Al Jazeera English and MSNBC” i think is more chance we will see Al Jezzera English on screens mably not this years but in the near future, MSNBC, as far as i know its only in the US and canada (if im wrong please tell me). but if foxtel had the choice i would like them to pick somthing like ABC family(us) or FX(us) or another american network that we dont have. dont get me wrong more news is better.

  8. what i want is new content, not old

    Andrew B, Why would foxtel want to have a game show channel, no one watches then expect Deal or no deal(i dont) sounds like something for 9SD2 when if finally arrives, i also think foxtel needs to drop the HD to $10 per month (including the IQ2),
    Channel 7 is only on satellite in sydney so far but should ne everywhere else when the news Optus D3 goes up in may or so, and i guess we will see the first new channel by then, and i guess may see 7SD2 and i think there is no way we (freeview) will have 9SD2, i say late august,

    like i said some new channels with new content, (i know it cant be all new but still) something like another FOX8 here in australia or FX (most new shows from 7:30pm and repeats in the day), something like HBO, but not in a movie pack,
    I also think foxtel needs to fasttrack shows like smallvile, one tree hill etc, i havent watch thoes shows for years but i think it is important to see them just after the US

  10. 1. Foxtel up, as free to air continues to mess us around. Not surprised!
    2. Any wonder there’s little interest in Freeview given Foxtel continually add channels each year, not to mention IQ2.
    3. Sydney market gets 7 on Foxtel satellite. Must have different agreements in different areas. I just hope that Foxtel will also rebroadcast ONE HD as well as additional Free to Air SD channels if/when they happen.
    4. Agree a with suggestions of channels. My additional suggesiton is a game show channel – showing old shows like Temptation, Sale of the Century, family feud, wheel, millionaire, weakest link, pick a box, mastermind, the one with the whammy, etc…

  11. pay tv is going to stay ahead of the pack and fta cant do anything about and 9 well they are going to be the big winners in fta out of this. more channels you beauty and maybe a new sports channel and drama channel. 9 and fox are firming as favprites to get the afl rights now

  12. I used to love when i first got foxtel it had Nick at Night, which was old shows like the bob newhart show, mary tylermoore ect. These shows have never been on any of channels since. That’s something they need. A 70s tv show channel??

  13. Al Jazeera English, would be a great addition. I’ve watched it while in europe and it is probably the best news channel i’ve seen.

    I hope it’s close to 20 new channels, not some more time delayed ones, with a handful of new ones.

  14. Brillant – 20 New Channels from Foxtel, here’s my Suggestions:

    Second Main-Event Channel (To Allow Live Coverage of NRL Friday Night and Sunday Afternoon Games in Vic, SA, WA, Tas and NT).
    Nickelodeon and Disney Channel (Both In Timeshift and HD)
    Fox 8 in HD
    Universal HD (Programs in NBC and Universal Television in HD)
    Arena in Widescreen and HD
    Cartoon Network in HD and Timeshift
    Seven Digital for Victorian and Queensland Sattelite Subscribers
    Nicktoons and Toon Disney (Both 24/7 Toons)
    And The Music Factory

    2009 has become the year Australian TV has grown up and with Analogue TV getting ready to be Terminated in the early 2010’s it’s time Australia should get a Digital TV or Set Top Box. I really hope Foxtel makes those channels come to life.

  15. I thought Hallmark was the OZ TV channel!!

    I would like to see a TV1 Classic – ie: showing programs from the 70s and 80s rather than just cop show from this decade + 90s sitcoms which is their current practice.

    Also when the hell is 7 gonna show up on the Foxtel Sattelite – I’m sick of having two boxes in my loungeroom ffs!

  16. Those Aussie shows are great Dan and they deserve another run but there’s also heaps of shows from the 1970s and even the 1960s that could be run. Also heaps of children’s series for daytime and afternoon audiences and classic movies and mini-series for weekends.

  17. @ j bar I totally agree it would be great to have an oz TV channel hallmark are nearing the end of a country practice and if my predictions are correct they should be finishing it late this year so it could start from the beginning again on the oz channel as well as some other classic oz shows like

    Prisoner
    Cop shop
    Home and away the first 7 years
    Neighbors the first 7 years
    The young doctors
    Homicide
    the sullivians
    the flying doctors
    sons and daughters

    Ok I will stop dreaming now because I don’t think it will happen

  18. Maybe they could start up a few new channels and programme stuff that’s already been screened on the other channels… oh. Silly me. They’re already doing that, aren’t they?

  19. the free to airs struggle to release one new channel each while foxtel will be launching 20, will be interesting to see what they are and how many will to be hd (hopfuly some of the big channels like movie one or fox8). with the new bandwith i hope more channesl will be in widescreen as well (tv1 should be one of the first as they have many dramas that are produced in widescreen(law&order, house, pysch, monk etc.) seems more likely now since they have started to broadcast sci-fi and fox classics in widescreen in the last few month as well as 111 hits being in widescreen from launch.

  23. How about an OZ TV channel that shows classic Australian Television series. Hallmark and some of the other channels have some good programs but what about making more of the classic series and movies available.

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