0/5

New Foxtel prices from March

Foxtel has announced new pricing for its subscribers, which sees a range of increases and decreases.

foxtphFoxtel has announced new pricing for its subscribers from March, which sees a range of increases and decreases.

Get Started, currently $45 per month is renamed as Essentials at $47 per month (includes IQ).

Add-on packs Kids & Music, Drama & Lifestyle and Knowledge & Adventure (renamed Documentary & Adventure), currently $16 per month, drop to $15 per month for one, $20 for two and $25 per month for three.

Movies which were $32 per month drop to $25 per month.

But Sport increases from $16 per month to $25 per month.

Foxtel attributes the changes to part of its merger with Austar, bringing different technology platforms and pricing and packaging in both metropolitan and regional areas, into one single product. It claims the revenue it will receive each month will not change as a result of the new prices.

The last price increase was November 2011.

The new prices take effect from March 1st.

Foxtel has already improved the line up for regional customers by adding new channels (MTV Live and MTV Hits) and increasing the number of channels available in HD (MTV Live HD, Nat Geo HD, Discovery HD, Nat Geo Wild HD).

We are currently investing millions of dollars to upgrade MyStar (regional) personal video recorders (PVRs) so that they have the similar functionality to iQ PVRs. This includes the ability to be connected to the internet and get access to Foxtel’s extensive library of catch up on demand content. The upgrade will be complete later in the year.

In the interim we have launched a limited video on demand movie service which means that every movie package subscriber who has an iQ or MyStar PVR will be able to get up to three recent release movies each week at no additional cost. These can be found in the “On Demand – Featured” section of the Planner for iQ and in the “Featured” section of the Planner for MyStar.

We are currently working on the first truly national PVR, the iQ3, which will combine the best of the iQ and MyStar functionality and add many new features that draw on the best set top box technology from around the world.

In March we will introduce a standardised price and package structure (see attachment) which will create a simple and unified national system. Naturally, as we are aligning different and quite complex pricing structures, there will be some customers who will pay a little more and some who will pay the same or less than they currently do. This will be true for both regional and metropolitan customers.

Approximately twenty five per cent of subscribers will save money, around 25% will experience no change in their price and fewer than 1% will receive an increase of more than $3.05.

The total monthly recurring revenue Foxtel receives from subscribers will not increase as a result of these changes.

A key element of the change is that, in future, iQ and MyStar will become standard equipment for all new packages.

The new packaging is simpler with three, equally priced premium options: Sports, Movies & Premium Drama and General Entertainment (which has a further three themed sub-options). Subscribers can choose to change their package month to month to suit their viewing preferences by calling us on 131 999 or visiting My Account at www.foxtel.com.au.

At the same time we are continually seeking to add value to the product that we offer. Recent improvements have included better content (showcase: the “Home of HBO”, the revamp of SoHo for all subscribers, Express content and London 2012), and better technology and access (Foxtel Go for iPad, soon to be extended to PCs, Mac, iPhone and Android devices). These new channels and services have been added at no additional cost to subscribers.

There is plenty more planned for 2013. 

The end game is to have a national company with a single technology platform, and consistent pricing and product offerings. This will take a little more time to achieve, but we are making significant progress towards it.

44 Responses

  1. Further to my comment of 23 Jan, I’ve just received an email from Foxtel saying that my Basic+ Sport package will increase by $1 a month, not $11 their new pricing structure suggested. Are they giving a loyalty bonus to existing customers?

  2. Six months ago I switched from Foxtel to FetchTV, paying $20 instead of around $70. Much better PVR than the old IQ. I pay $20 per month, which includes free old movies, and PPV premium movies are extra. I watch as many movies as before, and my viewing experience is just as good, yet my bill has been halved.

  3. Received an email from foxtel advising my subscription will increase by $3 a month. This is due to the new movie package. I don’t see why I should be paying an extra $10 for 2 extra movie channels that I won’t watch. Guess what Foxtel, I will be cancelling my movie subscription on March 1st and will obtain the showcase shows by other means! And why can’t former Austar customers convert their Foxtel service to Telstra?

  4. I save $5 a month with the changes so I’m happy – I don’t care for movies & sport 🙂
    I wish there was a gay & lesbian channel like Logo with gay content & music!

  5. Guys I could not find TVN the racing channel on any of the packages. Will it still continue on Fox as I foxtel.com.au/cms/groups/webcontent/@fox/@corporate/@dotcom/documents/webcontent/p_101769.pdf could not find it in any of the packages.

  6. Just got the Foxtel email, my subscription will be cut by $10.95 from March 1st, thats much better than I was hoping for but it still means over $100 per month and that’s not including sports.

  7. Cassh the thing is you won’t have to pay 18% higher. Which is why I said they’ve done a flat out awful job of selling this because anyone who looks at thinks, holy hell that is a huge increase, how do I cancel.

  8. Canceling Foxtel This morning.

    All I have foxtel for is sport. NRL, Cricket, NFL and NHL. Though this morning, while me and the missus are paying $117 a month, the tv in the bedroom was on reruns of simpsons / futurama / family guy on fox 8 +2, and we wern’t even watching it….

  9. I’d have thought that there are a lot of subscribers who like me have the SD Basic + Sport package. This will increase from $61 (45+ 16) to $72 (47+ 25): 18%!
    .

    One way to save money is to suspend your
    service for up to 3 months (costs $5 / month), another is to (politely) give notice of cancellation and either (1) wait for Foxtel to get back to you with a better offer or (2) wait for a (normally short) while until a cheap deal Including free installation comes up.
    If Foxtel have to resort to fudging the truth about price hikes like these they must be in trouble.

  10. Live sport is the one thing keeping subscription tv viable. However I think it’s a dying business as online services move the HD. With many sports offering season passes and access across so many mediums, how will people continue to see value in subscription tv with its current business model ?

  11. Just checked Foxtel’s Facebook page and the link to the new pricing :
    foxtel.com.au/cms/groups/webcontent/@fox/@corporate/@dotcom/documents/webcontent/p_101769.pdf

    Guess what Platinum HD now costs the same as all packages added together – $132 per month.
    So instead of a 19% discount on the total cost of purchasing all packages under the ‘Premium’ there is now no discount.

    Dare I say “Rip Off’????

  12. I’m currently on Platinum HD and to be honest have been considering cancelling because of the below-average movie channel setup now.
    Having done my maths I currently pay $132 per month against $151 of value if you total all the package costs.
    Under the new pricing and selecting all packages the total is $132. Amazing.
    I wonder what the new ‘Premium HD’ package cost will be … my guess is no change at all.
    Pathetic and even more of a reason to stop my subscription.

  13. Note to all: I just rang foxtel to clear up a few things and found out that if you have a standard box with ‘Get Started’ and ‘Sports’ pack, then the price increase is only $1 (Get started increase to $2 but Sports drops $1) and not $11 (Get Started increase by $2 and Sports increases by $9) per month like I thought it would be.

Leave a Reply