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“We were serving an audience which had never been catered in primetime TV – younger people”

Former Foxtel director of content Ross Crowley reflects on his 25 years in Pay TV.

Ross Crowley & Brian Walsh outside original building in Pyrmont

Former Foxtel director of content Ross Crowley has given an interview to Mediaweek in which he looks back on his 25 years with the Subscription TV provider.

Crowley and his Foxtel colleagues were originally working out of a Telstra building on George Street near Circular Quay.

Back in 1995 before the broadcast centre was built, tapes for the first series simply arrived at the temporary office and were stacked on the floor and in the kitchen as the space filled up.

The new Foxtel playout centre didn’t open until just over three weeks before Foxtel went to air.

Foxtel’s first dedicated office space was on a Pyrmont Wharf now devoted to exclusive apartments. The staff moved in shortly before launch in 1995.

“We launched with 20 channels and then started to roll out new channels quite quickly after that.

“The first premiere series Foxtel ever had was Highlander which the FTA networks had considered was a little bit fringe for viewers here. We saw an opportunity with that, and some others like Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, to play in primetime. We were serving an audience which had never been catered in primetime television – younger people. We got a great reception for these shows.”

Crowley departed Foxtel earlier this year as part of 2020 redundancies.

You can read more here.

One Response

  1. Enjoyed reading this and the Mediaweek article. I was there at the beginning as a youngster just starting in the industry and have very fond memories of that time. When we started that Pyrmont site was only 50% occupied. Within a few years it was bursting at the seams. Such a dynamic place to work. Foxtel cops a lot of flack but some very passionate and dedicated people have worked there over the years (and still do) and the company has played a very important role in our industry.

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